A powerless priest

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In September 1951, the political prisoners Irena Šimonová and her friend Helena escaped from prison and from a mine that produced brick clay where they were forced to work. Their plan and hope was to cross the nearby border to the West. Irena was desperate and exhausted, running away from the inhumane conditions of communist prison where she had spent the last two years and was to spend 23 more years. Even her relatives refused to help her during the flight and thus she sought support and help in a church in Jáchymov, even though she was not particularly religious. She entered the church to find the moral strength and support that she needed. She found the priest and bluntly informed him of the reason for their visit. "I confided to him that I was an escaped prisoner," says Irena Šimonová. "He just clasped his hands together and went all pale. He said that he couldn’t help me. I replied that I didn't expect any help from him; I just pleaded him to encourage me a little bit. But the priest said that he couldn't do even that. So I thanked him and I left. It was hopeless. They probably already had him on the payroll," says the witness. The two women were finally caught by the border guards on East-German territory. The refugees spent 11 days on the run. At their trial, it later turned out that it was actually not the priest that had given the escaped prisoners away.

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Irena Šimonová

Irena Šimonová, née Vlachová, was born in Ivanov on December 9, 1929. Both of her parents came from wealthy families, but their marriage was not happy and they got divorced in 1945. Irena grew up in Vyškov, where she experienced WWII and the subsequent liberation of the city by the Red Army. Due to the unsatisfactory situation in the family after the divorce of her parents, Irena moved to Prague where she - as an underage - was placed under the supervision of her father's friend, a retired lawyer, Dr. Pekuláš. At that time, she studied at the People's University. During her studies, she met František Smrček, with whom she maintained a very strong, albeit on her part only a friendly relationship. After Smrček emigrated to West Germany in 1948, Irena got involved in illegal activities with Smrček's help, trying to assist people who were threatened with persecution by the communist regime. In March 1949, she tried to cross the border in the region of Šumava, (Bohemian Forest). However, the smuggler abandoned Irena in the woods and the escape failed. On her return journey by train to Prague on March 21, 1949, she was arrested. After harsh interrogations in St. Bartholomew Street in Prague, a secret trial with "Irena Vlachová and companions" took place on Christmas 1949, in which she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She was placed in a prison in Prague’s Pankrác and in 1951 she was sent to work in a brick factory in Červené Pečky. From there, along with other inmates, she unsuccessfully tried to escape to West Germany. She got caught by the police and was sentenced to another three years on top of her original sentence. She was placed in the Pardubice prison, where her fellow inmates counted "celebrities" like Růžena Vacková, Dagmar Šimková, Jiřina Štěpničková, Julie Hrušková, and others. Irena Šimonová was released during an amnesty in 1960. She went to her mother in Carlsbad and lived there until 1968. She married and started a family. During the Prague Spring, she got involved in the establishment of the KAN in Carlsbad. In August 1968, she emigrated with her husband to the Netherlands. Here she founded a successful company doing business in the clothing and fashion industry. Today she alternately lives in Prague and in the Netherlands.

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Jáchymov, kostel sv. Jáchyma a sv. Anny

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První luteránský kostel v českých zemích. Pozdně gotická stavba zasvěcená patronům města byla realizována v letech 1534–1540 stavitelem Hanušem Koppem za účasti políra Wolfa Müllera z Ostrova a kameníka Jörga z Bamberka. Byl postaven v obdobném stylu jako městské kostely v Mostě a v dalších krušnohorských horních městech. Po bitvě na Bílé hoře byl kostel uzavřen a v roce 1624 vysvěcen na katolický chrám. Kardinál František Tomášek udělil kostelu 8. listopadu 1987 statut poutního místa při tradičních mariánských poutích. Ty původně směřovaly do zaniklého kláštera kapucínů na Mariánské. Roku 1992 byla dokončena dlouholetá rekonstrukce chrámu a poté byl znovu vysvěcen pražským světícím biskupem Františkem Lobkowiczem.

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A powerless priest

Irena Šimonová