I don’t want to be afraid again, never
Jiří Ščobák was born on September 13, 1970 in Prague. He grew up with his mother and grandparents. From an early age, he felt a negative attitude in his family, towards the communist regime. His loved ones had several reasons for this setting. After the coup in 1948, the neighbours made a pogrom at his grandparents’ house, as they were among the richest families in the area. During the monetary reform in 1953, Jiří’s grandfather lost seven million crowns. He did not go to kindergarten because his mother did not want him to be influenced by communist ideology. Due to his family’s attitude towards the regime until high school, he felt a kind of social exclusion. On the one hand, he had trouble communicating with his peers, probably because he was not in kindergarten, and on the other hand, he was never a spark, a pioneer or a bond. He actively participated in the events of the Gentle Revolution. During high school, he got into dance and square-dance. Thanks to the opening of the borders after the revolution, he was able to contact the worldwide square-dance community. He considers freedom of speech to be another advantage of the fall of the regime, that people no longer have to be afraid to speak out. Shortly after the division of the republic, he moved to Slovakia, although his family and friends told him that it might not be safe in the given situation. It was not known, what to expect from the division of the republic. He still lives in Slovakia, actively blogs and devotes himself to aquaristics.
