"I had a choir at the House of Culture. We had a lot of kids and I said one sentence there that they didn't like. It was at a big meeting. They kept telling us that everything would be better now, that there would soon be democracy, when the comrades understood how well Gorbachev was running things. I took the floor and said, 'Please, how can the old structures understand this? New new people must come in and only then start making democracy.' So I was finally thrown out of the House of Culture."
"I had a degree in Russian language, so I accepted an offer from the education authority and worked as a head leader at Russian camps. I had one experience at those camps that I will never forget. There was a Russian teacher crying that her son had not been taken to the army. For seven years. I thought it was strange, and I said, our boys are getting blue books so they don't have to go to the army. I also told her, what if they kill him if there's a war? And she said, 'It's a great honor for a Soviet mother if her son dies in the war.' It was incomprehensible to me. I was unhappy and I wondered what kind of politics it was to make a mother do that!"
Jarmila Procházková was born on 25 December 1942 in Pilsen into a family of room painters. The family‘s financial situation worsened after 1953, when her parents lost most of their savings after the currency reform. She had a lifelong passion for sports, but instead of gymnastics she had to study music education. Later, as a qualified Russian teacher, she went to Czech-Russian summer camps where she was the main leader. All her life she worked as a teacher and educator, and faced various problems due to her anti-regime attitudes. Since 1982, she has been leading the a capella children‘s choir Jiřičky in Pilsen, which has won awards at several national competitions. In 1989 she helped to distribute revolutionary materials to FAMU students in Prague. After the Velvet Revolution, she was behind the creation of the Pilsen The Three Kings´ Day collection, which she participates in every year with children. The Jiřičky choir sings at many local charity events. She has been nominated for the regional award Ď for Sponsors and is a recipient of the Good Angel award. In 2024, she was living in Pilsen where she was still active in sports in addition to choir directing.
