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Czechs in HistoryJara Cimrman - the "greatest ever" Czech?
Jara Cimrman is known to many in this country as perhaps the greatest Czech
inventor, artist, explorer and musician of all time. He has been the
subject of a dozen plays, which are frequently staged in a Prague theatre
that is named after him. The plays aim to highlight the contribution of a
man who many believe has never received proper recognition for his
achievements.
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Current AffairsTatinek: a documentary tribute to actor-writer Zdenek Sverak by director son Jan
Zdenek Sverak, who is 68, would make many people's list of greatest living
Czechs. An actor, co-creator of the much-loved Jara Cimrman theatre and
writer of some of the country's most popular comic films, he is also a
writer of children's songs, a great champion of the Czech language and a
former Czech Radio broadcaster. His greatest international success was the
1996 Oscar-winning film Kolya, which he wrote and starred in. Zdenek Sverak
is now the subject of a documentary called Tatinek (Dad) by his son Jan,
the director of Kolya. He says that in Tatinek he got closer to the
essence of his father than another filmmaker might have.
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Current AffairsSeventy prominent German intellectuals and politicians make a gesture of reconciliation to their neighbours
Seventy prominent German intellectuals, writers and politicians, including
the chairman of the federal parliament have signed an open letter to the
Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, very publicly renouncing claims to any
property in the neighbouring countries of Central Europe. All the
signatories have one thing in common. They, or their parents, originally
came from what is now the territory of Poland or the Czech Republic, but
were expelled after the Second World War. Millions of ethnic Germans were
forced to move westwards, as the map of Europe was redrawn after the war,
an episode that continues to create tensions within the region. David
Vaughan joins me in the studio. More
Current AffairsForeign Minister considers symbolic compensation to Czech Germans who opposed fascism
Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda is to visit Germany this Thursday.
Before leaving he said that he would support the idea of the Czech
government breaking a long-held taboo and making a "humanitarian
gesture" towards the German minority living in the Czech Republic.
This would take the form of symbolic financial compensation to a small
number of Czech Germans, who actively resisted Nazism, during the Second
World War. More
Press ReviewPress Review
Pravo reports today that Culture Minister Pavel Dostal could be the only
member of the cabinet to accompany President Vaclav Klaus on his
forthcoming trip to China. Mr Klaus is due to visit the country in
mid-April, but neither Trade and Industry Minister Milan Urban nor Foreign
Minister Cyril Svoboda is likely to go with him. Mr Klaus, who wants to
strengthen economic ties with China, disagrees with the two men on a
number of issues, says Pravo.
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Talking PointForced displacement of Czech population under Nazis in 1938 and 1943
The transfer of the German-speaking minority from Czechoslovakia after the
end of the Second World War remains the topic of discussions between Czech
politicians and their counterparts and pressure groups in Germany and
Austria. It is also a subject of extensive historical research. Much less
is known about the mass exodus of the Czech population from the border
regions of Bohemia and Moravia, surrendered to Nazi Germany following the
Munich Agreement in 1938.
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