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Czech HistoryIn the footsteps of their father: The journey of Mary and George Jaksch
In 1939, the chairman of the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the
Czechoslovak Republic, Wenzel Jaksch, saw himself forced to escape his
native land after it was invaded by Germany – staying would have put him,
who opposed the growing influence of the Nazis in Sudeten-German politics,
in grave danger. Wenzel Jaksch successfully escaped to London, via the
Beskydy Mountains and Poland. He later shared his amazing story – and
based on his written account, his children, George and Mary Jaksch, have
set out for a pilgrimage in their father’s footsteps, over 70 years
later. More
Current AffairsNew documentary opens up sensitive chapter in country's post-war history
In the run-up to the 66th anniversary of the end of WWII Czech public
television featured a documentary throwing more light on events that have
received little publicity in the past – the atrocities committed on
German civilians in post-war Czechoslovakia. The subject has been avoided
for years, but film director David Vondráček says Czechs need to hear
about what happened and face up to events they may not be proud of. More
From the ArchivesSeptember 1938: last-minute appeals for moderation as Hitler builds upforces on the Czech border
This week we continue our look into the dramatic events in Czechoslovakia
just before World War Two. By the summer of 1938, Hitler’s Germany was
demanding nothing less than the immediate annexation of the entire
Sudetenland – all parts of Bohemia and Moravia with a German speaking
majority. The Sudeten German Party had made big gains among German speakers
in local elections earlier that year, and the Nazi rhetoric of their
leaders was unambiguous. More
From the ArchivesThe battle for the airwaves breaks out
In the last couple of weeks we have looked at the growing tensions in
Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 1930s, as pressure from Nazi
Germany grew. The period leading up to the Munich Agreement in September
1938, when Britain and France gave Hitler the green light to annex vast
areas of Czechoslovakia, is extremely well documented in the Czech Radio
archives. The archives also reveal that this was one of the first
international diplomatic crises to be played out on the airwaves. Through
radio, the Munich crisis became a battle of international propaganda and
public opinion, with greater immediacy than ever seen before. More
From the ArchivesRising tensions in the Sudetenland
“Hello, hello! Prague, Czechoslovakia calling. Good evening ladies and
gentlemen”: Radio Prague welcomes listeners to its English programmes
back in 1937. The tone may be a little more formal, but it is not so
different from today. Yet much has changed since the troubled times of the
later 1930s. Nazi Germany was breathing down Czechoslovakia’s neck and
tensions in the mainly German-speaking Sudetenland were rising rapidly. The
young British historian Hugh Seton Watson was in Czechoslovakia in
September that year, attending an international summer school for students
from across Central Europe. Talking to Radio Prague, he was far from
optimistic about the country’s future. More
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