I graduated five days after the extermination of Lidice
Stáhnout obrázek
Zdenka Brejníková, née Vimrová, was born on December 10, 1923, in Vinařice near Louny. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Slovakia, where her father was sent to work as a teacher. She started school in Slovakia, but always spent her vacations with her grandparents in Vinařice. During a health stay in Lány, she personally met President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. On the recommendation of Professor Rajmund Žižka, she transferred from elementary school to the State Girls‘ Reform Grammar School in Žilina, where she was influenced by the headmaster Jan Trpák. In 1939, the family left Slovakia and returned to Bohemia, settling in Černčice. She completed her studies at the grammar school in Louny and graduated on June 15, 1942, as the youngest graduate – just five days after the destruction of Lidice. Due to the closure of universities, she went to study at a teacher training college. In 1945, she wanted to go to university, but after her father‘s death on July 22, 1945, she had to start working. She began her teaching career in Stradonice and remained a teacher until her retirement. She and her husband refused to join the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), which prevented their daughters from continuing their studies at university. The death of her husband in 1973 was a huge loss for her. In 2023, she celebrated her 100th birthday as the only living graduate of the Louny grammar school from 1942. In 2024, she lived in Černčice near Louny.
