As if we were going to die today

The drama of the life, priesthood and martyrdom of the parish priest Josef Toufar

It is the third Sunday of Advent in 1949. In the small church in Číhošt' in the Highlands, the altar cross is waved three times during the sermon of the parish priest Josef Toufar.

The communist STB enters the subsequent church clarification. Toufar is kidnapped and forced to confess, under inhuman torture in the dungeons of a Valdice prison, that he moved the cross by means of a complex construction on his own, on orders from the Vatican. On 25 February 1950 Josef Toufar died of many severe injuries.

The writer Miloš Doležal has devoted many years to clarifying the case and preserving the memory of Josef Toufar. From meetings with survivors and detailed research in the archives, he has compiled a compelling picture of a straightforward and courageous man.

The book As If We Should Die Today was first published in 2012 and in the same year was awarded the title of Book of the Year in the Lidové noviny poll.