Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Chotek

Transcription

VOL. XVI No. I, II & III
Museum • Library • Archives
Anniversary Edition
C z e c h C u l t u r a l C e n t e r H o u s t o n , T e x a s ( K U L T U R N I C E N T R U M C E S K E )
Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and
powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or
willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for early success, but rather
an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because
it stands a chance to succeed. Hope is definitely not the same thing as
optimism. Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out
well, but the certainty that something makes sense,
regardless of how it turns out. It is hope above all which gives us the
strength to live and try new things.
Reflections on Hope by Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic
Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Chotek (Princess of Hohenberg)
Countess of Choto, was the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria. At age 46, she was assassinated, along with her husband, at
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 28, 1914. It was this event
which set into motion the world’s first Great War.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, to a prominent Bohemian aristocratic
family, Sophie was the daughter of the Chief Equerry of the Austrian
Imperial Court in Vienna. Her noble birth allowed her a position as
a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, Princess of Cröy-Dülmen.
By the time Franz Ferdinand became the heir apparent to the Imperial
Throne in 1889, he was considered Europe’s most eligible bachelor.
It was believed that Archduchess Isabella hoped to
secure Ferdinand for her eldest daughter. The heir
apparent, however, had fallen in love with another
woman, Sophie Chotek and she with him.
The couple kept their mutual feelings a secret
for nearly a decade. Despite Sophie’s nobility, she
was considered too lowly for a marriage to the heir
to the Imperial Throne. When the relationship was
finally discovered, a scandal erupted. Emperor Franz
Josef refused to allow his son to marry Sophie. In
turn, the devoted Franz Ferdinand refused to end his
romance with her. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany,
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Pope Leo XIII all
encouraged Franz Joseph to agree to the marriage in
order to maintain the stability of the monarchy.
A compromise was reached wherein the marriage
would be treated as a morganatic one. That is,
Sophie could not assume the title of “Archduchess,” and the couple’s
children could neither inherit the throne nor any royal titles. In
addition, Sophie could only enter state functions at the end of the line
and could never sit next to her husband at public events or outings.
Franz Ferdinand could not even acknowledge Sophie as his wife
in written correspondence. Sophie was given the title of “Princess
of Hohenberg” and later was referred to as the more senior-ranking
“Duchess of Hohenberg.”
Sophie Chotek and Franz Ferdinand were married July 1, 1900 at
Reichstadt in Bohemia. Emperor Franz Josef did not attend his son’s
wedding, nor did any of Franz Ferdinand’s
brothers. While the Imperial Family did not
embrace Sophie as their equal, other European
monarchs did treat her with the dignity worthy of
the wife of the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent.
The happy couple spent their honeymoon at
Franz Ferdinand’s estate at Schloß Konopischt
with its magnificent gardens. Here he referred to
their favorite walk as the Oberer Kreuzweg – the
Upper Stations of the Cross, a bitter reminder
of the degradations currently endured, as well as
of those still to come. By way of a wedding gift –
but probably as a means, however slight, not to add
further injury to the House of Habsburg-Lothringen
– Emperor Franz Josef created Gräfin Sophie Fürstin
von Hohenberg (a minor Habsburg principality
in southern Germany whose title had lapsed
centuries earlier) with the qualification of Princely
Grace with a Diploma issued 8 August, 1900 was
back-dated to 1st July; she could then be addressed
as Most Serene Highness. This was both quite a
mouthful and was still somewhat condescending. On
8th June, 1908, the Emperor granted the qualification
of Serene Highness; Sophie could then be addressed
as Serene Highness. On 4th October, 1909, she was
created Herzogin von Hohenberg. While still not on
a par with her archducal husband, the title did grant
her the privilege of being addressed as Highness ad Personum, which
was less socially awkward. Nevertheless, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie
were extremely happy, as a letter to his stepmother Maria Therese
a week after the wedding demonstrates. Although no ‘classical’
beauty, Sophie was a strikingly handsome and wholesome woman,
with serenity well suited to offset Franz Ferdinand’s explosive
temperament. Throughout their very happy marriage Sophie bore the
most deeply wounding insults, snipes, snubs and humiliations with
commendable dignity and fortitude.
(Continued on page 13)
From the Chairman
Effie M. Rosene
“Building the future...remembering the past...leaving a legacy.”
“May the work I’ve done speak for me!”
The News of The Czech Center
Czech Center Museum Houston
In the Museum District
4920 San Jacinto Street
Houston, Texas 77004
Telephone: 713-528-2060
Fax: 713-528-2017
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Webpage: http://www.czechcenter.org
www.houstonreceptions.org.
Vol. XVI, No. I, II, & III– Fall/Winter 2009/2010
From the Chairman, Member Updates,
Sophie Princess of Hohenberg, Vignettes
Quote on the Cover
Vaclav Havel
Effie M. Rosene, Editor/Contributor
Publication Committee:
W. G. Bill Rosene, Sherry Pierce, Cathy
Anderson, Christie Johnson
Website:
in-house
The News of the Czech Center is published by the
Czech Center Museum Houston to inform members,
donors and interested parties of the Center’s activities. Editing, Design and Production is accomplished
in-house by the Center’s Development Board.
Send articles and activities well in advance to the
above address, attention Editor.
The opinions expressed in The News of the Czech
Center are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Czech Center Museum
Houston.
This organization is funded in part by a grant from
the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
OUR MISSION
The Purpose of the Czech Center Museum Houston is to
unify the Czech/Slovak American Community around issues
of importance and provide a central focus for all things Czech
related, serving as a clearing house for information useful for
members, visitors, individuals, organizations, and the media.
The CCCH will:
Promote the Czech Culture and Heritage by preserving,
recording and celebrating the language, scholarship, and the
arts of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Silesia;
Sponsor activities and events to accent special persons,
places and provide a forum for lectures, concerts, exhibits and
interaction with citizens visiting from the Czech and Slovak
republics; Provide Czech language instruction, a museum,
archives, genealogy research facilities, and a library for history
and contemporary research of the Czech peoples;
Perform works of charity and mutual aid which include
granting scholarships to promote the continuation of our
cultural heritage.
T h e
Dear Friends, Members, Friends to be:
Greetings from the Czech Center Museum Houston. We have quoted former
President Vaclav Havel in our front page banner on the subject of HOPE!
This issue is dedicated to Hope in that we hope that we will all weather this
deep Recession to emerge stronger and with resolve to complete our Mission
and Leave the Legacy forever. The downturn comes amidst a time where
our organization had hoped to accomplish the completion of our third floor
buildout. You are probably tired of hearing about this but being so crucial to the CCMH’s
vitality our organization is hoping that someone or some ones will suddenly appear to finance
and underwrite the completion of our third floor, to be used as additional exhibit and archive
space as well as office, library and meeting space.
In spite of the Recession we have been very busy with myriad of activities and planning
for the coming season of events. Many exciting happenings have occurred since our last
newsjournal. Notable among them are the completion of beautiful stained glass windows in
the President’s Room displaying the crests of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Silesia donated
by Janell and Wesley Pustejovsky so beautifully complementing their Wenceslas Chapel gift
windows, our great annual Members and Friends Dinner, the visit by Professor Tom Sovik,
University of North Texas. Denton and three musicians from Prague, the visit of Ambassador
from Prague, Vladimir Eisenbruk and Nora Jurkovicova, Embassy Counselor to name a few.
Daily, we welcome visitors to the Czech Center Museum Houston from the corners of the
world so that no day goes by without its notable event. Incredibly time flies quickly; Monday
seems every other day. Each day is unbelievably full and it is truly a new world every day.
We are blessed because we hear from some of you, see some of you and wish we would see
or hear from others of you. We have job security because there is always more to do than we
can get done. We truly have not had a slow down in this time of Recession only a significant
slow down of Revenue. We believe it will be much improved by the end of the year. In
the meanwhile we conserve and we stand fast, tall and proud unwavering in these elegant
surroundings, sharing them and our mission with visitors from around the globe.
In June we enjoyed numerous tour groups, including a bus full of delightful Czechs from
abroad touring Houston and Texas and the Sokol Slet in Fort Worth, Dallas. The Russian
Consul General for the fifth year in a row celebrated their National Holiday here with a large
number of Houston’s ninety four Consular Corps and numerous countries’ diplomats and
diasporas. Truly a great experience when you like people and places as much as we do. The
Mexican Consul General on touring our Presidents Room related how there are numerous
historical connections with Mexico and the Czech lands. Would you have guessed there are
several Lidice (1942) villages in Mexico as well?!
For several weeks we were consumed with the ardent task of building a grand Gala, our 15th
Annual Benefit Fundraiser because it is imperative to open our much needed third floor and
the funds raised would be dedicated to that purpose. A portion of proceeds are to be gifted to
Galveston Arts Center which was devastated by Hurricane Ike and remains closed, hoping to
reopen in Galveston, Texas early next year. We appreciated the Hermis family Henry, Barbara
and Kevin for weeding the front landscape the night before the Gala! This Gala as most others
we celebrated our Volunteers and specifically Cecilia and Bob Forrest for their fifteen every
Wednesday years of Gift Shop service.
In addition, we honor Cliff Malek who spent days getting the Annex Floor ready to receive
carpet, Rudolf Kovar who keeps the grass mowed at our Fannin and Wichita Annex corner,
Charlie Pavlicek who planted all those beautiful pink Czech Lezak Roses, Jerrydene Kovar
who trims them often, Allen Livanec who keeps our landscape alive, Frank Pokluda who
planted all those gorgeous sweet scented pink oleanders and all the others of us regulars who
make up the “Village” to keep our Legacy going.
Our Gala Chairs Nina and Ray Vitek, Barbara and Henry Hermis, Paul and Judy Pasemann,
Cliff and Barbara Malek, Father Paul Chovanec, Sally Miller, Wesley Pustejovsky and James
Ermis worked this special event for weeks as well as obviously, a committee of the rest of us
supporting them on a daily basis. At the same time it would not be happening if it weren’t for
our full time marketing. We thank each of you for what you have done and will be grateful
to any others who may yet.
So we write wishing you, Good Health, God’s Blessings and the Hope you will wish us
success in this our mutual endeavor.
S Panem Bohem, Effie Rosene
N e w s
o f
T h e
2
C z e c h
C e n t e r
Journey to the Czech Republic
Leaving Houston April 20, 2009 on a
beautiful moderate day we arrived to a
very cool Paris having enjoyed great service
especially good food on Air France. Charles
de Gaulle Airport is story of its own –
incredibly modern, huge, full of humanity.
And we always think Amsterdam’s Schipol
is an enormous mass of people. Enroute to
Vienna we noted snow still in the mountains,
then massive squares of yellow Rapeseed in
bloom for making Canola Oil among various
shades of green terrain.
Our friend Jarek was waiting at Vienna’s
Schwechat which has also had tremendous
growth since the early 90’s. We always get
an update on the Czech Republic, Europe
as a whole and details of life in our wine
village of Hlohovec in south Moravia one
mile inside the border. We no longer have
to make the customary customs border stops
we made until the past year or so. The
European Union countries do not have the
once mandatory stops at borders. Wonderful
three or four course dinner awaited us along
with the delightful wines of this prolific wine
region. We checked in on Annie’s sister
Marushka and their 94-year young mother
Hermina Drobilicova next door.
We then surveyed quickly our little wine
cellar villa enjoying the beauty and scent
of lilac blooms, tulips, iris and blossoming
trees. After a long night’s rest on a bed
that seemed to have gotten harder since the
last time – it was only nineteen years old
– we made an executive decision to buy a
new orthopaedic foam mattress which too
was hard but we didn’t feel the bed boards
anymore. Of priority was to visit a dear
friend Aninka Vlasic who had lost her dear
husband Kaya three weeks previous to throat
cancer. Grief is a necessity even when one
has left his mark in life as Kaya had - a
beautiful, generous, hospitable person.
A day trip to Brno proved daunting, twice
the time it normally takes because of bridge
reconstruction over the river Svratka near
the city. Probably something to do with
the planned Vienna, Brno, Prague freeway
already under construction from Vienna and
some parts of the Czech Republic. We marvel
at how the large medieval city, Brno, just
was not built for the hundreds and hundreds
of all new beautiful cars of every brand
double and triple parked on streets. The
Metro system however as always functions
perfectly servicing thousands of students and
others trams, trains, buses everywhere and
we have never seen an auto/metro accident!
We visited our friends June Rowan and
Angelin Worek in Mikulov at Matilda’s
Bazaar. They welcome friends with coffee
and tell us about their art works. Angelin
from Ostrava escaped in early 60’s during
communism eventually to South Africa
meeting his June where they worked in
retail. After the Velvet Revolution they
returned to Czech and on seeing Mikulov the
T h e
Rock n’ Roll
jewel of a town atop the hills overlooking
the Austrian border, June announced, “If
you expect me to live here this is where it
will be.” A great choice!
