I would do it again
Jiří Prokop was born on August 18, 1946 in Petrovice, Blansko region. His father Bohuslav worked as a private tailor, so in February 1948 the family entered a financially difficult period. Jiří Prokop was not able to study at a grammar school because of his political profile. So he started his apprenticeship at TOS Svitavy and at the same time he enrolled for long-distance studies at the grammar school, which he successfully completed. He spent his basic military service in Pilsen, where he was caught up in the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. Jiří joined the Škodovka factory in Plzeň as a technologist and continued to supplement his education, which he longed for. He was accepted for part-time studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, from where he managed to transfer to his dream full-time studies at the Technical University in Brno in 1971. When he met his future wife Maria Florianova in 1987, he had no idea what drama they would experience together in January 1990. Miriam had been in contact with the Cuban Rolando Saumello Acosta in the post-revolutionary period. And then came the decree that all Cubans working in Czechoslovakia must return to Cuba. Rolando was convinced that nothing good awaited him at home. He wanted to go to Florida, where his uncle lived. However, the Cuban authorities held the passports of the people living in Czechoslovakia at the time and it was impossible to cross the border without one. Jiří Prokop and Marie Floriánová decided to help Roland and his family. They cut the wires at the border with Austria, but their attempt to escape to freedom failed. They were arrested and returned to Czechoslovakia. Their journey led them to the Federal Assembly deputy and dissident Dana Němcová, who gave Roland‘s family shelter in her apartment. Rolando and his family eventually crossed the border in a car with diplomatic plates, which was lent for the occasion by the then Minister of the Interior, Richard Sacher. Jiří and Marie, who later took the name Miriam, married at the end of 1990 and stayed in Israel for six years. They then settled in Prakšice near Uherský Brod.