Miroslav Hampl

Miroslav Hampl was born on September 16th, 1932 in Křelov near Olomouc. He always wanted to travel. In 1947 he went to study shoe-making at Baťa's school, as it gave a prospect of working abroad there. The communist coup in 1948 thwarted all plans for traveling, however. After finishing his studies, he was chosen for an one-year brigade in heavy industry. From the offers he received on locations to work, he decided to work in a mine in Jáchymov, where he worked as a collector. He met political prisoners there and attempted to help them by all means possible. He also helped the prisoner Bohuslav Pánek to escape. On November 27th, 1953, Miroslav Hampl was arrested. On September 22nd, 1953 he was sentenced to three years of prison for an association against the republic. The original charge was for treason and espionage but the sentence reflected his workers‘ origin. He was sent to Ležnice camp in Horní Slavkov. His friends in prison, whom he helped as a civil servant, helped him survive the unbearable working conditions. Thanks to their solidarity he began to fulfill the standards and his food rations increased. On September 28th, 1954, Miroslav Hampl was put on probation because of an amnesty. As a political prisoner he had serious trouble finding a job, however. In the end, he went to work for a district construction company where he stayed until his retirement. In 1987, his daughter Vladimíra, her child and her boyfriend emigrated to West Germany. Currently, Miroslav Hampl lives in Šumperk.

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