We were the first homeless people in Šumperk
Eva Linhartová was born on 9 July 1963 in Oskava, Šumperk region. Her parents, Antonie and Jaroslav Linhart, joined the Communist Party after the war. Eva grew up in a safe and picturesque environment. She was an active Pioneer member and led the younger children in Maruška Kudeříková’s club. When she watched the propaganda documentary “Assassination of Culture” at the age of 14, she fell in love with the alternative culture, the underground and the hippie movement. Because they wouldn’t accept her into her dream art school, she had to take up an apprenticeship as a saleswoman. Because of her appearance, she was often the target of ridicule and insults. In 1981, she married Jindřich and together they went to work on the farm in Kyselov in southern Bohemia. After her husband’s attempted suicide, they both returned to the Jeseník region, where nobody wanted to employ them anywhere because of their appearance and reputation as troubled youths. After Eva and Jindřich decided to take legal action, in retaliation the regime had a psychiatric report falsely diagnosing them as schizoid psychopaths and ordered that they not be employed. Henry lost his licence to drive heavy agricultural machinery, which had been his main livelihood until then. They found themselves out of work and living on the streets for a while. After a year, the situation calmed down and Eva and Jindřich were able to join Moravolen in Šumperk - Jindřich only in a menial support position. He could not get his driving licence again until the 1990s. During the years of normalisation, Eva Linhart experienced several harsh border encounters with the armed forces of the communist regime. During the Velvet Revolution she was an active and founding member of the Civic Forum in her native Oskava. In the 1990s, she completed her secondary school studies and got bachelor’s degree in social work - later building a community network of non-profit organizations, of which the Independent Civic Counseling Center in Olomouc was still operating at the time of the interview (2024). In 2024, Eva Linhartová was living in Olomouc.