Miluše Axamitová

Miluše Axamitová (née Hesová), was born in the village Zemětice in the Pilsen region in 1929. During the last years of the Second World War, she studied at the Teacher institute in Pilsen. Here she witnessed several Allied air-raids conducted on the town and its military factories. One of these raids took place shortly before Christmas 1944 and destroyed not only the Škoda factory and local Gestapo seat, but also many public buildings. The air raid also cost many lives. In the shelter of the health insurance company, where Miluše stayed, a provisional hospital to treat the wounded was established.

After the war, she taught at several grammar schools in Western Bohemia. In 1949, while teaching in Kdyně, she met Antonín Axamit. The couple fell in love and started making preparations for their wedding. It was at this point that Antonín was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment for alleged treason, because he helped three college students escape across the border. Miluše waited ten years for him while he was being held in several infamous communist prison camps. In 1960, Antonín was released on amnesty and the couple got married.

Miluše continued to teach in the grammar school in Plzeň-Litice until her retirement in 1984. She has two daughters who were not permitted to study due to their father´s past and also because of their undisguised Christian faith. In 1989 after the Velvet Revolution, Czechoslovakia became an independent and free democracy. Antonín became a member of the Confederation of Political Prisoners. Due to his weak health he was often represented by his wife, who cooperates with the confederation until this day.