Sunday in Lednice Castle Chapel we saw
friend Jirka Rottschein and daughter Klara
very conveniently as I had a great framed
picture of him and his wife Karla taken
when we were at last year’s Hunter’s Ball
in Chartvaska Nova Ves. Mr. Rottschein is
Director of Forestry services.
We should say Sunday dinner is always
very special in a Czech Moravian home
but then again every dinner is pretty special
here. And counter to popular belief that
Vepr, Knedle and Zele (pork, dumpling and
cabbage) is what is always eaten, that is
more worker’s stand up quick lunch; the food
generally and basically very intercontinental
cuisine and absolutely delectable. See we
haven’t had that famous “trio” yet but we
will before we leave.
We established new friendships with
Vera Krautgartner originally of Brno who
escaped in 1968 to Switzerland teaching
Law and Justice there. On a first visit back
to her homeland twenty years ago with
her late Swiss husband who announced,
“This is where I want to live” being in the
adjacent Palava region in the town of Pavlov
overlooking the lakes and hills and there they
opened a Pension.
Our American friend and CCMH member,
Jan Kuba, living here in Podivin joined us
last night April 30th with other friends to
chase out the winter witches designating
the end of winter in a celebration at the
wine cellar. Actually it was too cold to sit
outside so we enjoyed the more intimate
wine cellar conviviality. Amazing how
much intellectualism and world issues
discussion takes place therein. As friend
Jarek truly espouses, there would be less
wars and problems if more meetings were
held in wine cellars!
We are “recharging our batteries” learning
about the world, watching the flowers and
trees bloom, the vineyards grow, listening to
bird concerts and butterflies flitting about.
May 14th we return to Houston in time
to join in activities at the Czech Center
Museum Houston, attend the Alley’s Rock
‘n’ Roll play, shortly thereafter to attend
University and High School graduations of
grand children and to progress projects of
the Center while we “Navigate, Survive and
Thrive” on our country’s current recessive
state, as CNN advises.
Happy May Day from the land of Rock
‘n’ Roll, Maypole Trees, Concerts and
Celebrations. We will soon be missing these
58 to 68 degree highs. The weather has been
beautiful with warm Moravian sun. We have
had an inordinate number of days with
incredible gale force winds.
Regards from Effie and Bill Rosene
N e w s
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T h e
3
C z e c h
The Czech Center Museum Houston
was pleased to partner with Houston’s
Alley Theatre in promoting the production
Rock ‘n’ Roll the turbulent times in
Czechoslovakia between 1968 and
1989. Many of us attended the May
20th production with a number of CCMH
members. The play ran April 24 through
May 24th and we were pleased Prague
born CCMH member Hana Hillerova
Harper was available to work with
production dramaturge Mark Bly in the
actors’ nuances of Czech language use.
Jerry Machalek, www.czech.com often
sends CCMH notices to his members and
one response he received was from Beatrice
Fleming of the Twin Cities as follows
who allowed us to use, “I got to see this
in Prague the last night I was there last
year. It was great fun and very interesting
(even though it was in Czech, I hope to
see it in English some day). It was the
grand finale for my trip. Plastic People did
a short concert before the play and in the
last scene, a screen of the Rolling Stones
performing in Prague morphed into Plastic
People and their music as they rose live
from beneath the stage on a rising platform.
Quite the dramatic finish! Then we went to
a strange communist era pub next door to
the National Theatre and Vrata Brabebnec
said that when they had been there with
Vaclav Havel he told them that if he were
rich enough he would tear the place down.
I can understand why! Wish we’d have this
performed in the Twin Cities!”
Rock n’ Roll was written by Czech born
Tom Stoppard, one of the greatest living
playwrights, which included some serious
Czech content. Set in two locations,
Prague and Cambridge the scenes shift
from those taking place in Czechoslovakia
between 1968 and 1989, to those in
England which revolve around the family
of an academic Marxist, Max Morrow.
The connecting point is a Czech student
studying at Cambridge, Jan, who falls in
love with Max’s daughter. Described as
a tragicomic family saga intertwined with
a political drama set in Normalizationera Czechoslovakia, Rock ‘n’ Roll also
featured lots of rock music, including
songs by the Czech band, The Plastic
People of the Universe. Czech critics made
much of the fact that there is a Havel-like
character or characters in the play, and
another character who seems to resemble
Milan Kundera. The way Stoppard wrote
the play was after research of the various
discussions and controversies Vaclav
Havel was involved during the late 1960s
and early 1970s. So in one speech, the
two characters, Ferda and Jan (the young
Czech rock fan who later becomes a
prisoner of conscience) have a debate
about the nature of the invasion [of 1968]
and the consequences of the invasion. This
debate is in essence the debate that Havel
had with Kundera, and Kundera is only
represented in that one particular instance.
C e n t e r
New Memberships
Founder
Mary Ann & Robert Brezina
Hedwig Jane Cyva
Beatrice Mladenka-Fowler &
Jesse C. Fowler
Cynthia Gdula &
Charles Westervelt
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SPJST Supreme Lodge
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Rose Marie White
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Friend
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& Simon Bartos
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Jerry L. Terrill
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Family
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Family
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& Robert Hrncir
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Joshua & Zulema
McManigal
Erich & Ann Moreno Pen
& Family
Bessmarie Prazak Family
Dan & Ruth Sebesta
Tom &Adrian Sovik
Michael Stavinoha
& Wendy Kaplan
Patricia Yongue &
Family
Janice Elias & Family
Maria & Paul Pavlik
Member Update
Leo Eisner
& Ivette Serban
Individual
Angeline Novosad Barber
Julie Bartos
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Jean Kanik PhD
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Lindsey Vyoral
Member Renewals
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& James Herlihy
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Ann Agness
Allen County Public
Library, Indiana
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& Lucy Bartek Brosch
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& Bob Suttie
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John Dujka
Lillian Dulaney
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Patsy Faltisek
Catholic Family Fraternal
of Texas in Austin
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of Texas in Bryan
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Cleveland
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James Doubek
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& Dianna Dorman
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Richard Diaz
Rev. Vincent Dulock, CSB
Jerry Elzner+
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& Eugene Eschenburg
Michelle Flippin
Barbara Fosdick
T h e
N e w s
(January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2009)
Betty Fragoso
Veronica Frost
Elaine Gallagher
Cindy, Greg, Christiana
Gentry Family
Carolyn & Glen Gerken
Rosemary Mladenka Glick
Bob Gonzales &
Jeanette Mikel Gonzales
Adelma Graham
Donald Grahmann &
Mildred Steffek Grahmann
Ted & Cathy Hajdik
Donald Mack Hamil &
Gerry Sliva Hamil
Frederick Hanzalek
Margaret Hanzalek
Zdenky Harman
& Charles Leon Harman
Jaroslav & Linda Havel
Milton Havlick, Jr. &
Sibley Kopmeier-Havlick
Floanne Hadd Hayward
Elizabeth Hermis &
Dennis Hermis Family
Jonathan Hermis Family
Darryl Herzik
& Armin Porter
Jo Nell Holmes
Patricia Hruska Horner
Susan & Ronald Hricko
Stephen Hlavinka
Georgia Hohensee
Carol & Jerry Horacek
Anne Frances Hornak
Thomas Hrncirik &
Sheryl Hrncirik
Jean & Duane Humlicek
Lorraine Ivy
Clement & Brenda Janak
Frank & Evelyn Jez
Cheryl & Chris Johnson
Ronnie & Patricia Kallus
Joseph Kocab
Ernest Koval & Family
Ann Jurecka
Alvin Kollaja
Margaret Kadlecek
John Kahanek III
Viola Vojtek Klinkovsk
Jerry & Palma Koudelka
Karen Kratoville
Georgia Krauskopf
& Joe Krauskopf, Jr.
Valerie Elizabeth Kerschen
Victoria Kolaja
Victor Kovar
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Jerry & Peggy Krampota
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Raymond Krampota &
Dolores Krampota
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o f
T h e
4
David Kvapil
Daniel Lefner
Gene Lichnovsky
Eleanor Leibham &
Thomas Leibham
Allen Livanec
Terry & Linda Lutz
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Bennie Matusek &
Barbara Matusek
Mary Isabel Matusek
Teresa Matlock
Flora Ann Masar
& Dennis Masar
Roger Marsh &
Helen Dziadek Marsh
Mary Isabel Matusek
Beverly Maurice &
Robert Hindman
Alan & Sharon Meek
Dale Meek
Gary Meek
Cindy Miskell & Family
Charles & Martha Mock
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Father Stephen Nesrsta
Marie Neuman
Joe & Helen Novosad
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& Charlese Zilar
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Sanford Paterson
Delores Picha Pavelka
& Joseph Pavelka
Ronald Pechacek
Olga Pechak
Ellen & Richard Peguero
& Family
Sister Rosanne Plagens
Jo Ann & Larry Plasek
Judge Leon Pesek &
Shirley Pesek
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Michelle & Ed Raz
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C e n t e r
Patrizia & Joseph
Stankovich Family
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Lana Sullenger
& Laura Lancaster
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& James Svrcek
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& Dean Teresinski
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Lisa Sikora Thompson
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Carol & Herman Vacca
Roy W. Vajdak
& Rebecca W. Vajdak
Janet & Vince Voytek
Alma Waligura
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Whatton & Family
Cecile Wheeler
Dorothy Wheeler
Pat & Susan Wheeler
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& Roger Willhite
Brian & Carol Williams
Fran Wilcox
Lyle & Patricia Woita
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Mr. & Mrs. Gene Zellmer
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William & Debbie Shortner
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Claire & Frank Svrcek
Cora Sue Taylor
Sally Selner Teresinski
& Dean Teresinski
John Vacek
Marie & William Vavrik
Alma Waligura
Charles Whatton, DDS
& Jennifer Whatton
Georges Zemanek
“The fact that fate
catapulted me into this
role has in a way been a
gift. After all, how often
does one find oneself
in the middle of world
historical changes which
he has also played a part
in influencing?”
Ed: Vaclav Havel speaking to
a Joint Session of Congress
Memorial/Honor Wall
Patricia L. Arms
Hedwig Jane Cyva
Janet Thomas Gayle
Janet Jurik
Cindy Gentry
Leo & Judie Macek Divin,
Ruth & Johnnie J. Jurik
Jerry & Peggy Krampota
Sally & David Miller
Cathy Jankovic &
Joseph Jankovic, MD
Livanec Reunion
Allen Livanec
Roger Mechura
De Lois Wimmer Ed.D
Mary Helen & John Simon
The Whyte Family
Anonymous 2x
Debbie & William Shortner
Dorothy Ann Tichavsky
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o f
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Since last publication!
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o f
T h e
C z e
6
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Gerald Opatrny
to his “Kids”
Sadly, the CCMH has lost
several of its members.
Gerald Opatrny’s family
held a memorial service
here at the Center and the
following was read:
I traveled to Czechoslovakia
where my roots are. I’ve
been to Amsterdam, Vienna,
Prague,
Copenhagen,
Belgium, Austrian Alps and
Switzerland.
I’ve lived through four
wars. Seen days when child
birth was risky, people dying
with appendicitis model T’s
to BMWs, small airplanes
to jets, men in space and on
the moon, heart transplants,
a president assassinated,
TV, silent movies to talkies,
computers and faxes, new
businesses and businesses
that went out of business,
depressions and booms. I’m
thankful for a lot of things
but the best thing that ever
happened to me in my life is
being the father of four great
kids. I am sorry if I caused
any of you any harm. I love
you all. Your Dad.
Ed: If you can read that
all the way through without
shedding a tear, you have a
strong will!
Officers
Effie M. Rosene, CEO
W. G. Bill Rosene,
VP, Administration,
Secretary
James E. Ermis, President &
Treasurer
Honorary Czech Consuls
Generals
Raymond J. Snokhous,
(Texas)
Kenneth H. Zezulka
(Louisiana)
Honorary Board
Julie Halek Kloess
Gladys Kahanek
The Mareks – Marek
Family of Companies
Marta R. Latsch
Grace Skrivanek
John R. Vacek
In memoriam
Allen & Dorothy Chernosky
Bernice Cernosek Havelka
Leslie Kahanek
Tim & Rosa Lee Kostom
Oleta & Louis Hanus
Martha Marek
Thelma Burnett Maresh
William E. Souchek
Naomi Kostom Spencer
c h
C e n t e r
Reverend Victor Brezik
“Dare to do Whatever
You Can,” the Order of
St. Thomas motto was one
espoused by CCMH member Fr. Vic Brezik. He did
just that in over a hundred
publications, a lifetime of
teaching, a philosopher, a
Humanitarian, many Honors
awards. Rer. Brezik, born in
Hallettsville,died at age 96,
one of nine children raised in
the Houston Heights.
