Ing. Jan Jiřička

* 1938

  • "[The Estébak - a State Security officer] started out in general terms at first, but then he told me who he was, and I wanted to see his legitimation right away. So he showed it to me. I don't know if he worked as a junior or senior sergeant for State Security at that time. Apparently he was in charge of religious matters, because he asked me, as if from some training, informed questions [aimed at places] where there were some contradictions in the Bible. He [said] that none of the believers had explained it to him, and he started in a general way like that. I was confessing my faith to him, and then all of a sudden he came out with how I know Dr. Šimáně. That shocked me. [...] Then he quoted to me: 'Dr. Šimáně says... Not that he said it to us, but he said it.' And he quoted from my letter. Then he started breaking me down for cooperation."

  • "They didn't tell me they were being watched, that they were under State Security surveillance. They didn't even tell me they were Jehovah's Witnesses. I didn't care where they belonged. Opening the Scriptures was new to me. [...] I saw that in the Sermon on the Mount [everything] is beautifully, concisely and so beautifully said that where are Abd-ru-shin's long explanations! But I didn't know then [that they were being watched], and they didn't say, 'We are Jehovah's Witnesses.' But since then I started reading the Bible a lot and I found amazing things. Suddenly I saw that this was God's Word for me."

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Praha, 23.03.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 02:07:58
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
  • 2

    Praha, 06.04.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 02:06:58
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
  • 3

    Praha, 18.05.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 01:46:20
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

If you cross the rivers, the current will not sweep you away

Jan Jiřička, 1957
Jan Jiřička, 1957
zdroj: archive of a witness

Jan Jiřička was born on 15 November 1938 in Zlín. His parents, Antonín and Anna Jiřička, were members of the Grail Movement, which was suppressed during the occupation and after February 1948. Along with his upbringing in the spirit of the Grail Movement, he also had contact with the Catholic and spiritualist environment during his childhood. During his studies at the eleven-year high school in Uherské Hradiště (1954-1957) he intensively devoted himself to playing the violin. In the summer of 1953, while staying at his grandmother‘s house in Prague, he unknowingly got into the environment of Jehovah‘s Witnesses. He was later repeatedly questioned about this, but refused to cooperate with State Security. However, the threats of State Security influenced his choice of university: instead of studying arts or humanities, he chose the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University (1957-1962), specializing in power engineering. During his studies at the university, he regularly attended Jehovah‘s Witnesses in Prague, and it was in these circles that he met his later wife Maria née Dědouchová. Later (1970) he and his wife joined the Church of the Brethren and finally (1977) the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. After graduation, he was employed at ZPA Čakovice (1963-1995). In 1965-1967, he completed postgraduate studies in the application of self-powered computers. As a result, he was transferred to the computer production and testing section in 1966 at his own request. After the Velvet Revolution (1995-2000), he worked at DAEWOO-AVIA as an interpreter and translator. On March 4, 2021, his wife Marie died. At the time of the filming (2022), he was still an active member of the evangelical congregation in Jarovo, Prague, and was playing the violin in three non-professional orchestras.