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SpecialOccupation, Esperanto and Mushrooms: 70 years of Radio Prague throughthearchives
If we delve into the Czech Radio archives, we find recordings in English
going right back to Radio Prague's beginnings 70 years ago. Some of the
extracts we are going to feature in this programme have not been aired for
well over half a century. They capture some of the most interesting and
dramatic moments in our history. More
Letter from PragueLayers of an anniversary
This past week marked the 38th anniversary of a key event in 20th century
Czech & Slovak history: the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of
Czechoslovakia. I'm too young to have witnessed the event, but still it's
part of my consciousness and a milestone that changed the lives of many
people I know.
More
Current AffairsCzechs and Slovaks free of Soviet troops for fifteen years
Fifteen years ago, on June 27th, 1991, commander general Eduard Vorobyev
headed east from Prague to Kyiv. A year and a half after the Velvet
Revolution, he was the last Soviet soldier to leave Czechoslovak territory
after 23 years of military occupation.
More
One on OneMartin Fell - owner of a Czech cajovna in Glasgow
Martin Fell is the half-Czech co-owner of a Czech style tea-room in the
Scottish city of Glasgow. The cosy tea-room has the Czech name Cajovna
(phonetically spelled Tchai Ovna) and is to be found on the city's Otago
Lane, near Glasgow University. When I met Martin there recently he smoked
away on a hookah water pipe throughout our conversation. Between drags he
told me a little about his background.
More
Current AffairsPutin: Russia bears "moral responsibility" for 1968 Soviet invasion
A full military band was on hand to welcome Russia's President Vladimir
Putin to Prague on Wednesday - the first state visit by a Russian
president for 13 years. Waiting for him at the Castle gates was the Czech
president Vaclav Klaus, who later held a state banquet in Mr Putin's
honour.
More
One on OneIvan Havel - science, hippies and growing up with Vaclav
This week Rob Cameron's guest is Ivan Havel, younger brother of the Czech
Republic's former president Vaclav. While no means as famous as his older
sibling, Ivan Havel is an important figure in the Czech academic
community, as well as the editor-in-chief of the prestigious science
magazine Vesmir. During communism Ivan invited dissidents and academics to
his apartment overlooking the River Vltava, meetings at which Vaclav Havel
was often present. But Ivan shied away from politics after 1989, choosing
instead to stay in the world of science and academia.
More
MailboxJan Palach in letters from Radio Prague listeners
In today's special edition of Mailbox we read from listeners' letters
dedicated to the memory of Jan Palach, a Czech student who burned himself
to death on January 16, 1969 in Prague, to protest against the lethargy
that prevailed in Czechoslovak society in the aftermath of the Soviet
invasion in 1968. We quote from letters sent by: John Murphy, Jamie
Marshall, Leslie Farmler, Jan Lea, Tom O'Neill, Trevor Bunn, Craig, Lana,
and Alessio Pagnucco.
More
SpecialMemories of Jan Palach
It was just at this time of year, 37 years ago, that an unknown 20-year-old
Czech student overnight became a focus and symbol of the nation. His name
was Jan Palach, and at the top of Prague's Wenceslas Square, just below
the National Museum, you can find a small memorial to him. On 16th January
1969, Jan Palach dowsed himself in petrol and set himself alight on the
square. It was a desperate attempt to reverse the gradual process of
demoralization that set in when Soviet-led troops crushed the reforms of
the Prague Spring, five months earlier. Three days later Jan Palach died
in a Prague burns clinic; tens of thousands attended his funeral and his
name became a symbol around the world of the Czechoslovak tragedy.
More
One on OneNandanie and Asoke Weerasinghe - From Sri Lanka to Prague in the 1960s
In today's One on One I speak to Nandanie and Asoke Weerasinghe. Both are
successful professionals in Alberta, Canada, thanks to their determination
and a good education which started with a scholarship to study in Prague.
Nandanie studied medicine at Charles University and Asoke engineering at
Prague's Technical University. Prague is where they met; they eventually
went on to complete their studies in Western Europe, emigrated to Canada
and finally got married in their home country of Sri Lanka. They came to
Czechoslovakia during the big changes of the mid 1960s. Many doors that
closed for Czech students with the Soviet invasion of 1968, remained open
for foreign students, granted they were successful in their exams. They
had only had one year of intensive study to grasp the complexities of the
Czech language. Now they are visiting the Czech Republic again, for the
second time since their days as students here. Though eager to eat Czech
food and drink Czech beer, the idea was not always so appealing for them.
Asoke begins with his first impressions of Prague. More
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