Jaroslav Šulc – paleontolog ve službách národa
Jaroslav Šulc – a Palaeontologist Serving the Nation

Summary/Abstract: The society-wide thaw in the late 1960s lived up to the expectations not only of the inhabitants of the then Czechoslovakia, but also of the émigrés. Joy and hope were also reflected in the correspondence between the Archbishop of Prague Josef Cardinal Beran during his exile in Rome and believers behind the Iron Curtain as well as expatriates scattered all over the world. He kept receiving letters from Mexico, written by Olga Šulcová, then 85, in which she recalled her home and especially her son Jaroslav, executed in Berlin-Plötzensee: “[On] 20 May [1968] […] it will be 25 years since my son Jaroslav laid down his life to save his dear prison inmates. Please pray for him!” In another of her letters, she wrote: “Let us hope to God that the past was the last test for our country! […] I have a task to fulfil, that is to finally pay tribute to my son in my home country.” However, the invasion of the Warsaw Pact armies put a definitive end to this hope. After that, the name of Jaroslav Šulc was to be briefly mentioned only in less prominent scholarly texts. Owing to his patriotism and democratic belief he was destined to be completely forgotten.

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