Czech/Slovak HISTORY abroad

No Americans = No Czech Republic / Zadni Americane = zadne Cechy

President Woodrow Wilson may not be  the most famous president on the domestic soil but he is a celebrity in the Czech Republic. The main Prague station together with some parks and streets was named after him and now a new statue of him was unveiled in Vrchlicke Sady in Prague (the original statue from 1924 was taken down by the Nazis). The unveiling ceremony was attended by the highest Czech state officials such as the president Vaclav Klaus, the former president Vaclav Havel (it was also his 75th birthday on that day). The former secretary of state Madaleine Albright was also present.

Why such fame? Wilson was considered the foster father of Czechoslovakia for championing (together with T.G. Masaryk) its independence after World War I. The Czechs lost their independence to the Habsburg Empire in 1620 in the infamous Battle of White Mountain. For the next 300 years we were ruled  by the Austrian Monarchy until the end of World War I. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czechoslovakia, history

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Benjamin Kuras:Events that made Czechs who they are now (part 2) / Udalosti, ktere Cechy udelaly (cast 2.)

It’s history time! What made Czechs who they are now? Last time we reviewed the unfortunate and quite brutal Prague defenestration, today we are going to go back and look at the very beginning of the Czech nation.

(The following summary is taken from Benjamin Kuras’ book called Events that made Czechs who they are now)

1. THE ARRIVAL OF THE CZECHS

The first Czechs came to the middle of today’s Czech Republic in about 6th century.

2. KING SAMO’S EMPIRE

Samo was a Frankish merchant who was the first ruler of the Slavs. He created Samo’s Empire which lasted for 35 years (623 – 658) but it falls apart after his death when about 35 of Samo’s sons try to steal everything in the orphaned empire for themselves. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: history, literature

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Antique gypsy wagon gets a challenging facelift/ Stary cikansky vagon prodelal narocnou ‘plastickou’ operaci

 

Here is a wonderful article that one of the CMD readers wanted to share with us: a story of a vintage gypsy wagon from Fallbrook CA, how it got there and what kind of restoration process it underwent. However, here is the most important part of the article which is relevant to Czechmate Diary: [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: art, history

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Benjamin Kuras:Events that made Czechs who they are now: Prague defenestration (part 1) / Benjamin Kuras: Udalosti, ktere Cechy udelaly: Prazska defenestrace (1. cast)

I have just finished reading a REALLY good book which I would highly recommend to anyone (both Czech and English translations are available). It’s called ‘Czechs and Balances – a Nation’s survival kit‘, written by Benjamin Kuras, a Czech-born British author and journalist. The book depicts a historical overview of the Czech lands, from the very beginning up until  20 years after the Velvet Revolution. Although I have had a Czech history lessons at school for years no one really managed to connect all of the historical events until now. And on top of that Kuras manages to do it with humor too! [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: books, history, politics

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Help us create the Czech-American history! / Stante se soucasti Cesko-Americke historie!


Ivana is a grad student from Prague who is doing her thesis on us – the Czech-Americans! She has a fabulous questionare for people to fill out so please, if you get a few minutes, contact her and let her know you are willing to share your Czech-American life with her….and help building the Czech-American history.

‘Hi, I am a grad student from the Czech Republic and I am doing a research for my thesis, which concerns the Czech-Americans living in the U.S., but I don’t have enough contacts for nice people who would be willing to answer me some questions. The thesis concerns the generational gaps in perceptions of Czech identity, so I am especially interested in how much of the Czech identity do you actually keep in your lives. So please, if you want to help or if you know someone who would like to tell me about the life in the U.S., let me know on my email ivana.stojankova@gmail.com. Thank you very much.’

CZ: ‘Ahoj, jako studentka VŠ dělám výzkum k diplomové práci, která se týká čecho-američanů žijících v USA, ale chybí mi kontakty na hodné lidi, kteří by byli ochotní mi odpovědět na pár otázek. Téma diplomové práce je Generační rozdíly ve vnímání identity, takže mě hlavně zajímá, do jaké míry si stále udržujete českou identitu. Tímto Vás prosím, jestli se Vám chce pomoct nebo znáte někoho, kdo by si rád popovídal o životě v USA, dejte mi vědět na mail ivana.stojankova@gmail.com. Mockrát děkuji’

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Tagged as: history, polls, statistics

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Great video on the life of Czech-Americans! / Vyborne video o zivote Cecho-Americanu!

