František Valena

František Valena (born October 2, 1913 in Dačice , † August 31, 1960 in Prague ) was a Czech politician, lawyer, chairman of the Central Catholic Students' Office (ÚKS), student leader and political prisoner of the communist regime.

Life

By 1939

František Valena was the second child of the carpenter Vincenc Valena and the seamstress Antonie, b. Zamazal was born in Dačice. Here he completed elementary school and grew up in the traditionally Catholic milieu of South Moravia. As a gifted student he was first sent to the archbishop's grammar school in Prague. Later he went to school at the state grammar school in Brno, where he graduated from high school in 1935 and enrolled at Masaryk University to study law. As a student he developed active socio-political activities. He joined the Czechoslovak People's Party and was involved in the social student association. He was elected chairman of the Moravian-Silesian section of Catholic university students and deputy chairman of the Central Office of Catholic Students (ÚKS) within the framework of Catholic Action . He was also involved in the Orel (Adler), an organization for physical education, where he met Dr. med. Vojtěch Jílek met. He became head of the Orel resistance group during the German occupation and was executed as such in 1941. In the following years he developed extensive activities in the Catholic student movement, organized and hosted seminars, summer camps, etc. v. a. m. and participated in congresses of the Pax Romana (international organization of Catholic intellectuals) in Poland, Austria and Yugoslavia. In 1938 he was elected chairman of the headquarters of Catholic students, tried to unite the Czech-Moravian and Slovak ÚKS, as well as to bring the Czechs and Slovaks closer together. He worked with the Polish Catholic Students' Association, was the organizer and participant of various congresses and working conferences.

During the war

Immediately after the closure of the Czech universities by the German occupying forces in November 1939, František Valena was wanted by the Gestapo as a well-known student leader. At first he hid with friends in Brno. At the request of Dr. med. Jílek, contact to Dr. Hála and Dr. Šrámek (leading politician of the People's Party, member of the government and chairman of the later government in exile in London) managed to flee under dramatic circumstances via Slovakia to Yugoslavia, where he stayed in Ljubljana for the time being after consultation with Šrámek and Hála. There he got in touch with the Slovenian Pax Romana and the Catholic Action and continued his law studies. In Ljubljana he met his future wife Danica Kržič. Few documents exist about his contacts with the Czechoslovak government- in- exile in London. His job was obviously to mediate contacts for the international recognition of the government in exile by the Vatican. In March 1941 he was commissioned from London to collect volunteers in Yugoslavia for the journey to Palestine, where a Czech army corps was organized. At the beginning of April he therefore went to Belgrade, where he witnessed the German bombing of the city. This thwarted his mission and he returned to Ljubljana. In autumn 1942 he went to Rome, where he studied canon law for two semesters at the Lateran University. There he made friends with the theologian Antonín Mandl , with whom he worked intensively in Prague after the war.

After 1945

In May 1945 František Valena returned to his liberated homeland. Once again he devoted himself to working with academic youth with great enthusiasm within the framework of the ÚKS and the Catholic Action. At the same time he became State Secretary in the Ministry of Post at František Hála. In 1946 he married and in 1948 their daughter Danica was born to the couple. After the communist coup in the same year, František Valena was immediately a target of repression. He was fired just a week after taking power. During this period of increasing communist oppression, František Valena bravely stood up for civil and religious rights. He participated in talks between the government and the church. Together with Antonín Mandl, he initiated Archbishop Beran's declaration of June 15, 1948, according to which the church would not collaborate with the regime. He made his family home available for secret gatherings and as asylum for those who had to hide from their escape, as well as providing them with financial support. During this time, the couple had their son Tomáš.

