The worst thing about emigrating is the feeling that you will never come back
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Jaroslav Kubík was born on 13 June 1939 in Pilsen. His parents encouraged him and his sister Milada to do sport, especially figure skating, which both siblings were actively doing. Jaroslav worked briefly as a construction technician after graduation, but in 1959 he was offered the opportunity to become a professional figure skater in the Czechoslovak Ice Revue. With the ensemble he used to go on tours: first to the countries of the former Soviet Union and in the 1960s he also got to the Western countries. Even though the Czechoslovak Ice Revue was dissolved after 1968, he was able to join trips abroad which were organized by the state arts agency Pragokoncert. The agency deducted a large percentage of the athletes’ salaries, which made witness decide to emigrate. So, in 1970, he did not return from a competition trip to Germany and his family emigrated with him. For the next five years he worked as a solo skater and was engaged in the West German Scala Eis Revue ensemble. After his sister had emigrated to the United States, he left Germany with his family and moved to New York to join her. Here, witness began working as a comedian in various shows and later set up his own show, with which he performed even outside the United States. In addition to his comic performances, he also worked as a coach at his sister’s figure skating school in New York. He could also train Sarah Hughes who later won an Olympic medal. After the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he came back to stay here permanently. He became a figure skating coach again in Pilsen and soon afterwards he set up a skating school for beginners, which he ran for the rest of his life. He died on 17 April 2020.
