To this day I get goosebumps, when I hear the sound of sirens the first Wednesday each month
Vlasta Šmídová was born on August 6, 1939 in Prague. As a child, she experienced air raids during World War II. She was very sporty since childhood and she also met her future husband Gustav Šmíd on the sports field. He remembers the night from August 20 to 21, 1968, when they lived on today‘s Europa, then Lenin Street, and were woken up by the sounds of arriving tanks. Her husband served as cultural attaché in Tokyo from 1970 to 1975, and as ambassador to Japan and the Philippines from 1982 to 1987. Vlasta spent both stays with her husband and their sons in Tokyo. In 2021, she lived in Prague.