WAR AND REVOLT

Mr J.Z. ran his shop even during the war, those were difficult days. Sweets were rationed and there were very few of them.

During the Protectorate ‘Bohmen und Mahren’ Mr J.Z. joined an illegal group where he worked as an intelligence officer for a western brigade as the leader of the second platoon, with his boss nicknamed ‘Zepo’. After a large air attack, he worked on removing the ruins. The bombs had reached Palacký bridge, Emausy, Karlov, etc.

The house next to Jirásek bridge was also directly affected. Nowadays, the so called ‘Dancing House’ is situated there. Here Mr J.Z., together with other people, removed ruins and tried to extricate the wounded and the dead. In May, he participated in the uprising. His life was in danger a few times. He was protecting the Smíchov part of the town on the bridge. There was a tank moving slowly towards him from the National Theater and there were Germans walking behind it. He shot at the tank but he did not injure anybody. However, the German soldiers heard the shells landing on the armor, they turned back suddenly and went away. His most important involvement was, when he participated in the uprising on the barricade next to Křižík’s factory in Smíchov.

As will be mentioned later, in the year of 1968, death was standing close to him again.