Walking the green mile after the court hearing
"When they took us from the court, they were separating us into the cells. One of them said: ´Jarmara, you go to the second floor. Cell number this and this.´ So I went there. I was looking for the right cell. Then I saw the red circle! I thought: ´Oh my God! That´s not possible! Death sentence! I´m not supposed to be here I only got the life imprisonment.´ So I was just standing there until the screw came and unlock the door. Then some prisoner appeared on the first floor and asked me: ´What are you waiting for? ´ I told him I don´t know. Then he said: ´You´re waiting for your punishment - the death sentence. You see? You have the red sign here.´ His name was František Teuner. He was a former member of the Protectorate youth collaborator organization during the WWII. We could talk to each other like this. Nobody watched us anymore. He said: ´Don´t worry, I´ve been here for over a year now waiting also for the death sentence to be carried out. And they still don´t want me.´ I was shocked: ´A year? ´ I think I can handle that, I thought to myself. But just as I said that the guard came and opened the door and pushed me in. ´That´s it, ´ I thought. They only tricked me, they said a life imprisonment, but I got the death sentence. But then next morning the door opened and I heard: ´Jesus, we put you into the wrong cell. You´re not supposed to be here.´ I was so glad. Then I moved into regular cell."
- he was born on April 26th 1923 in Třeština village nearby Mohelnice town
- he was employed by the police where he worked as a frontier guard
- he has been connected to the "Praha - Žatec" resistance group; through Lieutenant Voborsky he provided information about people from the west who cooperated with the StB
- on March 2nd 1949 he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment
- the original statement was the death sentence which was signed also by few fellow citizens from Třeština
- he went through prisons like Pankrác, Bory, Leopoldov and Valdice
- altogether he spent ten years, five months and 19 days in prison
- besides others during his imprisonment he met Colonel Karel Lukas or General Karel Janoušek and General Antonín Pelich or General Rudolf Bulandr
- also his brother Věroslav Jarmara spent some time in jail; he functioned as a junction between the western countries
- on behalf of his father he married his girlfriend Svatava while in Leopoldov prison
- after his release he suffered enormous problems finding his job
- presently he lives in Hrabová village