Ms. Marie Havašová of Auckland (NZL) turned 108 y.o.

She was born on 16 June 1918 in Czech Republic.

She is the 6th known OLP in New Zealand.

https://www.i60.cz/clanek/detail/38748/vsechno-nejlepsi-k-stoosmym-narozeninam-pani-havasova

Happy 108th birthday, Mrs. Havašová!

On June 16, there was a celebration in faraway Auckland. Marie Havašová, a native of Ostroměř in East Bohemia, blew out an incredible 108 candles on her cake, and she is one of the seven oldest residents of New Zealand.

The still vital lady has obviously had many adventures. Before finding a permanent home among the Maori with her family, she also lived in Great Britain and Israel.

She was born in June 1918, a few months before the end of World War I and the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic. Her father was a railway inspector and her mother had modern views and upbringing for her time, which shaped both daughters, Maria and the older Emma, ​​in many ways for the future. At the age of eighteen, her parents sent her to study in England and later in France. After the German occupation, which she experienced as a secretary in a Prague law firm, she managed to obtain permission and return to the British Isles, which she fell in love with. She enrolled at Cardiff University, where she studied English, economics and philosophy, and at the same time met her future husband Pavel, at that time a Slovak pilot in an RAF uniform. They married on August 15, 1940.

They lived through the war in bombed London, then returned to Prague. Marie had an interesting job in an export company, and in July 1947 their first son Vladimír Michael (now a world-renowned documentary film director) was born, but Pavel heralded another disaster for the world. The fears were confirmed with the communist coup. As a former Western airman, Pavel was monitored by the State Security and subsequently ended up in Pankrácká prison. He was lucky that thanks to family connections he was released after three months, but on the condition that he immediately leave the republic. He could do so legally, but only to Israel, thanks to his Jewish origin. 

Even the dream England, which they knew well from before, did not mean the final destination for the Havašs. The poor economic situation and high unemployment complicated the search for a good job. At that time, Marie's sister Ema and her husband were already living in New Zealand and convinced acquaintances to vouch for the young family and write a letter of invitation. Another long voyage across stormy seas and oceans ended on January 16, 1952, in Auckland, which became a safe haven for the Havašs for the next decades. Even the beginnings here were not easy. Before they managed to buy a house at auction, the couple, their young son, sister and brother-in-law, were cramped in their small apartment. Pavel worked night shifts in a meat factory, while Marie set up a farm in the suburb of Papatoetoe, where she milked goats and produced butter. A daughter and a second son were added to the family, and over time the couple, who acquired New Zealand citizenship in September 1955, built a successful import-export business and built their own brick house, where Marie still lives today.