The whole family was convicted for hiding an agent
Stáhnout obrázek
Věra Jiráková, née Hejtmánková, was born on 6 May 1935 in Nosislavy near Brno, where her parents ran a small farm. After finishing municipal school, she started working at the Fruta company in Modřice. Her father, who was a supporter of the National Socialists, resisted pressure to join a cooperative farm for a long time after the collectivisation of agriculture began. From August 1951 to the beginning of 1952, the Hejtmánks hid Cyril Sláma Jr. and Miloš Procházka, who were working in the service of the British secret service in the Czechoslovak territory at that time. The youngest of the Hejtmánek daughters, Věra, despite her young age, partly mediated contacts between Cyril Sláma and his family. Cyril Sláma was already playing a double game with State Security at that time, and after he finally decided to stay abroad at the beginning of 1952 and „betrayed“ State Security, the secret service proceeded to arrest his aides. All those who were in any way connected with the Sláma family ended up in prison. On 12 February 1952, the whole Hejtmánek family was also arrested - both parents and their three daughters. Věra Hejtmánková spent the next three months in pre-trial detention in Brno on Příční Street, after which she was taken to the detention centre in Cejl. The trial of Cyril Sláma Sr. (the father of the agent) and Co., in which the Hejtmaneks were also tried, took place at the end of October 1952 at the State Court in Brno. For the crime of espionage, all of the Hejtmánek family were sentenced to heavy sentences - the father to 10 years, the mother to 5, the eldest sister to 7, the middle sister to 6, and the minor Věra to 2 and a half years imprisonment. After the trial, the youngest, Věra, was taken to the Institute for Juveniles in Tišnov, but because of the seizure of a secret note, she was transferred to the institution in Zámrsk after six months. Her father was imprisoned in Valdice and her mother and eldest sister in Želiezovce, Slovakia. The second sister was soon pardoned because of her care for the young child. In February 1954, Věra Hejtmánková was also released on parole. As her family was left completely destitute due to the confiscation of all their property, she had to move in with her grandparents in Nikolčice for a while. She soon moved to Brno, got married and continued to work as a shop assistant. Věra Jiráková eventually settled in Vojkovice. She received an award of a participant of the anti-communist resistance.
