When I was a child I could never imagine the world can exist without the war
Download image
Jana Peroutková was born on January 2, 1939 in České Budějovice. Her parents came from southern Bohemia, from a landowning background. Her father, Jan Jindra, decided to become a teacher, accompanied by his wife Marie, née Malechová. Her early childhood was spent on a farm in Sedlíkovice near Veselí nad Lužnicí with her mother’s family. In 1943, the Jindra family moved to Dolní Bukovsko, where they lived in a school building. It was used as a hostel for German refugees, and after the liberation, the Red Army settled there. In the autumn of 1945, they moved to Veselí nad Lužnicí. After 1948, forced collectivisation came upon the relatives, and both parents went to help out on their relatives’ farms to help them meet the required supplies. After finishing medical school in České Budějovice, Jana married Bohuslav Peroutka, and together they moved to Pilsen, where they have lived since 1960. They attended services regularly; in 1985, they participated in the Velehrad pilgrimage and on November 25 1989, they attended the solemn mass associated with the canonisation of St. Agnes of Czechia. Subsequently, they went to a demonstration on Letná Plain. At the time of the filming in 2021, Jana Peroutková lived in Plzeň in Roudná in a cottage she and her husband had built with their own hands.
