- Etat: **
- Année: 2010-11-11
stamp in the colours of the tricolour contains Jan Opletal´s portrait.
Jan Opletal was born on 31 December 1915 and died on 11 November 1939. He became one of the symbols of the Czech resistance against the Nazi occupation in 1939. The name of this medical student at Charles University in Prague has been for many decades in the consciousness of the nation inseparably linked with the tragic events of the autumn of 1939.
On 28 October 1939, anti-Nazi demonstrations and riots were held in Prague to mark the anniversary of the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state; Jan Opletal attended these demonstrations and was mortally wounded. His participation in the demonstrations was a conscious and deliberate act. He was determined to fight for freedom, against violence and oppression. He became a symbol of hard defiance and constant inspiration of the struggle for freedom. His funeral was followed by brutal Nazi actions, which led to the closure of Czech universities, executions and imprisonment of Czech students.
Jan Opletal's attitudes to life, as well as his views expressed more clearly and openly with a growing age, were primarily influenced by the environment from which he came. He came from very humble beginnings. With regard to the difficult social situation of the family, his parents originally probably did not even consider the possibility of their youngest son going to study. But thanks to his prominent and versatile talent and on a recommendation from his teachers, he was eventually admitted to the grammar school in Litovel, where he graduated with distinction in 1934. In 1936 he enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague. Because of his premature death, he did not complete the studies. He died as a result of the Nazi repression against students. In 1996, he was posthumously awarded the Order of T.G. Masaryk, First Class. In 1945, Charles University granted Jan Opletal the degree of M.D. in memoriam.