Jiří Netík

“To complain, that is something that our parents were not able to do, they did not tell us about a number of bad things because they did not want us to be angry and to think about it. It was a neat solution because when I found out about many things later, I would have run him over with a tractor or done something to him. And we told to each other later: ‘Man, it was reasonable.’ They did not make life complicated for us because there is evil in the world and it probably will be here for a long time. But one cannot ruin their life because it is hard to do anything when you wake up angry and disgusted in the morning. My father said: ‘If you do not like something, do not do it!’ It is not quite possible. When I complained about how little money I earned, he said: ‘Look at those sportsmen here.’ Jiskra and Týn teams were playing football. ‘They have training every day and how many can get to the first league, it will be hard, right? And to get even to the region, it must be difficult. But they train because they enjoy it. But they do not get enough money for it. So if you do not like the job, do not do it. Realize that.’ And he would disarm you with the philosophy. It would have been easier to be slapped. But to keep the dialogue going...“

“My life motto is quite simple: ‘Even if I did not change anything, it is great to do good deeds and not to be involved in wrongdoing. We are not responsible for the results. These are in God´s hands. However, we are responsible for our deeds.’ And I think that it is clear. We can have different goals, they may be fulfilled or not, some people who may ruin them can appear but as my grandma used to say: ‘Can you sleep at night? So everything is fine!’ So thanks to God, I have a fulfilled life. Everyone is somehow involved, everyone found their place in the family and we stick together which is a great legacy. I value that a lot. We like to meet, we like to see each other. And it is very important and tempting for other people around us to join us in many activities when they see that we get on well together.”

“Of course, they could imprison a farmer before the war. What was handed down to us were activity and optimism based on Christian opinions. We had problems before the war, frauds were committed normally during the First Czechoslovak Republic, Gestapo came three times and Russians came after the war, they attacked the farm and it turned out well. And some commanders came in the meantime and shot them. And then communists imprisoned our father so no period was completely optimistic. When my father came back from prison in 1953, he stated, and of course he did not please the family with it, that he met so many interesting people there and that he would never have met them. He was an incurable optimist. I would compare it to the farming: the last hay or straw men got wet in the field, we were angry that we would have to solve it again and father said: ‘New hay is already growing, children!’ He was optimistic about everything and thanks to it he overcame difficulties. But we were never overlooked. When they took over our agricultural machinery and they imprisoned our father in the 1950s, they offered him that they would let him go if he continued farming. He said: 'I would have to think about it!' When Machine tractor station was founded, they could not run the machinery, so they drove father from prison to the field to set the machine because they did not know how to use it; he set it and they could cut again. However, he was never bitter and he took everything with ease so it was a happy life journey.”