I prayed that they would no longer ask me to join the party
Lidmila Šulcová, née Vélová, was born on May 11, 1945 in Benešov near Semily. After the war, her parents got a house after the expelled Germans in Rádle near Jablonec nad Nisou. There they established a small farm, but during collectivization it was exchanged for a barren field. After the currency reform in 1953, the family lost their savings. Lidmila trained as a cook, worked in the U Zlatého lva restaurant and in the school canteen following maternity leave. In August 1968, she and her husband were married and struggled with food shortages due to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Lidmila is a believer and an active member of the church all her life. During the normalization, she secretly met with other believers and has been taking care of the Rychnov church for more than forty years. In 2021 she lived in Rychnov near Jablonec nad Nisou.