Vaclav Rozinak

Political prisoner and member of the golden generation of czechoslovak players, that won World Championship in 1947 and 1949 and silver medal at Olympic games in 1948. Along with Vladimir Zabrodsky and Stanislav Konopasek formed the elite formation of LTC Praha and Czechoslovak national team. Great skater with skilled technique. Kind and honest person. His career and life was crushed by communists when he was only 27 years old. His wife with little baby was chased from their flat right after his inprisonement. Soon before the departure to London for the World championship in 1950, Rozinak and his 12 teammates from national hockey team were arrested by communists. In mendacious political trial they were accused of treason against communism (they thought they want to emigrate), physically tortured and then sentenced from 8 months to 15 years of inprisonment. Vaclav Rozinak was sentenced to 10 years in uranium prisoner camps in Jachymov. After 5 years of torture and humiliation in the "camps of death" he was released. However his health was severely damaged. He met with his fellow teammates and prisoners Augustin Bubnik, Vladimir Zabrodsky and Stanislav Konopasek in Sparta Praha, but the things were not the same. In 1968 he managed to emigrate to Switzerland soon after Czechoslovakia was once again occupied by Soviets. In 1965 emigratd Vladimir Zabrodsky and in 1969 Vladimir Kobranov. He was living in Switzerland for more than 25 years. He died in Zürich March 1, 1997. (Jan Jech)