We must obey God rather than men
Miroslav Šlechta was bon on 2 August 1928 in Přestavlky, Chrudim District. He grew up with his parents and two brothers in Česká Třebová. He enjoyed reading and was inspired by Masaryk’s writings, Karel Čapek’s Discussions with TGM, and the Bible. In 1938 he took part in the All-Sokol Rally in Česká Třebová; he also witnessed the occupation and the deportation of his Jewish fellow citizens in the city to concentration camps. At the end of the war he saw transports of POWs and later German civilians and soldiers who fled west through the city. He trained as a vulcaniser under his father. During the war the Šlechtas found their way to the Seventh-day Adventists (SDA), and the witness’s sympathies for the church culminated in his 1949 baptism and active participation in the community. In 1951 he started his compulsory military service in Kaplice. His religious conviction, which prohibited him from working on Saturdays, lead to his imprisonment, and in 1952 he was punished with 18 months in prison. He served his sentenced in labour camps in Jáchymov District. After a brief period of liberty thanks to an amnesty in 1953, he was sentenced to prison again in Pilsen, this time for 21 months. He was released in November 1955 and was then employed as a manual labourer. He married in 1958, and he and his wife Hana raised three children. Over time, he came in greater and greater conflict with the leaders of the SDA, which resulted in his excommunication in 1988. The only authority he acknowledges is God Himself and his life-long ideal (from Acts 5,29): We must obey God rather than men. A forthcoming, deeply religious person who is grateful for each new day and for his whole life.
