In Nové Jičín, a memorial plaque to commemorate an honorary citizen of the city, an RAF fighter squadron war pilot at memoriam, Major General Jaroslav Hla, was unveiled. The plaque was placed in the department store building in 2003, because the building stands at the place where Hlaď was born. During the reconstruction of the shopping center, it was removed and stored in the City’s Club of Natives and Friends. The second opening ceremony was attended by Jaroslav Hla’s wife, Bozena Hlaďová and their daughter.

Věra Váchová, daughter of Jaroslav Hla: “We see it as an honor, because in Nové Jičín the relationship with our father is still being renewed. Mr. Richard Sládeček, his scout friend, started it in Nové Jičín. Mr. Sládeček was the originator of the naming of the street and the initiation of the plaque, and that Father returned to the consciousness of the people Novojičín after the communist era, when he was not talked about much. We are very proud that you remember him here.”

The effort to place a memorial plaque for General Hlaď in Nové Jičín was also strongly supported by the Club of Natives and Friends of the City, especially the chairman and former mayor of Nové Jičín, Pavel Wessely at the time.

Pavel Wessely, Club of the natives and friends of the city of Nové Jičín: “It was for the 90th anniversary of his birth, and for the centenary, a smaller plaque was added, dedicated to the people of June.”

Radek Polách, Novojičin Museum: “The houses of the Czech Minority School janitors used to stand in these places, where Jaroslav Hlaďo was born on 8 May 1913. He became an important figure in the air force of the interwar period, but also during the Second World War in the Royal Air Force in Great Britain. ”

Václav Dobrozemský (ODS), 2nd Deputy Mayor of NJ, Junák – Czech Scouts: “It must be said that Jaroslav Hlaďo was a member of the first Scout troop in Nové Jičín in the twenties and thirties, and he even led this army.”

The house where General Hlaďo was born was demolished in the first half of the 1980s, and construction of the Prior department store began here. It was completed after a longer delay in the new post-revolutionary period.

Pavel Wessely, Club of the natives and friends of the city of Nové Jičín: “This facility, which is reopening, is a big problem for the city. It couldn’t be sold for long to someone who would build it, also because there was a civil repair cover underneath. In the end, it worked, and it is a coincidence that this house opened for the first time a quarter of a century ago.”

Jaroslav Hlaďo died in January 1990. The street where his birthplace stands has been named after him since the 1990s, and this March he was named an honorary citizen of the city. Next year on May 8 will be the 110th anniversary of his birth. An exhibition will commemorate this anniversary at the Visitor Center.