He was honored by Fr. Paul
Chovanec at a University of
St. Thomas Alumni gathering in Prague Hall on the
evening of October 28, 2009,
which is the date of birth of
Czechoslovakia in 1918 (his
heritage).
Bedřich Hrozný – Discoverer of the Hittite Language
The Hittites Empire dominated a swath of the
Near East for some 600 years in ancient times.
It was a vastly precocious
civilisation with better
tools, more modern
methods of warfare,
and the newfangled
commodity of iron. As
is the way with empires
however, the Hittites
collapsed and all that the
great trading civilisation
had recorded of its world
was left in oblivion until
a Czech orientalist deciphered their forgotten
language and became the first to hear their
words in 3000 years. This week’s Czechs in
History by Christian Falvey is devoted to the
Father of Hittitology, Bedřich Hrozný.
The young Bedřich Hrozný was an outstanding
student, well-learned in some 10 languages,
Semitic and European. He had proven his meddle
in gruelling archaeological expeditions in Turkey
and Palestine, and had shown an aptitude for
discovery after finding, translating
and publishing 5000-year-old
recipes for brewing Sumerian beer.
These accomplishments proved
the prerequisite to what was to
become his greatest achievement,
the decipherment of the Hittite
language in 1915. Jay Jasanoff,
a professor of Indo-European
linguistics at Harvard University,
is a leading scholar in Hittite
language:
“The Hittites were an ancient
people of Asia Minor who were
discovered rather late in the game. Their ancient
capital was excavated at the very beginning of
the 20th century and it yielded an enormous
trove of tablets written in the Hittite language.
Now, the writing system they were written in was
the cuneiform system of ancient Mesopotamia,
the writing system that the Babylonians for
example used. So we could read the letters - or
the equivalent of the letters - which mostly stand
for syllables, and some of the signs which stood
for notions like ‘king’ or ‘land’ or things like
that, but the language itself that was spelled out
by these signs was completely unintelligible; it
was a new language, one that we didn’t know
before. And Hrozny’s achievement was to make
sense of the language, to figure out
what it was.”
Either with miraculous timeliness
or foreseeing the outbreak of war,
Hrozný travelled to Istanbul to
retrieve copies of the Hittite tablets,
and upon return was promptly
conscripted into the wartime
Austrian Army where his fortunate post as a
T h e
clerk allowed him ample time for decoding the
writing. Working with texts from a Semitic
region, Hrozný had hardly considered that the
impenetrable language could have been of any
other origin, until he began working with a
particular set of rhymed lines that read:
“NU NINDA-AN EZZATENI WATARMA EKUTENI” At this point Hrozny was
inspired to follow a new train of thought.
Recognising the Babylonian sign for bread,
“ninda,” he considered the probability of the
next word, “ezza,” to mean “eat” and thus its
potential as a cognate of the Greek “edein”,
Latin “edere” and German “essen.” Then seen
like this, the other words leapt out – “nu:”
now, “watar:” water – leaving Hrozný
with his first successfully deciphered
sentence: “Now you will eat bread
and drink water.” Jay Jasanoff again:
“What he did was notice in a couple
of critical passages where some of the
context was known because the words
were expressive of sense rather than
being phonetic signs so for example
the word for bread
the word for god and
so on were given and
he found a couple
of contexts in which
he was able to make
brilliant guesses as to
what the surrounding
context meant and he
plugged values into the words
which proved to be correct,
and showed that Hittite was a
member of the Indo-European
language family - that’s the
family to which almost all the languages of
Europe belong as well as Sanskrit and its
decedents in India and Modern Persian – so he
was able to establish that Hittite was another
Indo-European language and an extremely old
one, in fact older than Sanskrit and Greek and
the other early members of the family.”
And thus Bedřich Hrozný – whose name
incidentally translates as Friedrich Terrible –
of the small town of Lysá nad Labem came
to be the only person in communion with a
vanished Anatolian empire. He could read
Hittite. The obvious question then remains,
what did he read?
“The importance of the Hittites lay in part
in
their
being
equal partners and
competitors of the
Egyptian
Empire
who were unknown
until
Bedřich
Hrozný deciphered
their
language.
Another thing we discovered thanks to the
N e w s
o f
T h e
7
C z e c h
decipherment of Hittite was the Hittite code
of laws, which we can say was progressive in
comparison to other similar codes of the day
in that it imposed primarily monetary penalties
or retribution rather than punishments of death
or mutilation as was common at the time.”
The Hittite code of laws was first published
in 1922 by Hrozný himself, and his translation
revealed a breathtakingly detailed treatment of
crime and punishment from one of mankind’s
earliest sets of written law. With almost the
same exhausting scrupulousness of modern
law, the code regulated every aspect of life
from the sacred to the banal. Since any list
of what people must not do is a perfect
indicator of what
they actually do do,
Hrozny’s translation
of the Hittite legal
code gave a vivid
insight into the life
of a society that had
not been seen or
heard of for more
than 3 millennia.
“- If someone kills a
person in a quarrel,
the killer shall
produce the body
and give four people
from his household
in
recompense
whether the slain
person is a man or a woman. - If a free man
kills a snake whilst speaking another’s name,
he shall pay forty shekels of silver. If the
offender is a slave, however, he shall die.
- If someone injures a person and makes him
ill, he shall care for him in his illness. In his
place, he shall provide a person to work his
estate while he recovers. When he recovers,
the assailant will give him six shekels of
silver, and he will also pay the doctor’s fee
himself.”
In addition to the priceless code of laws, the
thousands of available Hittite tablets offered a
trove of letters, personal and official, detailed
instructions for religious ceremonies, and
contracts – among business partners to be
sure, but also among nations; they are some
of the first international treaties known to
history. One tablet from 1283 BC, specifying
the terms of peace between the Hittites and the
Egyptians under Ramesses II, is on display in
the United Nations in New York as an example
of one of the earliest known international
peace accords. The Hittites proved to be
avid and willing negotiators. Marek Rychtařík
of the Institute of Comparative Linguistics:
“Once when a
(continued on page 8)
C e n t e r
Ambassador Eisenbruk Visits CCMH
Bedrich Hrozny (from page 7)
Ambassador Vladimir Eisenbruk of Prague and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech
Republic and Dr. Nora Jurkovicova, Counselor,
Czech Embassy Washington made a very brief
visit to the Czech Center Museum Houston on
that our “Village” made this beautiful needed
place happen. Perhaps it is a Miracle.
Vladimír Eisenbruk, born 1962 in Zlín,
studied at the Faculty of Philosophy and
Letters of Charles University in Prague,
specializing in Modern Philology (English and
Portuguese). In 1988 he obtained his Masters
degree, with a thesis on Modern Judeo-North
American Literature. After finishing his
studies he worked as an interpreter at the
Czech News agency in Prague.
From 1990 to 1993 Mr. Eisenbruk served as
editor of the magazine Worldwide Literature,
translated several books and stories from
English and Portuguese, and published essays
and literary critics.
In 1994 he went to work at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in
Prague, in the Department of Latin America,
The Ambassador reads a Proclamation
where he was in charge of the countries of the
from City of Houston Mayor Bill White
welcoming him to our City as a Honorary
Regional Trade Agreement Mercosur. In 1995
Texan at which time he was also
he was named Consul to the Consulate General
proclaimed an Honorary Member of the
of the Czech Republic in Rio de Janeiro, and
the following year was promoted to the position
of Consul General.
Sunday June 7, 2009 at 10:45 A.M. enroute
From 2000 to 2002 Mr. Eisenbruk worked
to the airport following an address in College
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague
Station, Texas. After a cup of coffee in the as Assistant Director of the Section of
Conference Room, an abbreviated tour of the the American States and as a Head of the
Department of North America. During this
period he accompanied the Prime Minister of
the Czech Republic and the Minister of Foreign
Affairs on official visits to Latin America and
the United States.
In 2002 Mr. Eisenbruk was appointed
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Czech Republic in six countries of Central
America: Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, El
Effie Rosene and (lt) Dr. Nora
Salvador, and Belize with a seat in San Jose,
Jurkovicova, Counselor of the Czech
Costa Rica. He presented his credentials in
Embassy in Washington after a welcome
Costa Rica in October 2002 and in the other
luncheon for the Ambassador and the
countries of the jurisdiction over the following
Counselor in Prague Hall
months. His mission in Central America ended
Museum, the two met for lunch with Board
in January 2005, when he was appointed
members, Honorary Board and other
Ambassador
friends in Prague Hall. Asked to
of the Czech
impart any words of wisdom or
Republic
to
“State of the Union” of the Czech
Mexico
and
Republic before his departure the
Guatemala.
Ambassador spoke only briefly, “I
Upon his
stand before you humble, to know a
return to the
small group of you, volunteers, built
Czech Republic
something of this magnitude. I have
in 2008 he
Fr. Paul Chovanec and Sandria Hu
served the Czech Republic in many
was named a
join Effie, the Ambassador and
countries and have seen nothing to
Commissioner
Nora Jurkovicova
compare. I go back to Prague even
(or
Special
prouder to be Czech than I was, knowing you
Envoy of the Czech Foreign Minister) for
have done this because you care this much for Czech Communities Abroad.
your roots.”
Vladimír Eisenbruk is married and has two
We were somewhat awed at the Ambassador’s
children. He speaks Czech, Spanish, English,
words. We have not taken time to remember Portuguese, Russian, and German.
Effie M. Rosene
T h e
N e w s
o f
T h e
8
C z e c h
Hittite king was concluding a treaty with a
vassal Caucasian ‘state,’ so to speak, the king’s
daughter was married off as a part of the treaty
but it was apparently necessary to contractually
stipulate that there was to be no consorting of
a sexual nature with the betrothed princess’s
sister. This was likely because polygamy was
self-evident to the vassal state but forbidden by
the Hittite code of laws, and so the Hittite king
could not have allowed such an arrangement,
and that had to be treated directly in the treaty.”
The open door to a lost civilization took
Hrozný’s interests far afield. Here is the
professor speaking on Czech Radio in 1932
on “the tenet’s of Kikkuli’s system of horse
training, a system used by the ancient IndoEuropean nations in the second millennium
before Christ in the ancient Orient.” Hrozný
found his good fortune fading in the 1930s
however. He was vexed in his attempts at
deciphering writing systems of Crete and India
and the hieroglyphic writing of the Hittites,
and doggedly resisted the ultimately correct
decipherments of his colleagues once they
had beaten him to the punch. Again however
he found himself in an important place at
an important time in 1939, when he was
appointed rector of Charles University prior
to the German occupation and the closing of
the universities that same year. “Bedřich
Hrozný’s personal bravery is attested to by an
incident that occurred in 1939 when he had
just become the rector of Charles University
and faced off the invaders in the course of
protecting the university.
A group of students were hiding on the
campus and Bedřich Hrozný – whose language
skills included impeccable German – warned
the German officer in charge of finding them
that they had no legal right to pursue students
on the campus. By doing this he was able
to protect the students for the time being.”
Hrozný continued to teach privately throughout
the occupation, however a major stroke in 1944
left him unable to reassume his academic duties
following the liberation of Czechoslovakia
in 1945. His work however remains critical
to the study of the history, anthropology and
linguistics of the Near East and to fields
of European-wide significance today.
Professor Jasanoff:
“The discovery of Hittite meant that we found
the oldest attested Indo-European Language,
there’s a whole field which concerns itself
with reconstructing the common parent of the
Indo-European language family on the basis of
its oldest decedents and in that way tracing the
history of all of the languages, including the
modern ones, like English or French or Czech
for that matter. And what Hittite did was supply
another extremely important early voice of
testimony of what the parent language of the
family looked like so that the whole field of
Indo-European linguistics has never been the
same since Hittite was discovered.”
Prague Radio, Christian Falveyed
C e n t e r
The Origins of the Czech Lands and People
The country is older than its present
inhabitants. Bohemia, Moravia and
Slovakia are, from the standpoint of political
geography, one entire territory, situated
along the watershed of the rivers that feed
the European seas. The Labe and the Odra
rise there, but so do the Morava and the
Vah. The border mountains have never
been a serious obstacle to the development
of communications running from east to
west, and the lowlands on both sides of the
big rivers were a good continuation of the
tracks and roads heading from the Adriatic
across the Alps to the North. No wonder
that this natural centre intersected by all
cultural trends has from old times been part
of the territory used for human settlement.
