Related Reading #3: Skutečnost

A Lasting Impression: The Independent Periodical Skutečnost (Reality) was lent to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library by Peter Demetz. It is a collection of articles which first appeared in the émigré journal Skutečnost, published in Geneva from 1948 until 1953. The anthology is edited by Czech historian Vilém Prečan.

In his interview with Recording Voices & Documenting Memories, one of the journal’s founders, Peter Hruby, explained the idea behind the publication:



In this collection (published by the Československé dokumentační středisko in 2008), selected articles are presented thematically, with chapters dedicated to Czech-German relations, Czech exiles, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and democracy and totalitarianism. Contributors include Peter Hruby and Peter Demetz as well as prominent figures in the Czech émigré community such as Pavel Tigrid and Ferdinand Peroutka.

One of the articles which caught my eye in this anthology was titled Tří měsíce v Americe (or Three Months in America), written by Jan Tumlíř in 1952. The introduction to the article sets out his premise:

“Here are a few unrelated comments and nothing original. Excerpts from diaries and letters and interviews. When you spend so long preparing for America and you are here for such a short time, you cannot be certain whether you are really thinking something or merely remembering something you once read…”

The article continues with a few anecdotes from the author’s life in New Haven and his travels to Cleveland. It concludes:

“I have never thought so often about two things as I have in America: home and death. Home and death, where is the connection?

“If I had stayed there, I probably wouldn’t be able to think about anything other than freedom. Leaving Czechoslovakia was the only way for me not to lose my home, if home is the place you love.”

Skutečnost has a small epilogue in English by editor Vilém Prečan. Otherwise it is in Czech. It can be found for purchase at Kosmas.cz.

Related Reading #2: Prague Winter

To mark Secretary Madeleine Albright’s visit to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library on May 17-18, Recording Voices & Documenting Memories suggests her most recent book, Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War 1937-1948, as an interesting piece of reading related to the oral history project. 

Prague Winter tells the tale of Secretary Albright’s early childhood in Prague (and then in Great Britain during WWII), and of the more recent discovery of her family’s Jewish background.

Secretary Albright pours over her parents’ diaries and papers to learn more of their WWII experiences. She references correspondence sent to and received from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia throughout the War. She also conducts interviews with relatives and former neighbors as part of her research.

She does so to try and understand “Why we make the choices we do… What prompts one person to act boldly in a moment of crisis and a second to seek shelter in the crowd? Why do some people become stronger in the face of adversity while others quickly lose heart?”

Prague Winter provides a unique eyewitness account of WWII from a Czech émigré perspective. The book is meticulously researched and comments originally on the Czech history of the period.

Prague Winter is sold at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library’s store. For more information on purchasing the book, click here.

Barbara Reinfeld’s Refugee Camp Diary, 1948

At a recent oral history shoot, Recording Voices & Documenting Memories interviewee Barbara Reinfeld (née Koháková) shared her childhood diary with us.

Refugees in West German camps were issued with these scrapbooks, which they were encouraged to “keep as a permanent souvenir of the current unpleasantness.” In fact, these diaries had been repurposed from World War II, when they were intended to lift the spirits of prisoners of war.

In her diary, Barbara documents moving from one refugee camp to another, shopping in American military PX stores, receiving CARE packages and comparing the taste of Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola.

 

The diary contains a number of photos, including these images of a wedding in Barbara’s refugee camp in August, 1948. Note that the wedding car is a decorated International Refugee Organization jeep.

 

While in West Germany, Barbara and her family were in touch with the Alexander family in the United States. In the summer of 1948, they sent the Koháks a photo of their children with the following inscription:

“This is to show Raza & Barbara how American children dress in the Middle West. Willa’s shorts are navy blue, her shirt a red plaid. Buzz’ are navy blue cowboy jeans with a light blue plaid shirt. David’s T-shirt is bright blue, his pants are of U.S. army material – khaki colored. The picture was taken for you – the children knew why, which is no doubt why they look so serious.”

 

Barbara started seventh grade in fall 1948, where she made a number of friends mentioned throughout this diary. To her entry for September 20, 1948 she attaches this invite to her friend Virginia Rice’s party at which, she is reassured, “there will not be any boys there.”   

 

For clips from Barbara Reinfeld’s oral history, watch the NCSML’s oral history pages over the months to come.