The situation leads to solidarity
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Zdeněk Jelínek was born on the 19th of October 1957 in Česká Lípa. He joined the Junák organization in 1968 and with his unit he helped build a log cabin village near Hejnice which was consequently taken over by the Socialist Union of Youth. This was the start of his hatred for organizing and his need for freedom. He did not want to join the military – he went to a psychiatric institution several times and received his blue book, exempting him from being drafted, after 3 years. From late 1970s he organized illegal culture events in the Česká Lípa area. He published the samizdat magazine Šuplík and helped František “Čuňas” Stárek distribute illegal printed media. He signed Charter 77 in 1980. From 1981 to 1988 he organized unofficial art exhibitions in the Peklo natural reserve. In 1988 he became a signatory of Hnutí za občanskou svobodu (Movement for Civic Freedom) and organized meetings of its members in the northern Bohemia region. During the revolution he co-founded the Česká Lípa local Civic Forum and the Civic Democratic Party after the revolution. He was active in politics for two years but left due to disagreements over the opposition agreement (as he said, everyone was stealing, that’s no opposition). Today he owns a pub in Holany and organizes unofficial art exhibitions.
