Strive to be a human all day long
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Zdeněk Otto Braunschläger was born on January 30, 1932 in Boskovice. His parents were entrepreneurs. During the time of the Nazi occupation the family moved to Třebíč and Zdeněk‘s father operated a butcher‘s shop there. Somebody informed upon him to the Gestapo and he was imprisoned for two years. The life of the family was significantly affected by the communist coup d‘état as well. Zdeněk‘s father became imprisoned again, this time due to an accusation that he had collaborated with the Gestapo. The family‘s house was confiscated and Zdeněk was expelled from school one week before his final examinations. In addition, his parents were evicted to the border region. After initial difficulties, Zdeněk eventually managed to pass entrance examinations to JAMU (Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts) in Brno, where he majored in acting. His first engagement was in Mrštík Brothers‘ Theatre in Brno and later he was an actor in the theatre Semafor in Prague and above all in Činoherní klub (The Drama Club). He first appeared on the movie screen in Sequens‘ film Větrná hora (A Windy Mountain) in 1955, and he worked for film and television in the following years. Zdeněk is the author of the screenplay for the film Město mé naděje (The City of My Hope) from 1978. In 1980 he emigrated with his young son to West Germany. At the beginning he was earning his living by cleaning toilets. Zdeněk was reading the works of banned Czech authors in the Radio Free Europe. He began visiting his homeland again after 1989. At present he lives in Prague.
