Jan Mastný

Jan Mastný was born on June 24, 1925. He graduated at an agricultural school in Klatovy and a higher agricultural cooperative school in Prague. Then he found a job at the Smíchovsko-Zbraslavské družstvo cooperative and after his military service he worked in construction. In March 1952, the State Security arrested his parents and two older brothers and in April, Jan followed them into custody. In July 1952, the District Court in Domažlice sentenced him to three years in prison and the forfeiture of all his property for the sedition against the Republic, allegedly committed by listening to Western radio in the presence of his parents. He served his term in the Prokop and Ležnice labor camps in the region of Hornoslavkovsko. In 1954, he was conditionally released in the wake of an amnesty. His relatives were tried and sentenced for the alleged crimes of sabotage, illegal possession of arms, and association and sedition against the Republic. They were sentenced to various terms: his father to 10 years in prison, his mother to 8 years in prison, his brother Josef Vojtěch to 8 years in prison and his brother Václav to 10 years in prison. After his release, Jan worked as a driver at the company Posista Construction of Roads and Railroads, and since 1958 in the Ejpovice steelworks. After the closing down of the steelworks, he worked in the production of hot-air dryers, where he remained until his retirement in 1985.

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