Valena was arrested on November 30, 1950. The second daughter Miriam was born in March of the next year. In the trial, František Valena became the main accused of an arbitrarily constructed anti-state group of Catholic lay people (Valena & Co.). The death penalty was requested for him. According to those present, he was one of the few who, despite the impending maximum penalty, appeared self-confidently and courageously before the court tribunal. On August 16, 1951, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for "crimes of treason and espionage". So began his ten-year ordeal through the Czechoslovak prisons and penal camps in the Pankrác prison in Prague : Bory prison near Plzeň, Mírov prison , the notorious Leopoldov camp , Bytíz near Příbram, where he had to work in the uranium mines. In 1956 he was transferred to pre-trial detention in Pankrác for alleged anti-state activities in prison. An indictment was being prepared in which, among others, his wife was accused of espionage. During this time, she was subjected to severe interrogation. After four months of pre-trial detention, he was sent to Valdice Prison. In October 1957, he was operated on for kidney cancer in the Pankrác prison hospital and then transferred back to Valdice. However, the disease progressed rapidly, which is why the prison system was interrupted to allow radiation at the University Hospital in Prague. The interruptions lasted until June 1960, under regular supervision by the State Security. He was excluded from the general amnesty in May 1960. He died on August 31, 1960 with his family. Only a few hours after his death, he was sent an order to resume prison in Valdice within 24 hours. He is buried in the old cemetery in his native Dačice.

personality

František Valena lived in extremely modest circumstances from childhood. Perhaps that is why he had a special understanding of needy and fateful people. He devoted himself to them with great empathy and willingness to make sacrifices. Although he came from a humble background, he was able to study at a university. He therefore saw his destiny in working with young people, in deepening the spiritual life of adolescents.

The traditional South Moravian religiosity soon matured into a free, critical, personal belief that was responsible for his own conscience. In prayer he drew strength for his apostolic mission into the world.

According to his calling, František Valena was not a politician, but a person who worked to spread the kingdom of God in the world. He was a true lay apostle at a time when people were too happy to rely on hierarchical church structures. During the difficult times of communist persecution, he tried to create a church that would not compromise itself through collaboration with the totalitarian regime.

In his efforts for the unity of Christian lay organizations of the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles and Slovenes, he was inspired by the Kyrill Method tradition.

František Valena was a charismatic personality who was able to convince through example and sensitive but at the same time decisive action. His contemporaries gave testimony to his character and characteristics: "Straightforwardness, seriousness, modesty, balance and determination, consistency, patience, sensitivity and attention, justice, idealism, loyalty and willingness to make sacrifices".

Thanks to these qualities and his tireless activity, he was very popular with the academic youth. At the age of twenty-two he was addressed as "otecko" (father). As a popular student leader, he posed a threat to any totalitarian regime. As a result, he was a target of both Nazi and Communist persecution. He accepted imprisonment, life-threatening illness and all suffering upright and courageously, consciously and without hesitation, devoted to the will of God and as a price for his conviction.

Quotes

“In my memories he will live forever as one of the noblest people I have met in this world. His truthfulness, inspiring idealism, loyalty, directness in connection with exemplary modesty and his sensitivity were qualities that enchanted everyone who came into contact with him. "
Dominik Pecka, 1960
(1895-1981; Prof. der theologie, pedagogue, Philosopher and writer. Before the arrest a close colleague, later a fellow prisoner).

“He was never a religious fanatic, not even a so-called“ pious ”one, but a Christian who was reasonable in the world. Educated, calm, spiritually mature, compassionate with the suffering and tired people, with a sense for the poor and the sick. His foresight as a statesman, who wanted to turn the Czech people into an educated people and the country into a European-oriented state, exceeded the horizon of his time. ”
Bohuslav Černý, 1970
(1924-1989; employee of the Catholic Ordinariate in Olomouc and in the ÚKS , Co-convicted in the process: "Valena & co.", Later his wife was arrested).

“My impression from this first encounter persists in me to this day as a suggestive experience that cannot be erased. At that time I was immediately captivated by his face with the lovable, soft gaze, each time completely focused and committed to the content that was at stake: His behavior, his appearance, the sequence of thoughts and words, expression and formulation were never aggressive, not even dictating , but deeply thought out, calm, filled with many years of personal experience and with objective knowledge. His thinking always resulted in clear convincing arguments. All of his personality radiated purity of character as well as spiritual depth and strength of heart and soul. ”
Miloš Jedlička; Memory of the first and other encounters in ÚKS after the war.

