Josef Jelínek se narodil 24. 10. 1924 v německém Braumbaueru. Otec Josef Jelínek byl truhlářem v Dortmundu, kde se také věnoval studiu politických poměrů. Matka Marie Jelínková byla původem Němka, zemřela několik měsíců po porodu malého Josefa.

Josef Jelínek was born 24 October 1924 at Braumbauer, Germany, His father, also named Josef, was a carpenter who worked in Dortmund, Germany but he  was becoming aware of the changing political situation. Mary, his mother, was German who died a few months after giving birth to young Josef.

V roce 1926 se malý Josef s otcem přestěhovali do Chomutova. Otec byl velikým politickým „bouřlivákem“ z čehož neměli radost četníci a několikrát s nimi přišel do kontaktu. Malý Josef vyrůstal u tety a strýce v Nýřanech, kde žil do roku 1938, zde dostudoval druhou třídu měšťanské školy, třetí třídu dokončil v Plzni v roce 1939. Přilepšoval si u druhé poloviny rodiny, ta však byla německá a soucítila s Hitlerem a mladého Josefa chtěla naverbovat do Wehrmachtu.

In 1926 Josef and his father moved back to Chomutov, which was in the Sudenten region of Czechoslovakia. Josef’s father was a fiery person when it came to politics and on several occasions this caused him to have confrontations with the authorities. Young Josef was brought up by a Uncle and Aunt who lived in Nýřany and lived there till 1938. He achieved his 2^nd grade at school here and the following year he passed his 3^rd grade at Plzen. His mothers family, being German, sympathised with the rise of Hitler and during this time young Josef wanted to join the Wehrnacht – the German Army.

Tím kdo mu do jisté míry zachránil život byl Sir Nicholas Winton, člověk, který organizoval transporty židovských dětí, které by jistě zahynuli v koncentračních táborech. V těchto transportech, krom židovských dětí cestovalo i několik dětí z pohraničí, romů, ale i českých Němců, což byl případ Josefa Jelínka. V roce 1939 odcestoval transportem do Anglie. Zde se setkává s otcem, který ho živí. V srpnu 1940 dostává práci v textilním průmyslu v Leeds a zde setrvá až do května 1943.

Josef’s father was now living in London and in 1939, with the assistance of Sir Nicholas Winton, managed to get young Josef to England. Nicholas Winton was the man who organized the transportation, by train, of 669 children to London. Whilst these  ‘Winton children’ were mainly Jewish a few, from the Sudentenland region of Czechoslovakia, who were gypsies or German or Czech children managed to be included. Young Josef was one of these few, which most probably saved his life. Initially, on reaching England,  young Josef stayed with his father in London, but in August 1940 he moved to Leeds. Here he got a job in the textile industry where he stayed until May 1943.

V 18 letech se Josef připojil k naší armádě. Nejdříve prošel základním výcvikem a poté si dal přihlášku k čs. letectvu, kde byl 16.7.1943 v hodnosti AC2 (vojín) přijat a zařazen k naší 310. stíhací peruti. Zde pracoval jako mechanik do 1. 1. 1945, kdy si podal přihlášku do pilotního výcviku. Výcvik pilota nedodělal, jelikož 8. 5. 1945 skončila válka. Do osvobozené republiky se však mohl vrátit až 13.8.1945.

At 18 years old he was called up for military service. Initially he did his basic training in the Czechoslovak Army. On completion, he applied to transfer to  the RAF who he joined on 16 July 1943 with the rank of AC2. He was posted to 310 Sqn. as a aircraft mechanic. On 1 January 1945 he successfully applied for pilot training and was during this course when, on 8 May 1945,  the war in Europe ended. However there was a delay until 13 August before the Czechoslovak RAF airmen were able to return to their homeland.

Prozatím bydlel v kasárnách 5. leteckého pluku č 5 v Českých Budějovicích. Na konci roku 1945 obdržel domovské právo v Kamenném Újezdě. Dne 9.1.1946 trvale demobilizoval. Dodělal si maturitu v Brně a poté se odstěhoval na sever Čech, do Liberce. On byl nyní ženatý a během tohoto období se mu narodila dcera Drahomír. V roce 1956 dostává občanství České republiky. Komunistické represe se mu však nevyhýbají, je šikanován a často mění působiště svého zaměstnání. Zaměstnaný je vždy v textilním průmyslu.

Josef was now serving in the 5^th Aviation Regiment of the Czechoslovak Air Force who were based at Český Budějovice  At the end of 1945 he was at Kamenný Újezd and was demobilised on 1 September 1946. He completed further education in Brno and then moved to Liberec, in the Northern Bohemia region of the country where he worked in the textile industry. He was now married and during this period his daughter Drahomír was born. During the Communist period of repression he was often victimised and not permitted to work in the textile industry causing him to frequently change his employment. Despite this, it is quite possible that he Communist sympathies during this period, due to the earlier influence of his father, and several of his ex RAF colleagues were known to have joined the Communist party. In 1956 he was reinstated with his Czechoslovak citizenship rights.

V roce 1991 při politické rehabilitaci je povýšen pouze na nadrotmistra v záloze. Bohužel 30. 5. 1992 zemřel při návštěvě v Kamenném Újezdě, který měl velice rád.

Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, he was politically rehabilitated in 1991 and promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major. Sadly, on 30 May 1992, he died whilst visiting the Kamenný Újezd, region, near Plzen, one of his favourite places.a

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Milan Votava

[Překlad z češtiny do angličtiny není přesný. V anglické textu je zařazeno historické pozadí, které má  čtenáři umožnit aby lépe pochopil historii Československé republiky.]

[Translation note: The English translation is not an exact translation of the Czech text – additional English text has been included to give some historical background to assist the reader to have a better understand of that time in Czechoslovak history.]