In the days when the human race in Europe
showed progress in development only along
the Rhine and in the British Isles, Moravia
began to emerge from the darkness of the
prehistoric past. No splendid cave drawings
like those of Altamira were left there by
the Paleolithic Men, yet the artistic feeling
of the race of old Moravia is unmistakably
proved by the richness of plastic design
in all the finds that have been made there
to date. The valleys of the Moravian
rivers were later inhabited by hunting
tribes of Neolithic Men, whose artistic
taste is, however, confined to ornaments on
everyday crockery. Originating in Moravia,
colonization came to Bohemia. Here the
men coming from the east brought their
knowledge of utilizing metals and after
2000 B. C. gave rise to one of the focal
points of the culture of the Bronze Age,
generally referred to by the name of the
village of Unetice in Central Bohemia.
In the 16th century B. C. there lived two
different races in the territory of Bohemia.
The one cremated their dead, while the
other buried them in mounds.
In the 5th century Celtic tribes settled
down there after flooding the continent
of Europe from the Balkans as far as
the British Isles. The Celtic tribes of the
Boii and the Cottini in Bohemia and
Slovakia respectively left behind them
a number of place-names, above all the
name of Bohemia referring to the part of
the territory bearing the vernacular name
Cechy, and the names of the rivers Labe,
corresponding to Celtic Albis (Albion) and
mutated to Elbe in German, and jizera,
corresponding to the French Ysere. They
also gave to the territory a town-dwelling
culture, based on trade and industries.
Thus the important finding places of
Stradonice in Bohemia and Hradisko in
Moravia are not situated on old ways in
riverside lowlands, but in woody regions
in the neighborhood of ore deposits. When
the Central European domination of the
Celts had been shaken by the Thracians,
T h e
Germanic tribes began to penetrate into
the territory from the west. The Germanic
Marcomans in Bohemia and Quades in
Slovakia were not numerous, or at least
we know for sure that they occupied but
a part of the territory, leaving old Celtic
dwelling centers to fall to ruins. At about
the time of Christ’s birth, Marcoman tribes
encountered the vanguards of the Roman
Empire which, spreading northwards, had
by that time reached the Danube. Some
of the scenes represented on Trajanus’
Column in Rome refer to the fights with
the Marcomans. The Emperor Marcus
Aurelius wrote his Meditations on the
banks of the Hron in Slovakia, in those
days about the centre of the Quade territory.
Neither Marcomans nor Romans left
many traces of their settlement. There is a
rock below Trencln Castle in Slovakia with
an inscription hewn by the soldiers of the
Roman legions. They too built castella in the
south of Moravia and Slovakia, representing
single links in the chain of the “limes
Romanus” running along the Danube.
The Romans did not succeed in crossing the
borders of the basins of the Danube, Morava
and Dyje. Thus a border line gradually came
into existence that was to be the boundary
of Czechoslovak territory facing south for
a period of two thousand years. This fact is
the more remarkable in that Bohemia was
then no geographical whole, if we may judge
from the first chart of these parts by Claudius
Ptolemy in the 2nd century A. D., on which
we miss the characteristic quadrangle of
Bohemia but find the treble chain of the
Hercynian Forest.
When the invasion of the Goths into the
territory of the Roman Empire indirectly
caused the revolutionary Migration of
Peoples, a new race entered the territory
between the Sudeten Mountains, the
Carpathians and the Danube, a territory not
yet uniform in appearance but showing in
outline the border lines later to come. They
were the Slavs, and to all appearances they
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C z e c h
did not have to fight for the territory, as the
Marcomans had long been gone at the time
and their Germanic successors do not seem
to have been numerous. The supposition
that some Germanic tribes might have
stayed in the territory of Bohemia without
interruption, as the German propagandists
would have it, lacks all foundation. There
is not the slightest evidence to corroborate
it. Slavonic tribes, coming from the North
East, gradually settled down in Bohemia,
Moravia and, eventually, in Slovakia. Their
original home was the one, common to all
Indo-European peoples, in Central Asia,
where they had been living a nomadic life.
The old road of the Asiatic invader of Europe
brought them to what nowadays is Southern
Russia. On the extensive territory between
the Volga and the Dnieper they met the
more progressive Scyths and changed from
nomadic to agricultural tribes. Pressed by
the Scyths they proceeded further west into
the woody tracts between the Dnieper, the
Vistula and the Carpathians, the traditional
home of all the Slavs. There they were
found by the geographer, Claudius Ptolemy,
who mentions the “immense nation” of
Wends with undisguised respect.
There has never been a satisfactory
solution offered to the problem of why and
under what circumstances the parting of
the Slavs took place. Our curiosity is too
great to be satisfied with what research
has so far discovered. Only the romantic
idea of peace-loving Slavonic land-toilers
oppressed by warlike nomads has been
refuted, and thereby the theory that it
was the nomadic Avars that brought the
oppressed Slavs to their seats. Besides,
both tribes entered Central European
territory from different directions: the
Slavs, from the north-east, the Avars, from
the south-east. It remains a fact that in
the last stormy period of the Migration of
Peoples the Slavs moved first westwards
and then southwards and eastwards. There
are several other puzzling problems yet
to be solved by historians, such as the
explanation of the relation of Lusatian
Serbia to the present Serbia, and that of the
present Croatia to the tribes of Croats in
what is now Eastern Bohemia and to White
Croatia in Galicia.
In their new home the Slavs became
dependent on the Avars, a circumstance
attested by reliable sources. As early as
630 we find mention there of a rising
of the Central European Slavs against
the cruel oppressors who exercised rule
all over their territory from what today
is the Hungarian Lowland. Their rising,
connected with the semi-mythical figure of
the ruler Samo, met
C e n t e r
Origins of the Czech Lands and People (continued from page 9)
King Rudolph II
with success and the Central European
Slavs turned against their western
neighbors, the Franks, whose claims to
sovereign rule were thus for the first time
refuted. The fight to retain an independent
existence has from the remotest past been
one of the first tasks of the Slavs in
Czechoslovak lands. This is corroborated
by reports of the struggles between the
re-created Roman Empire of Charlemagne
and the Slavs of Bohemia. The mighty
ruler, whose name (Carlo) served the
Western Slavs for the term “king” (kral,
kro1), no doubt became the overlord of
some, if not all, of the Slavonic tribes in
Bohemia. Yet their territory never became
an immediate dependency, nor did this
supra-national Romanized Empire ever
attempt to Germanize the Bohemian Slavs,
as the mercenary German historiographers
have so often sweated to prove. The custom
of paying a definite amount a year to the
western neighbor apparently originated in
this time. It was made infrequently and by
way of token. There is no justification for
ascribing its origin to Prince Wenceslas the
Saint, as later tradition did.
Charlemagne had for good and all
removed the threat of the Avars by ruining
their domains in the Danubian basin. In
this way the reunion of the western and
the southern Slavs, as well as a tentative
Slavonic state on the eastern border of
Charlemagne’s empire, was made possible.
These attempts at unification sprang
particularly from Moravia, that is, the
basin of the Morava, where single tribes
began to unite which until then had been
independent and autonomous and only at a
pinch, under the leadership of a provisional
chief, had jointly defended the strongholds
inhabited by themselves and their kin.
Towards the end of the third decade of
the 9th century the process of unification
began to extend to the territory of the
present Slovakia, where a native leaderprince of Nitra attempted by consenting
to conversion to Christianity to obtain
the help of the rulers of East Franconia.
About fifteen years later, the leaders of the
Bohemian tribes tried the same methods
with equally poor success. The founder
of the Great Moravian Empire, Mojmir I,
gained influence in both the territories, and,
deprived of his rule, through the jealousy of
the heirs to Charlemagne, he left Rostislav,
his nephew and successor, in carrying out
the same plans. In Rostislav’s reign the
Great Moravian Empire came to the fore
in the Europe of that time by alliance with
Byzantium, then the most progressive part
of the world. Thus the Great Moravian
Empire and Byzantium stood in one line
of defense against the Frankish Empire
allied with the Bulgarians. In accordance
The Czech Center Museum Houston has
acquired an etching of Rudolf II by Czech
artist Oldrich Kulhanek an exhibition of
Czech and Slovak artists at the University
of Houston Clear Lake in June, thanks to
invitation from artist professor Sandria
Hu. A brief history and context for this
infamous Czech ruler:
T h e
with his general policy, Rostislav sent
messengers to Byzantium in 863 to request
the sending out of a Christian mission.
The arrival of the Byzantine missionaries,
Constantinus and Methodius, marks a
turning point in the cultural development
of the territory. With the introduction of a
literary Slavonic language and one raised to
the language of liturgy, the Czechoslovak
lands joined on principles of parity the
great community of Christian culture.
There is no doubt that this happened
contrary to what the Germanic neighbor
would have liked to see. Complaints of
German clergy about Methodius’ activities
as well as an open struggle for suzerainty
brought about the enthronement of a new
ruler, Svatopluk. Yet not even he was
willing to give in to the dictate of the
jealous East Frankish neighbors. During
his reign Methodius was made Archbishop
of Pannonia and Svatopluk’s state for
some time came to enjoy the immediate
protection of the Holy See. It extended
into Bohemia, whose prince at that time
accepted baptism, into the Basin of the
Vistula and into Pannonia, an important
territory in present-day Western Hungary,
linking bridgewise the Western Slavs with
the Slavonic tribesmen in the Balkans and
with Byzantium. This link was maintained
till Svatopluk’s death and so was the
whole of the Great Moravian Empire. Not
until the reign of Svatopluk’s successor,
Mojmir II, did the first historical Slav
state in Czechoslovak territory succumb
to the concentrated attack of the Eastern
Franks and the Magyar tribes that had
settled down in the Danubian Basin and
taken over the heritage of the Avars. Soon
after the collapse of the Great Moravian
Empire, the Empire of the Eastern Franks
succumbed to the Magyar raiders.
Part 1 From the Book: History of
Czechoslovakia by J.V. Polisensky
Ed We had the pleasure of meeting Dr.
Polisensky, a great scholar, in the late 90’s
A photograph by Czech artist Stepan Grygar, shown
here with Effie Rosene at a reception for the artist,
was purchased at the recent FotoFest Exhibition.
Underwriters include Rev. Paul Chovanec, Tom &
Treena Rowan, Clarice Snokhous, Lovie & Earl Beard,
MD, Larry F. Janak and Lexia Kaspar Ribeiro.
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Etching of King Rudolf II
by Czech artist
Oldrich Kulhanek
Czech History
• 500-1306: The Great Moravian Empire
& the Přemyslid Dynasty
• 1310-1378: John of Luxembourg &
Charles IV
• 1411 -1526: The Hussite Era & George
of Poděbrady
• 1526-1790: The Habsburg Dynasty to
Joseph II
• 1790-1914: National Revival to World
War I
• 1918-1945: The First Republic & World
War II
• 1945-1989: The Communist Era
• 1989-present: Velvet Revolution &
Beyond
In 1583, thus promoting Prague to the
imperial seat of power again. This era is
sometimes referred to as Prague’s Second
Golden Age. Rudolf was obsessed with
art and science, not spending much time
on his royal duties, and made Prague the
center of science and alchemy. It was
during his reign that Prague earned its
nickname “Magic Prague.” Rudolf’s court
attracted scientists and artists from all over
Europe, including astronomers Tycho de
Brahe and Johannes Kepler. The legend
of the Golem comes from that time, also.
(Note underwriters page 5)
Excerpted from our blog:
czechcentermuseumhouston.wordpress.com
C e n t e r
‘Forgotten Transport’ films – illuminating ‘places left in obscurity.’ A Story of Human Lives
Lukáš Přibyl’s series of documentaries,
‘Forgotten Transports,’ depicts a lesser-known
side of the Holocaust, played out in locations a
lot less notorious than Belsen or Auschwitz. The
films have been subject to an overwhelming
amount of critical acclaim ever since the final
installment, ‘Forgotten Transports to Poland’
was premiered in March this year. Just before
Lukáš Přibyl set off to Paris to promote the
cycle there, I asked him to tell me a bit about
the project:
“The ‘Forgotten Transports’
series are four films which are all
individual and can be screened
separately, but if you watch them
consecutively they are supposed to
present a picture of the Holocaust as
we, quote unquote, ‘don’t know it.’
“ Because I am interested in places
where Czech Jews and Central and Western
European Jews were deported during the early
stages of the Holocaust, mostly 1941-1942.
And because most of these people perished,
to an extent even greater than people who
were deported to Auschwitz and so on, these
places have been left completely in obscurity,
I would say. Nothing has been written about
them, there are no documentaries, and when
I was researching them, in the early stages, I
realized that the fates of these people, and the
stories that they have are so
radically different from what
we got used to, from what we
sort of acknowledge as the
general survival story, that
they should be recorded.”
He spent years crossing the
globe, several times over,
to interview survivors for
the films. His research took
him to Israel, the United
States, Germany and time and again, the Baltic
countries in which these transports ended.
