[1] Zeman studied in Italian cities prior to his ordination and worked in Slovakia to protect fellow Salesians after the communist regime outlawed religious orders.

[2] He was arrested after attempting to send Salesians out of the nation and was imprisoned from 1952 until 1964 and died due to poor health sustained from the prison conditions.

From 1925 – when he was ten – he knew he wanted to become a priest and so finished his high school education at the Salesians of Don Bosco-run house at Šaštín before considering that path ahead.

[4][3] On 7 March 1938 he made his solemn profession into the order at the Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio in Rome.

Zeman arranged for Salesians to travel to Turin – despite it being a grave risk since it was illegal – so that these religious could complete their studies without fear of persecution or suppression.