The Patera Toufara is reminiscent of a statue by Olbram Zoubek in Zahrádka

Horní Paseka (Havlíčkobrodsko) - A statue in the church of Saint Vitus in Zahrádka commemorates priest Josef Toufar, who was killed by the communists exactly 67 years ago today. The more than two-meter-high metal sculpture for Zahrádka was created by sculptor Olbram Zoubek. The artwork was made available to the public today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the entrance doors to the sacristy, where it is located.

"This is my last major sculpture; I won't create another one. That's why I'm glad this last sculpture comes here," said Zoubek, who will celebrate his ninety-first birthday in April. He decided to create the statue after reading Miloš Doležal's book about Father Toufar, which moved him. When choosing a location, he also looked in Číhošť, but a monument already exists there. Therefore, he opted for Zahrádka, where Toufar served longer than in Číhošť.

The sculpture was originally supposed to depict Father Toufar. "But it just didn't work for me," said Zoubek. Thus, it is a statue for Father Toufar. The sculptor dedicated his work to the National Heritage Institute, which manages the church in Zahrádka.

"We never thought that such an artist as Mr. Olbram Zoubek, whom I greatly respect, would make a statue for our uncle," said Toufar's great-niece Jitka Cvetlerová, who was among the several hundred guests at today's ceremony.

Saint Vitus Church is the only building that remained from the town of 200 houses that was demolished in the 1970s due to the construction of the Švihov water reservoir on the Želivka River. For Father Toufar, the parish in Zahrádka was his first position, serving there from 1940 to 1948. The priest died on February 25, 1950, after being tortured by members of the StB who tried to force him to confess that he staged a so-called miraculous movement of the cross on the altar in the Číhošť church on December 11, 1949.

The Friends of Zahrádka association is collaborating with heritage officials on the preservation of the originally Romanesque church in Zahrádka, seeking funds for repairs through a public collection. The association's goal is to create a memorial for the entire flooded area in the church, which currently stands on the banks of the reservoir, with an exhibition commemorating the work of Father Toufar. Concerts and memorial events have been held in the church since 2001.