Ladislav Míka

* 1941

  • “We as paddlers had a car and we towed boats behind it to get to the races. We could not send them by post, and you cannot send expensive, fragile boats by train. We had a car, an A150 type, a former firefighter car where we had seats and we could drive people. And the mountain climbers, a group from the area of Liberec that was preparing an expedition, I think that it was to Amerika, needed to get to Prague to the Ministry of Education to gain approval. I was driving the car, so they asked me to give them a lift there. I pulled up to the Sokol gymnasium, and there were the silent young men, all dressed up, in suits and ties, and silent. I took them to the Ministry in Malá Strana, just behind Malostranské Square." – “Who did you take there?” – “Three people from Liberec I knew, but I do not know their names, about eight or ten people, and some of them came to Prague. The entire expedition was invited to the Ministry, where they presented their actions and needed their agreement.” – “Was that still to Alaska?” – “Yes, to Alaska. I was waiting in the car and when they returned from the Ministry, they were completely different young men. All the way to Liberec, they were beaming, talking over each other about whom they met and what they told them... Just a bunch of enthusiastic guys who were approved for an expedition to Alaska."

  • “And then just tanks kept arriving. It was sometimes fun for us. When something was happening by the town hall we sometimes lay down on the ground because the soldiers started shooting. And later, sometime in the afternoon because we had to work in the factory, we and crowds of people that were as big as the ones during the May Day parade were directing traffic in Šaldovo Square. The tanks were coming from below, they were no longer passing the town hall, they had already demolished the building, they were going through Šalďák and down to the Moskva cinema and to Rochlice. They were coming on the new concrete road that the tanks destroyed. There were people there then there was a gap, and someone shouted: ‘Let us send these to Jablonec!‘ And the entire waving crowd changed its position and let them go towards the Sokol gymnasium. And the tanks went to Jablonec instead of Prague. It was that kind of fun… And I remember we let them go to Husova Street to send them toward the Jizera Mountains. And the tanks were rushing onto the radio, and there were those who were presenting, I think Havel and these people." - "Havel and Tříska." - "With Tříska, yeah. And now they were like, 'Jesus Christ, the tanks are coming!' They thought they were coming to get them, but that was the one that we wanted to send to the Jizera Mountains. So, then they said they could not be allowed up to Husova Street. That is how the traffic was directed in Šalďák. Until someone came and dispersed it. But it worked for a while, we had fun."

  • “The mountain climber there had ten-man teams and they would build maybe three. There were guys from Jičín, from Vansdorf but they were mountain climbers. I also was with them several times. When they were short of someone, they asked me. And during their meetings when a race ended and for example, the best team had someone who was ruining it for them, they were pulling him on the rope. (It is difficult) in a group of ten to build a team when nobody messes it up and sometimes someone else messed it up. (You know) how it works when skiing when you suddenly do not have energy. So, they would always arrange it, this one could take part instead of that one and that is why Karel Trousílek, a trainer from the mountaineering team, came up with the idea of doing a pre-nomination race."

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Liberec, 19.04.2021

    (audio)
    délka: 01:59
  • 2

    Liberec, 19.04.2021

    (audio)
    délka: 01:48
  • 3

    Liberec, 19.04.2021

    (audio)
    délka: 01:24:21
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

He broke his legs often, so the doctor advised him cross-country skiing. He then became a legend in Jizerská 50

Ladislav Míka and Zdeněk Režný during the tenth year
Ladislav Míka and Zdeněk Režný during the tenth year
zdroj: witness´s archive

Ladislav Míka was born on 20 November 1941 in Prague. His only memories of war are the air raids at its end when he was as a child watching the fire of the Emmaus Monastery from the left bank of the Vltava River. His father Ladislav Míka worked in an insurance company and he with his family moved to Liberec after the war. The Míkas were given for their time an exceptionally well-equipped flat in the city centre, in Palác Dunaj. Ladislav Míka Junior was a paddler and he skied competitively in his youth. However, his sports doctor recommended cross-country skiing when he broke his leg for the fourth time. In 1968, Ladislav Míka took part in founding the most famous Czech race, the Jizerská 50, in which he regularly participated. He participated in the first forty-six races, the last time was in 2018. He did not finish the race two times. He belongs to the Champions club of Jizerská 50 which brings together long-distance skiers who had started in the race at least thirty times. In 1968, he was a member of KAN (Club of Active Non-partisans). He spent 21 August 1968 in Liberec where he also lived in 2021.