“The four films are focused on four different
locations to which Jews were deported: Latvia,
Estonia, Belarus and Eastern Poland. Each of
the films are focused on a different survival
story or a different mode of survival, rather.
Latvia is focused on how people, how families
tried to adapt to completely extreme conditions
whilst keeping a semblance of normalcy. So
you had children going to improvised schools,
but they had to pass by the gallows on the
way to school. Teenagers danced under the
penalty of death, and the next day, the boys
were shot. Belarus is really about fighting
and escapes from death camps and joining
the partisans. Estonia is really about a group
of women who survived thanks to the fact
that they, to an extent, managed to block and
ignore what was going on around them. Thanks
to constant mutual help, they really created
T h e
a bubble around themselves. You can call it
naivety, you can call it stupidity, which is what
they call it themselves, but it really allowed
them to survive. “Poland is really about people
on the run, constantly changing their identities,
living with false papers, hiding and so on. So
each of the films also focuses on a different
group of people in a way.”
There you have outlined the main differences
between the people in each of these films, but
in your research, did you find some
similar stories coming up time and
again? “There are more things that
separate them than are common.
I think the only thing you can say
is common for
all of them that
allowed them to
survive is luck.
That is the only common
denominator. Everything else
is, I mean, these people – we
filmed in over 20 countries,
the materials contained in
these films come from over
30 countries. There were
so few of these people who survived, so
basically if you were the only person who
survived from a particular transport to
a particular place, then you don’t really
have anyone to exchange
your experiences. “
“So first of all these
people very often actually
fell through the cracks with
all of the big interview
schemes, with Spielberg
and so on. These people
never talked, to anybody,
including their children.
Very often, the children of
these people found out about their parents’
experience through me. These people don’t
really know about other survivors from the
places they were in, and their experience was,
as I mentioned, so different from the experience
of Auschwitz survivors. Quite a few of them
actually sort-of confided in me and said ‘well, I
can’t get along with these people, because since
there is absolutely nothing about the camp that
I was in, other people say ‘oh yes, you were
in this or that camp, that was nothing, I was in
Auschwitz.”’ So that added to the detachment
that they already felt to begin with. And so that
is why these people never spoke.”
Did you find that some people were actually
quite reticent to speak to you about these
experiences at first? “Absolutely. I mean, of
course, it is very individual, there were some
people who spoke to me relatively quickly, but
there were people who took, in some cases,
up to two years to be persuaded to talk. I kept
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C z e c h
calling them and basically persuading them,
and until they gained enough trust in me to
speak, it was quite an arduous process.”
In his research, Lukáš Přibyl spoke to former
Nazi prison guards. I asked him how he felt
about these interviews, and whether the stories
they told him were a lot less black and white
than you would expect: “Absolutely, I don’t
believe in a black and white view of the world,
because the world is not black and white. So,
sure, sometimes it is difficult to approach
someone who, you know, has blood on their
hands. But, on the other hand, sometimes you
meet people – at a recent screening was the
Estonian ambassador who told me that he really
liked the film and said that
he knew one of the people
I interviewed for the film.
He was actually the son of
a former Estonian minister.
And this was one of the
people who participated
in the shooting of these
Czech Jews when they
were deported to Estonia.
And when I met this guy, I
couldn’t detect any anti-Semitism, he just got
an order and he did what he was told. And I
really can’t say what I would do at the age of
17 if I received an order. I mean, these moral
and philosophical questions – and they are
philosophical questions, do I rebel, do I say no
to an order – these are more than a 17-year-old
can probably handle.
“So, he did participate, he was captured by the
Soviets in 1948, he was sentenced to 25 years
in a gulag. He served around 7 years and was
then released in 1955 together with the German
POWs. So, it is not a black and white story
as well. There were many people who did it
voluntarily, because they were psychopaths – I
don’t know, I don’t have an explanation for
why you would want to kill. And there were
many of them. “But there were also people who
have this more complicated story.” The series
of films has taken Lukáš years to complete
and has consisted of an enormous amount of
painstaking research, which he himself does not
undermine: “Out of 270 people who survived
altogether from the several dozen thousand
people who were deported to these places, I
found 70 who were still alive when I started
the project, and I talked to all of them. Of
course, we also interviewed local Jews from all
of these places, we interviewed the so-called
bystanders, the local civilian population, and
in some cases we also interviewed some Nazis
who were still alive. That was about 270 hours
of footage, and if you ask about how many
people I spoke to in
C e n t e r
A Story of Human Lives (continued from page 11)
general, that must have been several thousand, father changed his name from something
because behind every photograph in the film, like Silberstein, or something very Jewish, to
there are several hundred phone calls, because a
this Swedish-sounding name. And they kept
lot of the material that is used in the films comes
moving all over the place, so she was deported
from private hands. Because I believe that there from Brno, but her father worked in Ostrava.
is a visual record of basically everything, it’s
And her parents were divorced, so it was all
just not in official archives. So you have to go
very complicated.
to a Polish village and get drunk with men in
“So, I found all the schools she went to
the pub and they give you photographs, or you
and I looked up all of her former classmates.
go to Germany and you ring the doorbell of the And none of them had a picture. And then,
family of a former SS man for so long that they one day, it was completely accidental, I was
give you the keys for their garage and they say asked whether I could help with some research
that you can go and rummage through there. about the Jewish soldiers who were in the
That is where the material comes from.”
Czechoslovak army in the Soviet Union. And I
That was something I wanted to ask you about. am going through these hundreds and hundreds
Because it seems that you have some very, very
of names, and suddenly I see this name, Sylten.
rare period footage of even the roads that these And immediately, I realized. I knew that the
transports went down. That must have taken father wasn’t deported with the rest of the
you to the ends of the earth to find. What was
family, but I didn’t know what had happened
the wildest goose chase that you embarked to him. And suddenly I see
upon to find a piece of footage?
that he was arrested in 1940
“I would not use anything that is not time and
by the NKVD, the KGB of
place-authentic. As I said, I believe that there that time, imprisoned in a
is a visual record of everything, so, whatever gulag, and then, in 1942,
these people in the film say, I document using
he was released on the
photographs and films. And you can actually condition that he joined the
recognize people who speak in the film in Czechoslovak forces and
photographs from the camp itself, or from
fought the Nazis.
places of forced labor and so on. So, if they
“He survived the war – I
say ‘well, we worked in Tallinn and there was a managed to find his record from 1945 – and
diver’, then I go to the archives and find out
then I found a record that he immigrated in
all the names of the divers who worked in the 1948 to Israel. So, I went to Israel to look for
Baltic between 1941-1944. And then I look up
him there.”
all the families and then I find the one picture Lukáš managed to locate the street that Inge’s
in which the women are pulling up the diver father had lived on and questioned all of his
onto the boat.
former neighbors in a bid to find a lead. A
“For the last film, because I needed some couple of people said that they remembered
footage from Hungary, I went through 600 an old man with a family which renewed
hours of footage and selected the 12 minutes of Přibyl’s hope:
footage that I needed. I go to Germany, I need
“I knew that I wouldn’t find this man alive
footage of Szamos, it’s a few seconds, more because he was born in 1891, and the chance
probably doesn’t exist. But I go through the 80 that he would, at 60, start a new family was very
hours to find that few seconds of that railway slim, but he did. Now I knew that somewhere
station at the time that I needed.”
in Israel was a woman with the maiden name of
Is there anything that you just couldn’t Sylten, and I had to find her. So I kept looking
find? That you are sure is out there, but that for her, I kept calling all over the place and I
you just couldn’t get? “In the end I usually solicited the help of one of my distant relatives
get everything. But there was, for example, there. He also called everywhere and it took
a story in the film about Estonia – a very months. And then one day, his wife came home
interesting sort of Romeo and Juliet story in and he was again on the phone and she asked
a concentration camp. And I was looking for him ‘where do you keep calling?’ And he said
a photo of the girl for four years. And it was
‘well, I’m looking for this woman whose name
such a basic, incredible story and I knew it was is Sylten’, and she said ‘Sylten? Ruth Sylten?
a building stone of the film, but I just couldn’t I went to high school with her!’ And so then it
find a picture of the camp commander, nor of
was easy.
the girl. “
“I called her up and I asked her ‘do you have a
“She had a very Swedish-sounding name,
picture of your half-sister?’ And she said ‘what
Inge Sylten, which was very strange, so I
do you mean? I don’t have any half-sister’.
looked up all the Syltens in the world. And And I replied ‘well you do, well you did. You
none of them were Jewish, and none of them
had three half siblings, because your father
were relatives. In the end, I found out that
had a family before the war.’ She said, ‘no,
they couldn’t have been related because Inge’s that’s impossible, because my father never said
T h e
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12
anything like that and he would have said’. She
didn’t believe me at all. And I kept on telling
her things about her father and the family which
all matched. And so I said ‘please, will you give
this a chance, I know you said you know all of
the photos in the family albums, but will you
please go through them again?’”
Ruth Sylten agreed and, as chance would
have it, was due to visit Prague on holiday
in the following couple of days. She brought
her photo albums with her and Lukáš and she
met. “I was flicking through the pages and
then suddenly I see this picture of a very pretty
girl. And so I asked ‘who is this?’ and she said
‘you know, you’re right, I don’t know who
this is’. And so we carefully peeled the picture
away and on the back it said, there was an
inscription which said, ‘to my friend (I don’t
remember the name now), from Inge Sylten’.
And the most amazing this
is that actually the picture
was inscribed to a woman
whom I had contacted
during my search, but she
no longer remembered that
she had had this photograph.
And that is why I couldn’t
find any photos anywhere,
because what the father did
after the war was what I was trying to do 60
years later. He went round all the acquaintances
and friends of Inge and collected the pictures,
because coming back from the war he had
nothing. And he wanted a memento of his
family who had perished. And behind basically
every photograph in the films is a similar
story.” What made you start on this project
which has taken so many years of your life and
so much of your attention and devotion?
“Well I started because of the history of my
family as well. So, I was interested in where
my family had been deported to and my
grandfather, who actually survived, was in
the very first deportation of the war. He was
deported in October 1939 already, one month
after the beginning of the war. And he was
also deported to this tiny, completely forgotten,
obscure camp. And since I knew where he was
deported to, but I couldn’t find any mention of
it in scientific literature – or, at least, if it was
mentioned, it was really only mentioned in
passing and there was nothing more said about
it. So, I decided that there was no other way to
find out about it than investigate it myself. “So I
did start looking for this camp and I interviewed
a lot of people and through this research I
actually realized that there were many more
places where Czech Jews were deported to,
and we just know the destination, but we don’t
know anything about what happened to them
there. So I gradually started
e n t e r
Sophie Chotek – Princess of Hohenberg (continued from page 1)
Forgotten Transport (continued)
In private she may have cried into a
Vienna. Outside of the city, Franz Ferdinand
handkerchief, but in public she held her head could insist that Sophie be treated with due
high and smiled openly – tut-tutting, calming deference. During the military procession, a
and soothing her volatile, outraged husband hand grenade was hurled at the archduke’s car.
who never let an opportunity pass to rail against The driver sped up and escaped the explosion,
the vicious indignities of protocol heaped on which injured passengers in the car following
his beloved Sophie by the Court. For no behind.
degradation or insult was the Thronfolger’s
When the Archduke learned about the
wife spared by Fürst Montenuovo and his cabal wounded members of his party, he insisted
of Imperial court. Throughout those fourteen on being taken to the hospital to see them.
years, at any Court or State function, Her Most
Though she was encouraged to stay behind,
Serene Highness Fürstin Monarchy, or even the Sophie was emphatic about remaining close to
First, since Kaiserin Sissi had died would have her husband’s side during the chaos. On the
to enter alone, long after her husband; he would
way to the hospital, an armed assassin, Gavrilo
have to wait for Sophie to creep in at the tail Princip, seized the opportunity to open fire
end of protocol, after the youngest Archduchess
on the Archduke’s vehicle as it traveled along
had toddled-in in nappies. Sophie could never Franz Joseph Street. The driver put his foot on
share a box with her husband at the opera
the brake, and began to back up. In doing so he
or the theatre, never sit in the same Imperial moved slowly past the waiting Gavrilo Princip.
carriage during state processions. In any official The assassin stepped forward, drew his gun,
address Franz Ferdinand could never include and at a distance of about five feet, fired several
the words, “My wife and I” Whenever Franz times into the car. Franz Ferdinand was hit in
Ferdinand entertained a visiting sovereign
the neck and Sophie in the abdomen. Sophie
at the Belvedere, she must remain invisible; said to her husband, “For God’s sake what
Fürst Montenuovo had decreed that on such
happened to you,” then she fell bleeding. Before
occasions the existence of a hostess could be
losing consciousness, he pleaded “Sophie dear!
acknowledged – but as a ghost: an extra place Sophie dear! Don’t die! Stay alive for our
setting would be laid which would remain
children!” They were both dead within an
unoccupied. If Sophie stayed at the Belvedere hour. Even after the couple was assassinated,
after Franz Ferdinand had left, all sentries
strict protocol had to be observed. Realizing
were promptly withdrawn as if nobody worth
that Sophie would never be allowed burial at
guarding were left behind. When Sophie
the Imperial Vault in Vienna, Franz Ferdinand
organized a ball at Konopischt, Artstetten or made prior arrangements for adjacent tombs
Chlumetz, other Archduchesses and princelings at Schoss Artstetten, one his castles in the
organized bigger ones on the same date so that countryside. After a scarcely attended joint
etiquette required guests to attend the latter.
funeral mass, the two were taken by a milk train
To the Habsburgs and the Court Sophie was a
to their final resting place. Today the castle
non-person. The renunciation of privileges also houses a museum in their memory.
meant she would be denied the right of burial Compiled from sources
with her husband in the Habsburg family crypt,
beneath the Kapuzinerkirche in Vienna. Franz OFFICIAL NAME: Czech Republic
Ferdinand’s anger and resentment, indeed, any Geography - Area: 78,864 sq. kilometers;
husband’s anger and resentment at such willful, about the size of Virginia, Cities:
malicious spite, must have been indescribable. Capital–Prague (pop. 1.21 million). Other
In fact, it was perhaps small wonder that he
cities–Brno (367,000), Ostrava (310,000),
visited Vienna as little as possible, often without Plzen (163,000), Terrain: Low mountains
Sophie, so as to spare her the vindictiveness of
to the north and south, hills in the west,
Fürst Montenuovo and the Vienna camarilla.
