THE OCCUPATION AND THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL STUDENTS in 1939- 1945

The arrival of the German army and the years of occupation in 1939 - 45 sharply changed the fate of many people, including the students of the Grammar school in Vysoké Mýto. Some students illegally published a magazine called “Diffident Tones”, where in addition to their own literary works they also reflected the antifacists spirit. "They tied our wings and put a knife to the heart ", wrote student Bohuslav Bárta.

At the turn of the years 1939 to 1940 an illegal student group was established and the students tried to work actively - collecting printed materials, political books and anti-fascist propaganda - such as copying leaflets.

On 8/10/1941 director Josef  Kolář is arrested and 22/3/1942 he is tortured to death by the Gestapo for his activities in the sports association called Sokol (Falcon in English).

In the first half of 1942, the Gestapo arrested a number of people suspected of illegal activity. Some of them were the grammar school students. The arrested ones were later to Dresden and here the Germans accused them of
- Preparation of a violent breakaway of the territory belonging to the Third Reich
- Preparation of treason by grouping and forming associations
- Influencing the masses by distributing printed materials
- Siding with the enemy during the war or causing damage to the Third Reich

In 1943, after the sentencing by the German court, nine students of  Grammar school  in Vysoké Mýto, namely Bohuslav Bárta, Miroslav Ell, Jaroslav Jelínek, Adolf Faltejsek, Jiří Svoboda, Miloslav Svoboda, Jaroslav Šafka, Jaroslav Vodička and Jaroslav Vondráček were executed. Secondary school professor Josef  Běhounek, who was imprisoned with them for some time, said about them: "... these people went to die bravely, because they knew that they supported a right thing ..."

After the war, the executed students were posthumously awarded a War Cross and in front of the school there is a monument and a plaque with their names.