97 year old woman continues sokol training despite communist repression

Drahomíra Kovářová continues to train with the Sokol organization in Zlín, Czech Republic, despite having lived through decades of communist repression.

Kovářová, who is 97 years old, began her involvement with the Sokol movement at the age of six. She grew up in Karviné before moving to Zlín, where she survived the bombings of World War II by hiding in a cellar.

During the war, the Germans imprisoned her adoptive father because of his active involvement with the Sokol, a Czech gymnastics organization. Following the communist takeover in 1948, the state suppressed the Sokol organization. Kovářová describes practicing the movements in secret during the totalitarian era to maintain the traditions she valued. The regime also restricted her personal life by preventing her from visiting her daughter, who emigrated to the United States. Kovářová remains an active member of the Sokol today.

She explains that she continues to vote in elections primarily to prevent a return to communist rule. She also watches the war in Ukraine and expresses confusion over why people choose to fight and kill one another.