Gentlemen, hats off!
ThDr. Pavel Aleš (Axman) was born on 8 April, 1935, in Řimice. His father, the Orthodox priest Bohumír Aleš (Axman) – he changed his surname to Aleš after the war – was born on 7 November, 1909, also in Řimice. From 1924 onwards, he studied theology at the Orthodox School of St. Sáva in Sremski Karlovci. After passing the graduation exam, he continued his studies at the Theological Faculty in Belgrade. Due to the lack of Orthodox clergymen at home, the Bishop Gorazd urged him to return to his fatherland. After completing the compulsory school-leaving exam at the state-run secondary school in Prague‘s Vinohrady, which guaranteed him state aid, on 7 January, 1933, he married Božena, née Lakomá. Nothing prevented him any longer from being ordained a priest by the Bishop Gorazd. He worked briefly at the headquarters in Prague. Since 1934, he worked as an archivist and librarian of the eparchial Council in Řimice. After the Anthropoid military operation and the subsequent death of Reinhard Heydrich, he was among the persecuted Czech Orthodox clergymen. In September 1942, Bohumír Aleš (Axman) was arrested in Olomouc and subsequently sent to forced labor in the Reich (as one of the first Orthodox clergymen). He was allowed to return home for health reasons in 1943. At his house in Řimice, he secretly held Orthodox religious services until the liberation. In the years 1947-1950, he worked as a military cleric of the Orthodox Church. Until his retirement, he served in the church community in Prague and shortly in Tábor. Bohumír Aleš (Axman) died after a long and serious illness aged 70 years on 18 January, 1980.