“I realized that he was very popular - he was called“ otecko ”(Moravian father) - but also that he is a person who cares about the cause, not about personal career or prestige, a true lay apostle with heart and soul. ”
Stanislav Hofírek, 1968
(1916-1993; intimate friend and colleague in the ÚKS, until he fled to Australia in 1949, he lived with the Valena family for over a year.)

literature

• František Valena: Idea a hnutí (hovor na XXV. Valném sjezdu katolického studentstva v Kroměříži, June 29, 1938, po zvolení předsedou ÚKSČs), in: Raport 3, Jitro 1938–39. (“Idea and Movement”, speech of the chairman after his election on June 29, 1938 in Kroměříž at the XXV General Assembly of Catholic Students).
• Václav Vaško: Neumlčená I. Kronika katolické církve v Československu po druhé světové válce, Zvon, Praha 1990, p. 210. (“Not hushed up - Kronik of the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia after the Second World War”).
• Václav Vaško: Ne vším jsem byl rád - vlastní životopis, Karmelitánské nakladatelství, Kostelní Vydří 1999, p. 146. (“I didn't like to play all roles” - autobiography).
• Bohumír Smutný a Jana Bisová: Kdo byl kdo na jihozápadní Moravě: Dačicko, Jemnicko, Slavonicko, Telčsko, Městské muzeum a galerie v Dačicích, Dačice 2000. ("Who is who in the south-west of Moravia")
• Kolektiv Autorů: Církevní procesy padesátých let, Karmelitánské nakladatelství, Kostelní Vydří 2002, pp. 40, 42-45. (Church trials in the fifties)
• Michael Stehlík: KSČ proti katolické církvi. Dačický okres 1948-1960, Lidové sdružení v Dačicích, Dačice 2004, pp. 40–41. ("Communist Party of Czechoslovakia against the Catholic Church. Dačice District 1948-1960").
• Stanislav Balík and Jiří Hanuš: Katolická církev v Československu 1945-1989, Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, Brno 2007, pp. 200–201. ("Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia 1945-1989").
• Václav Vaško: Dům na skále 3. Církev vězněná, Karmelitánské nakladatelství, Kostelní Vydří 2008, pp. 76–83, 274, 275, 288, 299, 317, 320. (“House on the Rock 3. The Captive Church”).
• Danica Valenová: Nic nedává, kdo nedá sám sebe. Deník 1945-1960, Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, Praha 2012. (Only those who give themselves. Diary 1945-1960)
• Josef Jakeš, Slyším mlýnský kámen, jak se otáčí. Vzpomínky na dny všední i sváteční v Českém Krumlově a jinde, Nová tiskárna, Pelhřimov 2013, p. 150, 282. ("I hear the millstone turning. Memories of everyday and festive days in Český Krumlov and elsewhere").
• Jan Stříbrný: Ušlechtilý Kristův svědek, in: Universum, Revue české křesťanské akademie 3/2013, Volume XXIII, pp. 41–44. ("A noble witness of Christ").

Remarks

1. ↑ Michael Stehlík, Slovo editora, in: Danica Valenová: Nic nedává, kdo nedá sám sebe. Deník 1945-1960, Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, Praha 2012, p. 239.
2. ^ ^{A b} Jan Stříbrný: Ušlechtilý Kristův svědek, in: Universum, Revue české křesťanské akademie 3/2013, Volume XXIII, pp. 41–44.
3. ↑ Jan Stříbrný: Ušlechtilý Kristův svědek, in: Universum, Revue české křesťanské akademie 3/2013, year XXIII, pp. 41–44; Kolektiv Autorů: Církevní procesy padesátých let, Karmelitánské nakladatelství, Kostelní Vydří 2002, pp. 42–45; Danica Valenová: Nic nedává, kdo nedá sám sebe. Deník 1945-1960, Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, Praha 2012, pp. 81–86; Václav Vaško: Dům na skále / 3. Církev vězněná, Karmelitánské nakladatelství, Kostelní Vydří 2008, pp. 76–83.
4. ↑ Danica soothing Valenova: Nic nedává, kdo Neda sám sebe. Deník 1945-1960, Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, Praha 2012, pp. 215–216.
5. ^ Letter from Dominik Pecka dated September 8, 1960, Valena family archive.