Optimism and laughter are the most important things
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Ladislav Seidler was born on April 16, 1939 in Pilsen. During the war, his parents sent their children together with their grandma to live with relatives in the rural area in Olešná u Radnic. Ladislav still remembers the fear he experienced during a shelling while visiting Pilsen. In autumn 1945, he started attending the monastic school of Sisters of Notre Dame. The Communist régime abolished the school in 1948. Around the same time, his parents were forced to close their textile shop. The authorities made it intentionally impossible for them to purchase goods with producers or wholesalers. Ladislav’s mother stayed at home while his father became a breadwinner for the whole family; he worked as a representative of funeral services. In 1953, the family had to leave the apartment which fell in the hands of one of the “Comrades”. The plan was to send the family to Úterý, North of Pilsen. However, the family owned a small house in Čechurov, Pilsen, where they were eventually allowed to stay. After finishing primary school, Ladislav was aiming to study at a secondary school of industrial engineering. The school director in the primary school told his father that the society did not need intellectuals coming from a family of business owners and Christians. Ladislav was recommended to seek employment as a coal miner, pitman or postman. Following major obstructions, Ladislav managed to get accepted for a two-year program for postmen outside of Pilsen. Having finished the program, he joined the post offices at Pilsen main train station. He did military service in Litoměřice with the radio unit. Having returned from the military, he started working at train post where he stayed for forty-four years before retiring. In 1968, he and his wife Anna joined the Czechoslovak People’s Party, hoping for a political change. The occupation by the Warsaw Pact Troops and the ensuing developments have disappointed them; they decided to focus on their family life instead. Ladislav, having had a time-consuming profession, has spent all his remaining free time with his wife and two daughters.
