Josef Lacman

* 1950

  • “...because someone would stop by here and leave a packet of books here for me. There was no trouble about it, but of course it was an issue for my parents. Mum would sometimes tell me: ‚You´re up to no good, right? ‚No, no, no.‘ I would deny everything somehow, that I don’t do anything wrong, but I was worried, if summons from police comes– I was kind of counting on that – so I didn’t want them to know. Obviously when I got the letter, it was all different. The police was going in the opposite direction – as they could only afford to do – and handed me over the blue letter. And mum was standing right outside just then. Well I didn’t tell her no details, and when they asked, I told parents it was all about some books.”

  • “... Back then it was not so easy to travel. So it was rather cool. So I made an agreement they send books via another person... Then an unknown man came here and brought me book from the Christian academy. And I gave it on to other people and so on. And when I was in London, I went also to Alexander Tomský, who was publishing Rozmluvy at the time, and there I made a deal with him as we needed a mimeograph. I asked him, if he could send us a mimeograph. And about a year later there was a young English woman, who brought it. And it went the way and I didn’t go with her any place behind the town to make a secret transfer or whatnot. Normally I took it over here. The interesting thing was, that around the second or the third day Mr. Kaplan called me from the infamous family of Kaplans and suggested that I got something with them. Certain parts of the mimeograph, which she didn’t deliver, were still there. So I had to go and get them...”

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    u pana Lacmana doma, 01.01.2013

    (audio)
    duration: 01:10:38
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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Faith his a gift

1988 - with children
1988 - with children

Josef Lacman was born in Prague in 1950. He grew up in a non-religious family. He began to be interested in faith during his teenage and during studies of a secondary technological school. In 1970s he devoted much time to gathering information and comparing various attitudes of various churches, regularly participated in debates on religion and got acquainted with teaching of more radical Christian directions. In 1974 he left for a trip to Italy and brought secretly certain books that were unavailable in the Czechoslovakia. Due to his employment at the airport he could travel more frequently. Since 1980, when he visited the Great Britain and met Alexander Tomský, he actively participated in importing forbidden theological and political literature to Czechoslovakia and its distribution. During 1980s Josef Lacman visited a meeting of an underground church Pavel Hradilek and studied theology with Fridolín Zahradník and Jan Konzal. In 1985, at the time of birth of his daughter, he was interrogated by secret police. In the second half of 1980s he devoted himself mainly to his family. After 1989 he worked as an editor in Karmelitánské publishing and later founded U sv. Vojtěcha publishing, he has been managing until today. Josef Lacman lives in Prague.