Climate: Temperate.
In 1914, Governor of the Austrian provinces of People - Nationality: Noun and adjective–
Bosnia-Herzegovina, General Oskar Potiorek, Czech(s). Population (est.): 10.3 million,
invited Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie
Annual growth rate: 0.1%, Ethnic groups:
to observe his military troops on maneuvers. Czech (94% or 9.6 million); Slovak
Ferdinand was aware that the trip would be a
(193,000); Roma (200,000); Silesian
dangerous one, as many people living in that (11,000); Polish (52,000); German
area were unhappy with the Austrian monarchy (39,000); Ukrainian (22,000); and
and wished to unite with Serbia. While it Vietnamese (40,000), Religions: Roman
was unusual for Sophie to accompany her Catholic, Protestant, Language: Czech,
husband on official visits, Franz Ferdinand Education: Literacy–99.8%, Health: Life
made a special exception on this occasion as
expectancy–males 73.34 yrs., females 79.7
an anniversary gift to his wife. Ironically,
yrs, Work force (5.17 million): Industry,
one of the reasons that the couple made their construction,
and commerce–40%;
ill-fated journey to Bosnia-Herzegovina was government and other services–56%;
to temporarily escape the rigid social rules of agriculture–4%.
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collecting that information as well, and
when I started meeting some of these
people I realized that they are so incredible
and that their stories are really so different
from what I myself imagined the survival
story of the Holocaust was. And each of
them was like a Hollywood thriller.
“I felt that I had to record them on camera
as well as just writing these things down.
Because writing things down is good for
historians, but then you write a study and
it collects dust on university bookshelves.
And no one reads it, and these stories
are not just stories of Jews during the
war, they are really universal in a way.
So, these films are really not so much
about the Holocaust, although there is all
this research behind everything and every
detail is very painstakingly documented.
But I think these films are about how
people react in utter extremities, and that
is what I was trying to achieve.”
What has the reaction been like so far to
the films? “Well, the series has basically
just been completed, so only now are we
starting to send the films to film festivals.
But I have to say that the first time
we screened it was at the Palm Springs
International Film Festival where we were
short-listed for an audience award, which
was great. We were short-listed for a
quote unquote ‘Holocaust documentary,’
in this tremendous competition. We sold
out the Lincoln Center in New York and
got a standing ovation there. So that was
incredible, and also two of the women
who speak in the film came and were
in the audience, so that was quite an
experience.
“We sort of have to fight against this
preconception, because most people know,
or think they know, what they are going to
see if you say ‘this is a documentary.’ It’s
a documentary, so they immediately box it
within history, Holocaust, TV, seen this a
million times. And it is always the same.
But once they see it, they actually realize
that it is a little bit different from the other
ones. And I think young people react best,
I don’t know if it is because they don’t
know that much about the Holocaust any
more, or whether it is because they are
more open. But they see it as a story, they
see it as a story of human lives, and a story
of people trying to save their lives. They
see it as a thriller, which is what I wanted
to achieve, not as history.”
For more information on the ‘Forgotten
Transports’ series, go to the films’ website,
www.zapomenutetransporty.cz
“Po bitvě je každý generálem.”
Translation: After a battle everyone is a
general. English equivalent:
Hindsight is 20-20
n t e r
Gala 2009
CCMH’s Baroque building elegantly clothed in
cashmere linens, accented by crimson and coral
potted flowers, the Fifteenth Annual Benefit
Gala staged in Prague Hall, which as usual
a Trip drawing buyers, the Silent and Live
Auction donors. To those who contributed
and were not able to attend especially Mrs.
Julie Halek Kloess our many thanks. All in all
the organization was able to realize additional
provided the festive affair with an elegant tone.
An ebullient crowd mingled, caught up, shared
in refreshments and explored the vast array of
funding for our capital needs to be applied to
the third floor buildout. It has to be said that
Gala proceeds were not as sizeable as previous
years, which in the face of our recessionary
times was to be expected.
The Live Auction was slow to start, however
soon enough a few bidding wars began in
earnest. It was an truly generous Live Auction
with getaway packages to Maine, Ruidoso, a
Texas country estate, a Moravian Wine Cellar
Villa and a Utah working ranch to name a few,
plus such opportunities as Czech baking classes,
Houston art scene tickets and sports packages
among others. What a wonderful example our
Silent and Live Auction donors set, proving
that the best way to handle this unfortunate
economy is to continue generously donating
and staying involved in our communities. Only
by helping each other, giving time and money
as we can without fear and continuing to
celebrate our blessings as we did at this Gala
can we overcome any strife. We give thanks to
the fearless, fun loving group who attended this
year’s Fifteenth Annual Benefit Gala.
Silent Auction items laid out both downstairs in
Brno Gallery and upstairs in Prague Hall before
coming together for dinner.
Our Gala 2009 Honorees
Cecilia and Bob Forrest
Cecilia Marie Pingenot Forrest was born
Under the glow of Prague Hall’s crystal in Del Rio, Texas, attending school in Ennis,
chandeliers the crowd enjoyed a delicious dinner Texas where she and her brother were raised
following death of their parents. A graduate
of grilled tenderloin, champagne chicken, herb
roasted potatoes, vegetable medley and mixed of the University of Texas, she married and
greens salad with Tiramisu as dessert catered moved to Houston in 1955 and taught preby a new friend of the Czech Center, Safari Kindergarten at a private school while her
children were small.
Texas Ranch.
Robert James Forrest was born in
Thanks to our many friends who attended,
Racine, Wisconsin of English Scottish and
especially to the multiple table buyers such Luxenbourgese heritage. Joining the U S Army
as Father Paul Chovanec, Henry and Barbara in 1946 serve twenty-three year. Following his
Hermis; to Kay Bily for setting up a Bily table retirement in 1968 and the loss of his wife to
and other table buyers, Chris Hlavinka, Sally & cancer in 1974, Bob moved to Houston joined
David Miller, Wesley and Janell Pustejovsky, the Harris County Sheriffs Department retiring
Len & Lorraine Rod Green (they are really in 1996. Bob and Cecilia met through their
dancing people), Ray & Nina Vitek, the Marek
church in 1982 and married the following
Family, Effie & Bill Rosene and Barbara and
year.
Her interest in family has led her to
Cliff Malek. Of course we are grateful for the
genealogical research on all sides of their
single and double attendees, the many Win families. On their honeymoon Cecilia took
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14
Bob through the cemeteries of southwest Texas
to meet her ancestors. Since then they have
visited cemeteries from the Rio Grande of Texas
to Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin and
Minnesota. Bob is now prepared with tools to
uncover buried stones, brushes for cleaning and
chalk to enhance faded lettering before taking
photos of the gravesites. He has explored many
courthouse squares while Cecilia researches
for relatives in the records. She attributes this
“researching and gathering” of relatives to
instincts inherited from her ancestors who were
primarily farmers.
Cecilia is proud of the contributions her
ancestors made to the Czech communities
of Texas. Bob and Cecilia lead a busy full
life and continue to support Czech culture
and heritage by volunteering at the Czech
Cultural Center on Wednesdays. Cecilia had
enjoyed a long career with Palais Royal retail
business at her retirement stating she wouldn’t
do that again. When Bob read the Czech
Cultural Center Houston needed volunteers
at the Prague Market in Northwest Mall,
Bob reminded Cecilia she had Wednesdays
free in their full weekly schedule. That was
fifteen years ago this July! They enjoy their
Wednesdays and then some volunteering in
Prague International Gifts and any other needs,
i.e, docent historical tours of the Czech Center
Museum Houston in the Museum District.
They continue their commitment and support
of their heritages even throughout years of
Bob’s bouts of cancer therapy.
The Forrests are the epitome of people
helping people and giving back to the
Community. We salute and celebrate Bob
and Cecilia as we give thanks on this Special
Occasion to all our Volunteers
Julie Halek Kloess of San Antonio, Texas
shown with Effie Rosene is a major
supporter of the Czech Center Museum
Houston. She visited with friends at a
special luncheon in her honor.
“Even now, everybody talks about Havel´s
address before the joint congressional session.
We were all absolutely stunned – no one could
believe any president could talk like that.”
Madeleine K. Albright
e n t e r
A Journey from Bohemia to Texas - At Your Service
by Erik Worscheh with Beverly Harris
Chapter I-An Abrupt Change of Plans
Birthplace and early Data: Born on
Sunday, Dec. 23, 1922 in Weseritz-Bohemia,
Czechoslovakia near towns of Budweis, Pilsen
and Michelob, home of world’s best hops.
Mother Franziska Buresch, Father, Alfred
Worscheh. Education: Early school-PodersamSaaz; Middle school-Karlsbad and
Prague Academy; College-University
of Nurnberg. Hotel Training: Grand
Hotel Pupp, Grand Hotel Imperial in
Karlsbad, 1936-1938.
In 1939, Germany occupied
Czechoslovakia. Was studying in
Karlsbad. Drafted into Workforce
“Arbeitsdienst” in 1940.
Drafted into the German
navy. After training, assigned to a
minesweeper headed to the North
Sea and Baltic Sea.
Chapter II-The Worschech Family
Vanishes
Erik’s personal outline continues, still only
hinting at the real drama:
Served in flotilla under command of
Admiral Sonnabend as youngest Lieutenant of
a minesweeper. Swept mines in the North Sea
and the Baltic Sea, following a general route
off the German coast from the ports of Kiel and
Danzig, up to the Bay of Riga, Latvia, and then
to Helsinki and Kotka, Finland, searching back
and forth. Whenever a mine was cut under the
water, it popped to the surface and was shot
with a machine gun to explode.
March ’45, Admiral moved flotilla towards
the West as he did not want to fall into
Russian hands and turn over secret specialized
equipment to the Russians. We all felt he
sympathized with British. Flotilla surrendered
to British. Those with no affiliation with
Nazi party were separated and screened and
continued to serve under British Command, in
the Baltic and North Seas, 1945-47.
After war, Russia occupied Czechoslovak
Socialist Republic (CSR). Had no contact with
family. Tried through Geneva to locate parents
and family.
Chapter IV-One-Way Fare to California
Erik added to his outline: As a displaced person,
I received notice to report to Bremerhaven,
Germany, to board the transport ship General
Hahn for departure on November 11, 1951.
Because of my navy background, I become
the chief of police on the ship; a fellow refugee,
Dr. Michaelis, became ship doctor. We were
the only persons given a cabin on the bridge.
I was assigned to organize the duties of food
preparation and clean-up during the seven-day
trip. All information had to be given in several
languages.
We had several dance contests on board. As
we passed the Statue of Liberty in New York
harbor, it was a joyous scene with everybody
crying in gratitude.
Arrived in N.Y. with five dollars in pocket,
a place to stay with my brother-in-law’s family
in New Rochelle.
T h e
A few days after arrival, I walked from 1st
St. to 101st St. in Manhattan, just to absorb
the feel of America.
Had brief job at Waldorf Astoria until I
saved money to go to California. I borrowed
$90 from my brother-in-law, which I paid back.
