Eight years for two religious leaflets
Josef Vít Husek was born on February 2, 1923, in the Old Town. His parents were both strong believers and their religious belief influenced Josef while choosing his career. After he graduated from secondary school, he decided to join the Franciscan order. Twelve newly chosen members of the order – including Josef – got a chance to study theology in Belgium in the post-war year of 1946. After the graduation from his studies, Josef was ordained a priest. In 1949, the whole group of students came back to Czechoslovakia. Josef Husek worked as an assistant priest for a short time and he taught children religion. In 1950, Josef experienced the so-called “Operation K” in which the communists destroyed a number of monasteries and male Catholic monastic orders. At the age of 30, Josef joined the army. He spent his military service at the auxiliary technical battalion. Josef was arrested because of two religious leaflets found with him during a search. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison for treason. He served his term in the town of Valdice and he lived to see his release during an amnesty in 1961. After his release from prison, Josef could not find a job for a long time until he managed to find an employment in engineering. At first, he worked as a furnace operator and later on he passed a retraining course for a crane operator. In 1968, Josef accepted an offer to come back to his priestly profession and was placed at the presbytery in the village of Maletín near the town of Zábřeh. Today, Father Josef Vít Husek lives in the House of the Franciscan brothers in the town of Moravská Třebová.