Instead of donating to persecuted families, some people said they should have been more careful
Karel Říha was born on 28 April 1941 in Holice, Pardubice. His father had to go to forced labour in Germany during the war. He went home occasionally on leave, and by the end of the war the family had no news of him. He did not return home until the end of May 1945. At the end of the war, there was fighting between partisans and Germans in Holice, and the witness and his mother had to hide in the cellar. After primary school, Karel Říha went to Zlín (then Gottwaldov) to study. He worked briefly in Botana and then at the railway until his retirement. In the course of his life he came to a deep faith in God. Gradually he began to meet Catholic intellectuals - Professor Josef Zvěřina, Augustin Navrátil, etc. He spread the texts of Charter 77, provided accommodation for people around the Charter or supported them financially. Because of this, he was followed by State Security. After the Velvet Revolution, he finished his secondary school studies. He and his wife Zdena raised six children. In 2024 he was living in Holice.