Two years in prison for concealing homemade slivovice
Stáhnout obrázek
Oldřich Mudrák was born on November 26, 1919 in Haluzice near Valašské Klobouky. After attending the municipal school, he attended the town school in nearby Slavičín. In the 1930s his parents set up a village shop. His father also ran a pub in Haluzice. At the end of World War II, southeast Moravia was liberated mainly by Romanian troops under Soviet command. The Romanian army occupied many farm buildings in Haluzice and confiscated some of the people‘s property. Oldřich Mudrák was a talented businessman, so he prospered in his parents‘ shop until he had to join the Jednota company. Because of his business, he was branded a village rich man and was replaced by other shopkeepers. When a consumer cooperative was established in nearby Vlachovice, he was appointed manager. Later, as an experienced and successful worker, he rose to the headquarters in Valašské Klobouky and was responsible for overseeing dozens of stores in the area. Oldřich Mudrák worked in the commercial sector until the mid-1950s, when he was arrested for concealing slivovice that his brother had hidden from him. Mudrák was taken to a detention centre in Uherské Hradiště. By then he had three children and a fourth was on the way. The state security took advantage of the whole event and staged a monster trial in Valašské Klobouky. Oldřich Mudrák was sentenced to two years in prison for concealing homemade slivovice. He was taken from Uherské Hradiště to Ruzyně. He was later transferred to the Libkovice camp near Most. He served more than half of his sentence as a miner. After a year, he applied for release and succeeded. After returning from prison, he resumed his work in the commercial sphere. As the retail and hospitality system was partially liberalised in the second half of the 1950s, Mudrák‘s family was able to rent a pub in Haluzice and paid only the proceeds from the sale of beer to the state. Soon, however, the retail sector was completely socialised. Oldřich Mudrák, as the manager of the inn in Haluzice, nevertheless prospered. In the 1960s, he began to organise popular swing parties, which were attended by young people from the wider area. For many years he also earned money by sending out beekeeping supplies. He returned to private business in the 1990s when he restituted his former shop. In the last years of his life Oldřich Mudrák devoted himself to beekeeping.
