Archive: History | Second World War Second World War
Gisela Cheffer: “I even sat on the lap of some Nazis. Of course, they had no idea that my father was Jewish”
Gisela Cheffer was born Gisela Duschinský in Brno in 1932. Her Viennese
father was Jewish, which made her a target for the Nazis, and her baptism
as a Roman Catholic very likely saved her life. She later came close to
being forced to leave during the mass expulsion of Czechoslovakia’s
German population after the war. But she stayed – until, that is, a
meeting with a Finn led to a life abroad. More
Otto Pick – War years just start of peripatetic, colourful life
Professor Otto Pick was one of nearly 700 Jewish children who escaped the
Nazis on a transport to the UK organised by Nicholas Winton, a British
diplomat based in Prague. He says he only became aware relatively recently
that he was on the now famous “Winton train” and does not know how his
family managed to get him on board and save his life. More
10 Stars - new museum to remember Jewish life in Czech towns
A unique new museum is due to open in the Czech Republic next autumn –
rather ten museums in one, spread out in ten towns and cities across the
country. Called ’10 Stars’, the museum will be housed in synagogues and
will tell the story of local Jewish communities which all but vanished in
the Holocaust. More
Little progress seen in central and Eastern Europe on Jewish property restitution
Leaders of Jewish organizations, government officials and experts from a
number of countries came to Prague this week to review the restitution of
Jewish property taken during the Holocaust. The conference, which focused
specifically on the area of immovable property, was held three years since
the adoption of the Terezín Declaration, a document that sought to ease
the process. The conference found that although some progress has been
achieved, the declaration seems to have failed to accelerate the
restitution of Holocaust-era assets. More
Rudolf Formis: a tale of murder, intrigue and radio in pre-war Prague
On 24 January 1935 one of the pioneers of radio in Germany was found lying
in a pool of blood in a hotel room south of Prague. His story is one of the
strangest and least known episodes in the years running up to WWII. In this
week’s Czech Books, David Vaughan picks up the story. More
Czech patriot Josef Čermák: I could not live under communism
My guest today is Josef Čermák, a very sprightly 88-year-old Czech who
was born in 1924 in a small village called Skury just outside of Prague.
He
studied law and in 1949 emigrated to Canada and he’s lived here ever
since. He has served as the president of both the Czech and Slovak
Association of Canada and also Sokol, Canada, and he is also the author of
a number of books, including It all Began With Prince Rupert – The Story
of Czechs and Slovaks in Canada. More
The inside story of the history of Prague’s Pankrác prison
Pankrác is a byword in the Czech Republic for the large prison that stands
a little way outside the centre of Prague. The prison has been the focus
for much of the worst and some of the best that has happened over the last
120 years. Appropriately, some mementos have been stored for posterity. More
World War II veteran General Tomáš Sedláček dies aged 94
General Tomáš Sedláček, a World War II veteran who spent nine years in
communist jails, died on Monday aged 94. A respected soldier, he fought
both on the western and eastern fronts of the war before landing a life
sentence by Czechoslovakia’s communist court. But his faith in freedom
and democracy never waivered, and after 1989, he took up the cause of those
who suffered under communism. More
Commemoration of Romany Holocaust victims sparks controversy
Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas on Monday attended a commemorative
ceremony for the victims of the Romany Holocaust. At the site of a former
concentration camp in Lety, Mr Nečas admitted the Czech responsibility for
the murder of over 5,000 Romanies during the war. But the official event
sparked controversy among the Romany community which says the government
should first make sure the victims were giving a dignified memorial. More
No regrets - the life of war bride Lillian Schořová
The previous episode of Czech Life featured the first part of Lillian
Schořová’s life story. The 92-year-old Englishwoman is one of the
hundreds of English war brides who went home with their Czechoslovak
husbands after the war. Lillian came to Czechoslovakia with Josef, a
tankist from the armored brigade who was stationed in the United Kingdom,
in 1945. In this episode, she talks about her life after the war, her
difficulties learning Czech, her unusual career and how she feels today,
looking back on all the ups and downs of her adventurous life. More
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