Jindřich Rejnart

* 1939

  • "So his father was then taken to Příbram, then to the Vojna camp, where he was imprisoned and where he worked in the mines. And then he was taken to Nováky and Handlová to Slovakia, where he served his sentence together ... which was a paradox from the communists, together with the Slovak fascists, the guards. And after that time, after about two years, he was let home at the request of the mother. But he was no longer allowed to perform any service in the postal services. And only at the Building Constructions, he worked for the Building Constructions as an add-on and later as a storekeeper. This function may also have caused him to end up with a stroke."

  • "Father was arrested on March 15 for anti-state activities. His anti-state activity consisted in the demolition of the Choceň tunnel at that time, just behind the station. And it was done there by the national company Konstruktiva. There was an anti-communist cell that led all the way to the Czech Post. Some mail staff members joined in, and because they knew their father's beliefs, they urged him if he would like to join too. According to my mother he refused. He was no hero and he said he would not go. He had a wife and children here, at that time there was already a sister next to me. Of course, the communists were already on the track of the cell, and the members, when they found out, just ran across the border and caught some near Znojmo. Well, this whole group of about ten people was arrested. Among them was his father, who was blamed for the fact that, as the postal director, who knew that some anti-state activities were developing there, that he had not reported it, they gave him a paragraph that I do not know... Well, he was convicted for that for serving half a year in prison, maybe I guess three quarters."

  • "Already during the job in Slovakia, I decided that I wanted to get to university, but not to the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, but that I would try it at the Academy of Fine Arts. Well, I went to exams here, I guess it was in 1959. And it was in March. Well, I passed those tests. And suddenly I was accepted. I remember how the tests lasted about five days, and a week later the results were announced and posted on a pole, and I was lucky enough to see myself among the twelve people who had been accepted. Well, it was very lucky for me, so I lived in great euphoria. I came home, my father was also very happy that I got to such a school. Of course, I continued to work in the glassworks. And exactly on the fifteenth of July almost, I know that it was around my holiday, I received a letter from the Ministry of Education stating that after examining all the circumstances of my admission was abducted, that I do not meet all the conditions for admission to college and that my admission was cancelled."

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Hradec Králové, 06.02.2020

    (audio)
    duration: 41:00
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
  • 2

    Hradec Králové, 27.02.2020

    (audio)
    duration: 02:08:37
    media recorded in project Příběhy regionu - HRK REG ED
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You need to do something well, and not just for money

Jindřich Rejnart v dětství, první polovina 40. let
Jindřich Rejnart v dětství, první polovina 40. let
photo: Archiv pamětníka

Jindřich Rejnart was born on February 27, 1939 in Hradec Králové. After the war, the family moved to Choceň. His father became the head of the post office. He was a Social Democrat and refused to merge with the Communist Party. In March 1949 he was sentenced to nine months in prison. After a short time of living as a free man, he was recruited to a forced labor camp for two years. Jindřich Rejnart graduated from the School of Glass and wanted to continue at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He passed the exams, but was not accepted due to his father’s political profile. He joined the glassworks in the village of Lednické Rovne in Slovakia. He again applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and this time passed the exams. Subsequently, however, he received a notification that he did not meet the conditions for admission and may not be accepted. In January 1960 he joined the military technical units. After the war, he returned to the glassworks in the village of Lednické Rovne. He enrolled at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and was accepted this time. After graduating, he worked in glassworks as a glass designer again. After eight years, he became a freelance artist. Some of his glass vases were bought by galleries in Prague, Brno and Bratislava. He realized, among other things, mosaics and stained glass, for example at the chateau in Choceň and in the station hall in Hradec Králové. He also exhibited his glass works abroad. After 1989, he also began to study abstract painting. He taught figural painting and art history at the Hradební Secondary Industrial School in Hradec Králové and at the Ústí nad Orlicí Secondary Art School. He lives in Choceň.