This is a must-see movie! It is entertaining and educational, you get a close look at one Czech-American family, learn how to make Czech puppets and discover how to cook a true Svickova or Bramboraky from a Czech chef himself.
Get a bowl of popcorn, make yourself comfortable and here we go! Click on the link below:

CZ: Toto je opravdu super reportaz of zivote Cecho-Americanu. Nejen ze se seznamite s Cesko-Americkou rodinou pana Jacoba Simonse, ale naucite se take, jak vyrobit ceskou pohadkovou loutku nebo se muzete naucit varit Svickovou a Bramboraky od sameho sefkuchare restaruace Zlata Praha. Takze se hezky uvelebte a jedem! Klikntete na nize uvedeny link.

http://www.ebru.tv/en/genres/LifestyleCulture/world-in-america/episodes/5/505-czech-americans

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Tagged as: art, Czechs in New York, food, traditions

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Baltimore and its unexpected Czech heritage / Baltimore a jeho prazvlastni Ceske kulturni dedictvi

Baltimore painted screens google imageDo you know what I love the most about blogging with Czechmate Diary? I learn something new almost every day! For instance, take this example: did you know that Baltimore used to have a neighborhood called Little Bohemia? I had no idea this Maryland capital has traces of Czech heritage!

I guess the city is known for its painted screens (see image above), which seem to be a mark of almost every house. This popular art craze was started by a CZECH GUY, William Octavec, who in 1913 painted his first screen, illustrating goods for sale inside his store.

This eye-opening article was sent to me by one of you guys, so thank you! If you would like to read the whole story click here.

CZ: Vite, co se mi na blogovani s Czechmate Diary libi nejvic? Ze se neustale dovidam plno novych informaci. Napriklad toto: vedeli jste, ze Baltimore, hlavni mesto Marylandu, mival mestkou ctvrt zvanou “Little Bohemia”? A to neni vsechno! Toto mesto je pry take velmi zname svymi malbami na oknech skoro kazdeho domecku. Tento prazvlastni malirsky trend zacal v roce 1913 Cech William Octavec, ktery se rohodl pokreslit okna sve samoobsluhy obrazky zbozi, ktere bylo v krame k dostani.

Clanek mi poslala jedna ctenarka, tak ji za to vrele dekuji. Podrobnosti si muzete precist zde.

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Tagged as: art

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Communists tore down the most beautiful station in Central Europe / Komuniste zbourali nejkrasnejsi nadrazi ve stredni Evrope

Tesnovske station /lidovky.cz imageIt has been 25 years since the most beautiful railway station in Central Europe was shamelessly destroyed by the Czech communist government. The Tesnovske station (formerly called Denisova station) was replaced by a horrendous highway which now runs right through Wenceslas Square – the heart of the historical center of Prague (see image below). How could the communists be so insensitive? Well, the railway station was not as productive as the very functional planned freeway – that is why. It fits perfectly with the communist ideology. “The communists considered historical buildings to be a backsliding architectural style. Such structures were symbols of bourgeoisie and the communists hated them,” explains Zdenek Lukes, the architectural historian. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: communism, history, Prague

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A must-see documentary / Povinny dokumentarni film

kindertransport_film google imageMaybe you guys have already seen this World War II documentary but if you haven’t you definitely should. Tonight! “Into the Arms of Strangers” tells a story of a kindertransport, a train transport heading for England that saved the lives of over 10,000 Jewish children, from which many of them were Czech. In fact, one of the interviewed people was Eva Hayman from Celakovice, who was about 10 years old when she boarded that train never to see her parents again.

WARNING: This movie is a tear jerker.

CZ: Jestli jste jeste nevideli dokument zvany “Into the Arms of Strangers”, hned si ho dneska objednejte na Netflix, abyste na nej nezapomneli! Shlednuti tohoto filmu je naprosta nutnost. Vypravi se v nem o tzv. ‘kindertransportu’, zeleznicnim prevozu 10,000 zidovskych deti ze zemi jako je Nemecko, Rakousko, Polsko a Cechy, do bezpecne Anglie.

Jedna z  dotazovanych osob je pani Eva Hayman z Celakovic, ktere bylo kolem 10-ti let, kdyz do jednoho z techto vlaku nastoupila, aniz by se v budoucnosti opet shledala se svymi rodici.

VAROVANI: Film vas asi rozbreci

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Tagged as: history, movies

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History of Czechs in Ohio (part 2): they were hated at first / Historie Cechu v Ohiu: zprvu je vsichni nenavideli

Czechs in Ohio google imageThe second part of the history of Czechs in Ohio is here (you can read the first part here) and even though I do not live in Ohio myself, I was engrossed in reading (and translating!) it:

‘So Gustav Adam, the first Czech immigrant to Ohio, was dead and what happened then? The Czech immigrant torch overtook Jindrich Hladik from Prague and a few Czech Jewish men such as Leopold Levy from Smetanova Lhota u Pisku, Bernard Weidenthal from Vestice u Tabora and Zikmund Stein from Prague. Levy had a fabric store  and Stein opened up a little pub on  Seneca Street, while Hladik owned a food market. In 1849 inhabited Cleveland also a 22-year-old Abraham Weindenthal whose offspring became excellent journalists.

In 1852 arrived to Cleveland 16 new Czech families and their beginnings were not pretty. Since the women were accustomed going to the town bare-foot and with scarfs tied around their heads, the locals thought of them as Gypsies. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czechs in Ohio, history

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