He was born on April 12, 1944 into a prominent family of book printers. As a small boy, he and his parents had to watch as the Red Guards smashed their printer to pieces, and no one stood up for them in the commission of this crime. This painful experience largely determined the content of his life. With his songs, he railed once morest injustice, totalitarianism and human indifference. When Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, he wrote the most famous protest song of the time: Brother, close the gate.
After twenty years of German exile, he arrives in his homeland in November 1989. He sings the national anthem in front of a packed sports hall and later on the Melantrich balcony together with Karl Gott. According to many, this very performance of the national artist and singer in exile was a clear proof that communism is defeated.
