Jozef Podhorany was born on the 12th of March in 1902 in Malatiny. He became a teacher. He started to work in the State School in Hradna on the 1st of June in 1939, where he was transferred from the school in Vlachov due to his political involvement. Local people liked him thanks to his organizational skills and human approach. He taught adults to read and write, in addition to teaching pupils. He founded a school of economics for pupils who completed basic education and Stefanik's educational association for cultural activities. He had domestic animals and bees. He actively participated in the life of the village, for instance as a firefighter. Jozef Podhorany was a member of the Evangelical Church. Since 1944, he had been a churchwarden. He had a deformity – one of his eyes was glass eye. The entire regional anti-fascist resistance was organized under his leadership. Jozef Podhorany and an evangelical priest Ondrej Pecka were detained by the German army during the raid on the village on the 29th of September in 1944. He was transferred to the Ilava prison on the 6th of October, after an investigation in Zilina. He was released from jail on the 2nd of November in 1944. After that, he became a chairman of the District National Committee in Bytca. He helped with the construction of the new road leading to Sulov in the section from Hrabove through Vazina pod Hajom in the summer of 1945. He lived in Bratislava later, where his friends from Hradna visited him. He died on the 25th of September in 1985 in Bratislava.

zdroj: Vlastný výskum autorky textu M. Kerešovej