If you cross the rivers, the current will not sweep you away
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Jan Jiřička was born on 15 November 1938 in Zlín. His parents, Antonín and Anna Jiřička, were members of the Grail Movement, which was suppressed during the occupation and after February 1948. Along with his upbringing in the spirit of the Grail Movement, he also had contact with the Catholic and spiritualist environment during his childhood. During his studies at the eleven-year high school in Uherské Hradiště (1954-1957) he intensively devoted himself to playing the violin. In the summer of 1953, while staying at his grandmother’s house in Prague, he unknowingly got into the environment of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He was later repeatedly questioned about this, but refused to cooperate with State Security. However, the threats of State Security influenced his choice of university: instead of studying arts or humanities, he chose the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University (1957-1962), specializing in power engineering. During his studies at the university, he regularly attended Jehovah’s Witnesses in Prague, and it was in these circles that he met his later wife Maria née Dědouchová. Later (1970) he and his wife joined the Church of the Brethren and finally (1977) the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. After graduation, he was employed at ZPA Čakovice (1963-1995). In 1965-1967, he completed postgraduate studies in the application of self-powered computers. As a result, he was transferred to the computer production and testing section in 1966 at his own request. After the Velvet Revolution (1995-2000), he worked at DAEWOO-AVIA as an interpreter and translator. On March 4, 2021, his wife Marie died. At the time of the filming (2022), he was still an active member of the evangelical congregation in Jarovo, Prague, and was playing the violin in three non-professional orchestras.
