He could only study theology in exile
Stáhnout obrázek
Josef Malár was born on January 19, 1925 in Nová Lhota on the Moravian-Slovak border. In 1941 he started his studies at the Benedictine monastery in Prague. However, the Nazis closed the Benedictine school and the pupils had to transfer to the state-run Jirásek Grammar School in Resslova Street. Josef Malár graduated there and in 1947 he entered the Archbishop‘s Seminary in Olomouc. His studies in divinity and theology ended after six semesters in 1950 when he refused to continue his studies under state control in Litoměřice. He then had to enlist in the PTP (Technical auxiliary battalion) in Mimoň for three years. As part of his service in the PTP, he was sent to the stone quarry in Lešany near Benešov, to the airport in Ruzyně, to Olomouc, to Kynžvart near Mariánské Lázně and to Prague. He was discharged from the PTP in December 1953 and found employment in Prague at the Pozemní stavby company as a labourer. Occasionally he studied languages and theology. After the relaxation of conditions in the mid-1960s he decided to emigrate. In 1966 he came to Vienna and Bavaria via Yugoslavia, where he completed his theological studies in Dillingen. He was ordained a priest on June 25, 1967 in Augsburg. From 1967 to 1972 he served as chaplain in Reichertshofen near Ingolstadt. In 1972 he became pastor in Bachhagel. In 2000 he retired and worked as an assistant priest. At the end of his life he returned to Nová Lhota in 2005. Since January 2006, he lived in a nursing home in Dolní Němeč. Josef Malár died on August 1, 2010.