After
California
I
was
invited
to
Houston.
Where
is Houston? Erik Worscheh
continued his career in the food
industry through Mission Inn,
Beverly Hilton, Shamrock Hilton,
AstroWorld Hotel, The Petroleum
Club and on bringing them service
with grace, charm and setting the
milestone for the culinary revolution
in Houston. He is truly a Houston
Icon. The legendary Fred Nahas
of KPRC Radio in 1973 announced
“Ed Worscheh is a well known
executive hotel-clubman who has
hosted presidents, kings, the rich,
the nouveau riche and the famous
and a prototype of screen star George Sanders.
Erik is suave polished, a Super Host, master
of the art of haute cuisine with as much
concern for the company clerk as the oil
company Chairman of the Board.” The book
was published in 2008.
We hope you will soon get to meet this
wonderful gregarious gentleman and his
beautiful Texas born wife Mary.
Limited signed copies of this fascinating,
inspirational and historic biography are
available at the Czech Center Museum
Houston’s Prague International Gift Shop.
Please call 713-528-2060, order online at
www.czechcenter.org. Price $21.95 + $6.81
tax, shipping and handling.
Volunteering has its benefits - Allen
Livanec brings a delicious lemon pie
“The Church must engage in a dialogue with
society and must seek reconciliation with it.
Twenty years ago, we were euphoric about
freedom; today we live in an economic and
financial crisis, and also to a certain extent in
a crisis of values. So the tasks are going to be
a little more difficult. But thanks to everything
that’s being done, it will not be a journey into
the unknown.”
Ed: Quote by Dominik Duka appointed
archbishop of Prague
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Will you Dance with Me?
Too many people put off something that
brings them joy just because they haven’t
thought about it, don’t have it on their
schedule, didn’t know it was coming or
are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those
women on the Titanic who passed up
dessert at dinner that fateful night in an
effort to cut back.
How often have your kids dropped in to
talk and sat in silence while you watched
‘Jeopardy’ on television?
I cannot count the times I called my
sister and said, ‘How about going to lunch
in a half hour?’ She would gag up and
stammer, ‘I can’t. I have clothes on the
line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known
yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks
like rain.’ And my personal favorite: ‘It’s
Monday.’ She died a few years ago. We
never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much
into their lives, we tend to schedule our
headaches. We live on a sparse diet of
promises we make to ourselves when all
the conditions are perfect!
We’ll go back and visit the grandparents
when we get Steve toilet-trained. We’ll
entertain when we replace the living-room
carpet...We’ll go on a second honeymoon
when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get
older. The days get shorter, and the list of
promises to ourselves gets longer. One
morning, we awaken, and all we have to
show for our lives is a litany of ‘I’m going
to,’ ‘I plan on,’ and ‘Some day, when
things are settled down a bit.’
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do
something you WANT to.....not something
on your SHOULD DO list. If you were
going to die soon and had only one phone
call you could make, who would you call
and what would you say? And why are
you waiting? ‘Life may not be the party
we hoped for... But while we are here we
might as well dance’
When you worry and hurry through your
day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown
away..... Life is not a race Take it slower.
Hear the music before the song is over.
When the day is done, do you lie in your
bed with the next hundred chores running
through your head? Ever told your child,
‘We’ll do it tomorrow.’ And in your haste,
not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let
a good friendship die? Just call to say ‘Hi?
To those that read this, I cherish our
friendship and appreciate all you do. ‘Life
may not be the party we hoped for...
But while we are here we might as
well dance.’
C e n t e r
Plastic People of the Universe, Czech Band Named from Frank Zappa’s Song “Plastic People”
The early to mid-sixties were undoubtedly an
exciting time in Czechoslovakia. Jazz, both
American and Czechoslovak, was enjoying a
comeback after years underground. The Nazi
party had abolished jazz upon its occupation of
Czechoslovakia in 1938. Since 1945, however,
the new Communist party had been more
tolerant of jazz, specifically the classic
Czechoslovak jazz. And now, boring,
predictable socialist life under Communist rule
was suddenly injected with a jolt of democracy
in its purest form: rock and roll! Thousands of
“garage” bands were born in Czechoslovakia in
the mid-sixties; hundreds in Prague alone. The
kids went nuts in response to the Beatles, and
the Big Beat, or “bigbit” as the Czechs called it,
era began. It was the height of the Big Beat era
when American hipster poet Allen Ginsberg
made his celebrated visit to Czechoslovakia.
After accepting an invitation by students at
Prague’s Charles University, Ginsberg arrived
in Prague in March of 1965 and gave several
poetry readings in small theaters in Prague and
Bratislava. The young people embraced the
long-haired revolutionary and crowned him
King of their May Day Festival. Antonin
Novotny’s hard-line Communist government,
who Ginsberg had publicly denounced and
insulted, appreciated Ginsberg less. After
arresting him for alleged drug abuse and public
drunkenness, the Secret Police broke into his
hotel room and confiscated his writings, which
they found to be lewd and morally dangerous.
The government used these writings as an
excuse to expel Ginsberg from the country on
May 7, 1965. The influence of Ginsberg’s visit
on Czech culture should not be underestimated.
Suddenly, the streets of Prague were filled with
long-haired hippies wearing blue jeans and
staging “happenings.” The Communist way of
life began to seem more and more foreign to a
new generation of Czechoslovaks. An
underground club scene formed and grew with
each passing year, spawning hundreds of new
bands. Among the best of the early Czech rock
bands were Olympic, Czechoslovakia’s premier
Beatles band and the Primitives, Prague’s first
psychedelic band. The proliferation of rock and
roll music into the culture increased as Czech
radio stations switched to western pop
programming, rock magazines sprung up, and
Czech schools began teaching western rock and
roll in the classrooms. Novotny reacted to this
influx of Western culture with a vengeance. He
rid his cabinet of any party member with the
slightest ideas of reform, and increased
censorship laws. Prague officials felt Novotny
had overreacted and replaced him with an
experienced party leader who they believed
would lead Czechoslovakia through necessary
reforms without upsetting the Kremlin. On
January 5, 1968, Alexander Dubcek replaced
Novotny as the leader of the Communist Party
in Czechoslovakia. It was the beginning of the
Prague Spring. Dubcek soon initiated a string
of reforms that brought Czechoslovakia closer
T h e
to Western style ideals than at any time before.
By April 1968, Dubcek had purged government
positions of all hard-line Communists and
announced a program of “socialist democracy”
for the country. He also lifted all censorship in
the radio, press and television and cleared all
prisons of artists and other political prisoners of
the former regime. Prague Spring resembled
nothing less than San Francisco 1967. Hippies
and drugs were everywhere, and rock music
flourished in the clubs and the streets. It was a
special time while it lasted, but the Kremlin felt
Dubcek had gone too far. Early in the morning
of August 21, 1968, Soviet tanks and 175,000
Warsaw Pact troops began a massive
invasion of Czechoslovakia in order to crush
the Prague Spring. Passive resistance, for the
most part, was practiced by the Czech defenders
but some blood was shed. Many street signs
were mixed up by the hippies to confound the
oncoming tanks. Three days later, it was all
over. The tanks and the troops remained and the
citizens resumed their lives. Protests did
continue; the most sensational being the suicide
of Jan Palach, a philosophy student in Prague,
who doused himself in kerosene and set himself
on fire in the center of Wenceslas Square. The
Plastic People of the Universe were formed by
bassist Milan Hlavsa less than a month after the
invasion. Initially inspired by the Velvet
Underground, the group also covered songs
from other American groups such as the Fugs,
the Doors, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa’s
Mothers of Invention. The name of the band
was taken from Zappa’s song entitled
“Plastic People.” Their artistic director/
manager was a brilliant art historian and cultural
theoretician named Ivan Jirous. Jirous was
previously the artistic director of the Primitives,
and when he joined the Plastics in 1969, he
brought with him the lead guitarist of the
Primitives, Josef Janicek. The addition of viola
player Jiri Kabes further likened their sound to
the Velvet Underground. Their concert
performances were more like “happenings”
featuring set pieces, outlandish makeup and
costumes, and psychedelic light shows.
Following the 1968 invasion, the Kremlin
initiated a “normalization” program to
reestablish moral and social behavior befitting
a Communist country. The government began
closing down many of Prague’s leading rock
clubs and censoring the news and film
industries, yet still the rock scene continued to
flourish amidst the political turmoil. The Beach
Boys played an historic concert at Lucerna Hall
in Prague in May of 1969 and dedicated their
song “Breaking Away” to recently replaced
Prague Spring reformer Dubcek who sat in the
audience. As the “normalization” continued,
some bands, like Olympic, changed their sound
and look and survived the transition. The
Plastic People, however, refused to change. The
Plastics remained Prague’s leading psychedelic
band until January 1970 when their
nonconformity led to the government revoking
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C z e c h
their professional license. In addition to no
longer being allowed to receive money for their
performances, the demotion to amateur status
also meant the loss of state-owned instruments
and access to rehearsal space. The Plastics
continued to perform as an amateur band but
vowed to seek reinstatement of professional
status. The band scrounged up used instruments
and Janicek, an auto mechanic by trade,
constructed crude amplifiers from old transistor
radios. It was at this time that Paul Wilson, a
Canadian grad student from Oxford who had
come to Prague in 1967 for a semester in order
to study practical Communism but had stayed
on as an English teacher, met Ivan Jirous.
Wilson was recruited by Jirous to teach the
band English lyrics to songs by the Velvets,
Fugs, Zappa and other western rock artists, and
eventually befriended the entire band and
joined the Plastics as lead singer. As an art
critic, Jirous was a member of the Union of
Artists, and could therefore obtain permits for
convention halls. He would lecture on Andy
Warhol for a few minutes, show a few slides,
and then the Plastic People would “demonstrate”
the songs of the Velvet Underground for a
couple of hours. Eventually, the government
caught on and these shows were cancelled. In
June of 1972, a concert in downtown Prague
featuring the Plastic People was cancelled after
drunken militia began scuffling with fans. The
Plastics were banned from playing in Prague
and retreated into the countryside. Paul Wilson
left the band after singing with them during
1970 through 1972, during which time he
estimates they played about 15 times in public.
Free jazz saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec, a
generation older than most of the Plastics, was
then introduced to the group by Jirous and
immediately accepted as a Plastic Person.
Brabenec, the most accomplished musician of
them all, joined on the condition that they only
play their own original material and sing in
Czech from then on. The band agreed. At this
time, the group reapplied for professional
status. They were granted a temporary license
but it was revoked two weeks later. Authorities
claimed their music was “morbid” and would
have a “negative social impact,” and they
were totally banned from playing for the public.
The Plastics refused to change to suit the
establishment and retired into the underground.
At this time, their music, written primarily by
Milan Hlavsa, became wildly original, darker
and more atmospheric, especially featuring the
brilliant sax playing by Brabenec. An entire
underground movement grew around the Plastic
People, including other bands, singers, poets
and artists. This underground culture thrived in
small Bohemian villages outside of the
government’s control.
Through the rest of the decade, the band found
it increasingly difficult to perform their music
without retribution. Whenever their friends had
marriages, wedding party provided an occasion
(Continued on Page 17)
C e n t e r
Plastic
Head People of the Universe (continued from page 16)
occasion to rent a hall and put on a
privateconcert. Usually, however, putting
together a concert was more akin to a cloak and
dagger movie. A remote site in the woods near
an isolated Bohemian village was picked, word
of the location was then passed among friends,
whispered from ear to ear. The exact location of
the site was never revealed more than one day
in advance and sometimes not revealed until
that night. Fans would get off at the nearest rail
station, then walk miles through the forest and
across farms, sometimes for hours in rain or
snow, searching for a remote farmhouse or
barn. Often, the police would show up all the
same and stop the show. One of the most
infamous of these encounters became known as
the “Ceske Budovice Massacre.” In March
1974, over a thousand fans showed up in the
small town of Budovice to hear the Plastics
perform, only to find the police waiting.
Hundreds of fans were led through a dark
tunnel to the rail station while being beaten
with clubs, then herded onto a waiting train and
sent back to Prague. Names were taken; six
students were arrested and dozens were
expelled from school. The Plastics never
performed. In response to the Budovice
massacre, Ivan Jirous organized the First Music
Festival of the Second Culture. Jirous was
nicknamed “Magor,” as in phantasmagoria,
which roughly translates as “crazy,” because of
his ideas of creating a “Second Culture” totally
separate from the totalitarian First Culture. This
festival, dubbed “Hannibal’s Wedding,” took
place in the village of Postupice near Benesov
on September 1, 1974. Hundreds of fans
gathered to hear the Plastics and other
underground bands perform. By this time,
Magor had convinced the band that rock and
roll was the salvation for the Second Culture
and that what they were doing was historically
significant and extremely important. The
Plastics held a Second Music Festival of the
Second Culture, also known as “Magor’s
Wedding,” in the small town of Bojanovice on
February 21, 1976. In response to this festival,
on March 17, 1976, the Secret Police arrested
27 musicians and their friends including all the
Plastic People. In addition, over 100 fans were
interrogated. The band’s homemade equipment
was seized, their homes were searched and
tapes, films and notebooks were confiscated.
