Dagmar Lieblova´s father

This is picture of my father. It was probably made after his school-leaving exam or in the beginning of his university studies.

My dad was called Julius Fantl and was born in 1892 in Cimelice. He was a blue-eyed blond.

While studying medicine, he become involved in student activity against Austria and was sentenced to six months at the age of twenty-two.

He was only in prison for three years though, because there was an amnesty in 1917 when Emperor Franz Joseph died and a new emperor came along.

Dad was condemned and permanently expelled from all the universities in Austria-Hungary. My grandfather Vilem wrote a letter to a prison in Arad, Romania, asking if his son Julius was there and if he was alive and well.

He received the letter back with the following note written on it in German: "We can inform you that your son Julius is here and is well."

A lawyer later explained to me that this made sense because if they had replied on different paper, they would have had to archive it and to send an official reply.

After my father had received an amnesty, he later served in the army in a Czech regiment in Hungary, and in 1918 resumed his studies once again.

He would often relate what happened when he went to put his name down for the degree ceremony: a clerk at the rector's office looked in his documents and pointed out that he had been permanently expelled from all universities in Austria-Hungary.

In response, dad said that Austria-Hungary is no longer in existence. He was a general practitioner all his life.