Josef Spáčil

* 1930  †︎ 2024

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He ended up behind bars for protesting against collectivisation. Five months in solitary confinement, then straight to the PTP (Auxiliary Technical Battalions)

Josef Spáčil in military uniform of the PTP (Auxilliary Technical Batallions), 1951
Josef Spáčil in military uniform of the PTP (Auxilliary Technical Batallions), 1951
photo: archive of a witness

Josef Spáčil was born on 20 September 1930 in Újezd u Brna. His father Josef Spáčil Sr., a locksmith by profession, bought agricultural machinery after the war - threshers and machines for threshing, which he rented to local farmers. He borrowed over 200 thousand crowns for them. After 1948 his machines were nationalised. Joseph, the eldest of the sons, resisted. Together with other residents of Újezd, they protested against collectivisation and nationalisation in front of the National Committee in October 1950. Five people were arrested. He spent five months in solitary confinement in the Bučovice district court prison. Then he was immediately taken to the Auxiliary Technical Battalions (PTP). The district court in Slavkov sentenced him to four months imprisonment for violence against public congregations. He practically served his sentence in detention. Even after his return from the army, he had a hard time getting a job. He worked in a unified agricultural cooperative (JZD), as a driver in ČSAD and in municipal services. Dad paid off the loan he had taken out on confiscated agricultural machinery until he retired. The witness lived to see his judicial rehabilitation in 1995. In 2024, he was living in Újezd u Brna. He died on 4 August 2024.