Section Archive Panorama
'Den-D': The Czech role in the Allied invasion of Normandy
Czechoslovak participation in the first weeks of "Operation
Overlord"—the invasion of Normandy that began on June 6, 1944—was
almost exclusively limited to the air, as soldiers from occupied
Czechoslovakia's 1st Armoured Brigade only deployed to France weeks after
the Allied landing. But hundreds more Czech fighting men took part in the
D-Day landings doing battle under the flags of other Allied nations. More
My addiction to the Arctic: the man who can't resist the magnetism of the North Pole
Miroslav Jakes is most likely the most experienced Czech polar explorer. He
crossed Greenland in 1984 for the first time, and then went back twelve
years later, this time without any help. He climbed the highest mountain
in South America - Aconcagua where he nearly died. He was the first Czech
to reach the North Pole in 1993. Now in his mid fifties he says he can't
stay put and can't help going back again and again - before he gets too
old.
More
Lety u Pisku: The politics behind the 'concentration camp' pig farm
The exact nature of a Czech-run camp where hundreds of Roma—mainly
children—died from disease, hunger or abuse during the German occupation
has long been a polarising issue for the nation's politicians. But the
stench of the pig farm built above the mass graves of the Lety u Pisku
"concentration camp" back in the 1970s has now, metaphorically
speaking, travelled all the way to Brussels. The Czech Republic has been
singled out in a European Parliament resolution for failing to remove the
pig farm and create "a graceful memorial" to honour victims of
the Romani Holocaust. More
Boys in the water - Czech male synchronized swimmers dream of Olympic glory
Synchronized swimming used to be a female sport only. Thin, fit, sporty
girls disappear under water only to reappear with the next loud beat and
spin with the tips of their toes pointing to the heavens. It's an
impressive and tough sport - gymnastics in water. Just a few years ago the
idea of a male team of synchronized swimmers would have caused a good few
smirks, but today they have their very own international championship. It
doesn't yet have hard-and-fast rules and only very few teams take part,
but one of them is from the Czech Republic. The Czech team, calling
themselves "Krasoplavci" - which roughly translates as figure or
beauty swimmers are the first and so far the only team here.
More
An English village revisits its Czech history: The Benes years in Buckinghamshire
During the Second World War, the former Czechoslovak President Edvard Benes
and his government were in exile in England. Originally they were based in
London, but in late 1940, due to the blitz, the President and his Cabinet
moved to a small village called Aston Abbotts, in the southern English
county of Buckinghamshire.
In addition to the government personnel, Czech,
Slovak and Ruthenian presidential guards also stayed in the village.
President Benes and his wife, along with the entire Czech community of the
time left a deep impression in Aston Abbots and sixty years later, the
villagers and diplomats came together to celebrate this history. Kate
Barrette was in Aston Abbots for the Czechoslovak memorial festival. More
Casanova: the world-class lover who died a second-rate librarian in Bohemia
So infamous a womanizer was the Italian-born libertine Giacomo Casanova
that, a full two centuries after his death, his name remains synonymous
with the art of seduction. But if not for the years he spent in the employ
of Count Waldstein of Bohemia as a librarian, Casanova, "the world's
greatest lover"—-a one-time consort of European royalty, popes and
cardinals, and man known to the likes of Voltaire, Goethe and Mozart-—may
have been consigned to obscurity. As it was, he barely found the peace to
write his memoirs. More
Roma Rising: portrait of a community (part 2)
"Roma Rising/Romske Obrozeni" is a collection of portraits by the
American photographer Chad Evans Wyatt of over 100 Czech Romani people,
working professionals "of great intelligence, integrity and
accomplishment." In today's edition of Panorama (the second half of a
series), Brian Kenety speaks to some young Romani people portrayed in that
project -- among them a medical student, a public relations specialist,
and a computer programmer who heads the Romani students' organisation
called Athinganoi. More
Roma Rising: portrait of a community
While shooting portraits for what was to become an award-winning book -
"101: Artists in the Post-Revolution Czech Republic" - the
American photographer Chad Evans Wyatt became interested in bringing a
very different kind of project to light. This autumn, he is set to publish
"Roma Rising," a collection of portraits of over 100 Czech
Romani
people "of great intelligence, integrity and accomplishment." More
A librettist's tale: Kafka's real-life 'Trial' and the nature of Josef K's 'crime'
Virtually unknown during his lifetime, the surreal works of Franz Kafka
have become synonymous with the grotesque alienation of modern man in an
unintelligible, hostile, or at best indifferent world. But as Brian Kenety
has been finding out, "Kafkaesque" is not a term that does
justice to the man himself, according to the authors of a new opera based
on "The Trial," his most famous novel. More
In search of a Czech queen -- in Wilber, Nebraska
Traces of the earliest Czech-American urban centres are still evident
today, in street names recalling Czech patriots and historic towns, Sokol
community centres, St. Wenceslas churches, and the like. But it's in
America's "heartland" --especially in rural communities in
states like Nebraska and Texas-- where Czech traditions are perhaps best
preserved and most widely celebrated.
More
