Josef Plojhar

Josef Plojhar (2 March 1902 – 5 November 1981) was a Czech and Czechoslovak Roman Catholic priest and politician. He served as Minister of Health between 1948 and 1968, and also chaired the Peace Movement of Catholic Priests from 1948 to 1968.

Biography Plojhar was born in České Budějovice to a German-Czech family. He received his secondary education at a German gymnasium in his hometown and was active in German student associations; his nationality was also listed as German when he was ordained a priest. Plojhar considered himself to be of Czech nationality from the early 1930s, when he joined the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL).

After the occupation of the Czech lands by Nazi Germany in 1939, Plojhar was arrested by the Germans; from September 1939 until 1945, he was imprisoned in the concentration camps Buchenwald and Dachau. After liberation, he shortly resumed work as a priest in České Budějovice before being elected to the Interim National Assembly for the ČSL; he remained a deputy of the succeeding Constituent National Assembly, and then of the National Assembly, until 1960. In addition, Plojhar served as vice-president in 1948–1951 and then as president in 1951–1968 of the ČSL, and as vice-president of the Association of Czechoslovak–Soviet Friendship in 1952–1970.

Foreign honours