Paul Wilson was expelled from the country
soon after and returned to Canada. Six months
later, the trial of the Plastic People and the other
arrested artists began. The majority of the
Plastic People were released due to international
protests. However, four musicians including
Vratislav Brabenec and Ivan Jirous from the
Plastics, as well as Pavel Zajicek from the
Plastics’ sister band DG 307, and singer
Svatopluk Karasek, were held for disturbing the
peace. On that day, September 21, 1976, as the
four defendants sat handcuffed in the dock,
rock and roll went on trial. It was the hippies
versus the Communist state. The prosecutors
T h e
cited vulgar lyrics in some songs and described
their music as an “anti-social phenomenon” that
was corrupting the Czech youth. The defendants
responded with dignity, defending their right to
write and sing the songs they wanted. Two days
later, all four were found guilty of “organized
disturbance of the peace.” Jirous was sentenced
to 18 months, Zajicek to 12 months, and both
Karasek and Brabenec to 8 months in Prague’s
Ruzne Prison. A diverse group of supporters,
including playwrights, writers, professors and
other Czech intellectuals, had attended the trial
and gathered outside in the hallway. Among the
supporters was avant-garde playwright Vaclav
Havel who had met Jirous a week earlier and
had been impressed with the man and his
philosophy. Havel left the trial feeling
disgusted with the world and resolved to
make a difference. In the months that followed,
these sympathizers gathered in solidarity with
the hippies and rallied around the Plastic
People. They dared to establish a human rights
organization and released a statement of
principles on January 1, 1977, naming their
organization after the charter, Charter 77. Havel
said that the Plastics were defending “life’s
intrinsic desire to express itself freely, in its
own authentic and sovereign way,” which is as
close to a perfect definition of both democracy
and rock and roll as has ever been stated.
Charter 77 evolved into a world-famous
human rights petition that eventually landed
Havel in jail, and was a precursor to the
national revolution that occurred 12 years
later. Since the late 1970’s, the Plastics had
begun recording their music on tapes and
circulating them among friends and fans. A
number of these tapes, smuggled out of the
country, were eventually released as records in
the west. Their first and best album was “Egon
Bondy’s Happy Hearts Club Banned,” recorded
in a Bohemian castle in 1973-74, and smuggled
to the west and released as an album in 1978
without the band’s knowledge. It is one of the
most original albums of all time with its fusion
of psychedelic jazz rock, classical European
melodic structures and the comedic lyrics of
Czech poet Egon Bondy. The band continued
recording and releasing music clandestinely
throughout the ‘70s into the ‘80s with the help
of Paul Wilson in Toronto and others. Following
Brabenec’s release, Havel allowed the Plastic
People the use of his country home in Hradecek
for the Third Music Festival of the Second
Culture on October 1, 1977. The police did not
break up the concert but circled the property
and remained an imposing presence as the
Plastics performed in the barn. A tape of this
concert was released in the west in 1979 as
“Hundred Points.” The band recorded their next
album “Passion Play,” about the crucifixion of
Christ, also at Havel’s farm in 1980 while the
police again staked out the surrounding woods.
In April 1981, the Plastics performed their next
album “Leading Horses” at a friend’s house
near Ceska Lipa. A few weeks later, the house
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17
C z e c h
was mysteriously burned to the ground. When
Vratislav Brabenec was later picked up for
interrogation by the secret police, the police all
but admitted to torching the house. Shortly
thereafter in 1981, the Plastics recorded
“Leading Horses’’ again at Vaclav Havel’s
farm, which had become their only safe haven.
By 1982, Brabenec was finally forced into exile
after being picked up regularly by the secret
police and interrogated or beaten for hours at a
time. He relocated to the suburb of Scarborough
in Toronto, Canada, which has a Czech
community of over 10,000. He is a landscape
gardener. In 1983, “Leading Horses” was
released by Bozi Mlyn records, the address of
which happens to be Paul Wilson’s house in
Toronto Canada. Another album, entitled
“Slaughterhouse,” was recorded in 1984 but
remains unreleased at this time. The Plastics
recorded their last album entitled “Midnight
Mouse” in 1986. It was a more pop-sounding
record, yet still retained the Plastics spirit. The
‘80’s had brought a new sound to
Czechoslovakia: punk rock. The appearance of
this new music on the scene almost made the
Communists wish the kids were listening to the
Beatles again. Leather-clad teenagers with
spiky, tri-colored hair and bad attitudes gave the
Communist officials new problems to worry
about and mainstream rock began to seem like
the lesser of two Devils. Punks were especially
subject to unprovoked beatings by the police at
this time. In June 1986, Czechoslovakia hosted
its first national rock festival, Rockfest 86.
Many previously banned groups were allowed
to perform and it appeared that the rock scene
was beginning to show signs of liberalization.
Late in 1987, hints were being dropped by
Czech officials that if the group changed their
name from the Plastic People, they would be
granted a license. In April 1988, the Plastic
People of the Universe broke up over
disagreements on the issue of changing the
name. Jan Brabec, the drummer, maintained
that he would play as the Plastic People or not
at all, and quit. Hlavsa then formed a new band,
Pulnoc, meaning “midnight.” Hlavsa chose
Pulnoc as the name for the band because it
reflected not an end but a transformation of the
Plastic People. “Midnight is a very special
time,” Hlavsa explained. “It is when one day
dies and another is born. And yet there is
continuity. That is how it is with this band.”
Along with the core of the Plastic People
(Hlavsa, Kabes, Janicek), the new band featured
a younger generation of musicians, including
Hlavsa’s sister-in-law, Michaela Nemcova, an
operatically-trained singer and music teacher,
Karel Jancak, a 23-year-old guitarist who had
played in a Prague punk band, cellist Tomas
Schilla, and drummer Petr Kuzamandas. Pulnoc
was allowed to play abroad only because they
travelled as ‘tourists.’ Pulnoc made its first
official appearance at the Junior Klub in Prague
in the spring of 1988. Around this time, Magor
was sentenced to sixteen months in prison for
C e n t e r
Plastic People of the Universe (continued from page 17)
History Lesson
reading protest poems in public. To call his help Czechoslovakia move into the democratic
attention to his friend’s situation, Vratislav
age, such as cellular phones and tourism. Zappa
Brabenec made a rare appearance and performed was emotionally overcome upon meeting older
in New York City in January 1989 with Allen fans of his who had endured beatings by the
Ginsberg and Ed Sanders of the Fugs in a Secret Police for the sake of his music. Another
benefit for Magor, who had at this time now historic meeting was that between Havel and
spent eight of his last fifteen years in prison. Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed, who
Old films of the Plastic People performing had traveled to Prague in 1990 to interview
in Czechoslovakia were shown. In April of Havel. In Prague Castle, Reed presented Havel
1989, with lead singer Nemcova pregnant with a copy of his latest album as Havel
with twins, Pulnoc began a seven city national unfolded the incredible story of the Plastic
tour of the United States. The band dedicated People to an awed Lou Reed, explaining how
each performance on this tour to Magor. They
influential the Velvet Underground and rock
performed new songs as well as Plastic People music had been in the Velvet Revolution. Later
songs, marking the first time in nearly 20 years that night, Reed was taken to a club where a
that they were able to perform Plastic People band was playing. As Reed recalled, “I suddenly
music in public without fear of arrest. Their realized the music sounded familiar. They were
historic shows at Performance Space 122 in playing Velvet Underground songs beautiful,
Manhattan brought out the press, including an
heartfelt, impeccable versions of my songs. To
MTV film crew, and practically the entire Czech say I was moved would be an understatement.”
community in New York City. The audience The band was Pulnoc. Reed joined them on
gave the band a thundering ovation before stage as they performed for Havel and 300
they even began to play. Pavel Zajicek, now a of his friends. After the concert, an ecstatic
sculptor living in NYC, reunited with his friends Havel introduced Reed to his friends, most
to sing lead vocals on a song based on a William of them former dissidents, as they recalled
Blake poem. The music they made during these reciting Reed’s lyrics in prison for comfort
shows glowed with the spirit of freedom and and inspiration. Pulnoc recorded and released
mirrored the soon-to-be death of communism on their self-titled debut album in Czechoslovakia
a global basis. Back in Eastern Europe, things in 1990. On June 15, 1990, when the original
were happening fast. Communism was falling Velvet Underground reunited for the first time
all around as revolutions and massive protests in 20 years in Paris for the opening of an Andy
overwhelmed the Stalinist governments. In Warhol exhibition by the Cartier Foundation,
November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Pulnoc opened for them. The band recorded
On Nov. 17, 1989, Czechoslovakia’s Velvet and released a second album, “City of Hysteria”
Revolution began as more and more students
(featuring liner notes by Vaclav Havel and a
showed up every day in Wenceslas Square to new song by Egon Bondy), in the United States
protest police brutality. They were soon joined in 1991. A year later, Milan Hlavsa published a
by playwrights, actors, musicians including the book in Czechoslovakia telling the story of the
entire Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and other Plastics entitled “Bez Ohnu Je Underground,”
Czech citizens, until they were 300,000 strong. which coincided with the release of a multiThe revolution ended successfully 24 days later. album box set of the complete recordings of the
Magor was released from prison on December
Plastic People. The story of the Plastic People
2, 1989 and immediately got involved with of the Universe came full circle on June 12,
the new young punk scene. On December 14,
1993, when they performed at Prague’s Junior
1989, the Czech Philharmonic gave a concert at Klub to celebrate the impending arrival of
Smetana Hall in Prague, which became the most the recently reunited Velvet Underground in
famous concert in the history of that country. Czechoslovakia. The Plastics appeared under
Everyone there was delirious with happiness, the name of Meyla’s Velvet Revival Band
knowing the overthrow of communism was and played nothing but the classic songs of
almost completed. Vaclav Havel was not yet their original idols. The next day, the Velvet
President but as the leader of the pro-democracy Underground performed to a sell-out crowd at
Civic Forum, everyone knew he ought to be.
the Palace of Culture in Prague, a feat which
Conductor Vaclav Neumann wore a large Civic would have been unthinkable if not for the
Forum pin on his lapel. When Havel came Plastic People of the Universe. The amazing
on stage, the entire concert hall erupted into history of the Plastic People is so crucially
applause. Three days before the end of the intertwined with the history of Czechoslovakia
decade, on December 29, 1989, Vaclav Havel
that one can not fully understand the history of
became President of Czechoslovakia and began that country without knowing the history of the
replacing the Communist officials in his office band, and vice versa. No other rock band has
with his friends including other Czech dissidents had to put up with the abuse and the obstacles
and rock musicians. In January of 1990, just as that the Plastics did during their lifetime. Yet
the new democracy had begun, Frank Zappa they did not plan to risk their lives for their
flew to Prague at the invitation of Havel, one of music. As Hlavsa said, they were “dissidents
his greatest fans. 5000 rock fans were waiting against their will.” Eventually, however, they
at the airport to witness the historic arrival came to the realization that what they were
of the famous American. A Prague film crew doing was historically important and their very
captured Zappa’s arrival at the airport just as existence through the hard times their country
Shirley Temple Black, the former “good ship was experiencing was a powerful symbol of
lollipop” girl, then the acting ambassador to freedom to the younger generation of Czechs.
Czech, was leaving. Mrs. Black was asked The Plastic People were ultimately a major
about her views on the distinguished Frank catalyst to the overthrow of communism in
Zappa’s visit. Czech citizens did not understand Eastern Europe. History would most surely have
her horrified reaction to this question. Zappa been very different without them. Apart from
met Havel at Prague Castle and presented the the aforementioned Beatles and the
new president with several ideas on how to
T h e
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C z e c h
C
18
When the invasion of the Goths into the territory
of the Roman Empire indirectly caused the
revolutionary Migration of Peoples, a new
race entered the, territory between the Sudeten
Mountains, the Carpathians and the Danube,
a territory not yet uniform in appearance but
showing in outline the border lines later to come.
They were the Slavs, and to all appearances
they did not have to fight for the territory, as
the Marcomans had long been gone at the time
and their Germanic successors do not seem
to have been numerous. The supposition that
some Germanic tribes might have stayed in the
territory of Bohemia without interruption, as the
German propagandists would have it, lacks all
foundation. There is not the slightest evidence
to corroborate it.
Slavonic tribes, coming from the North East,
gradually settled in Bohemia, Moravia and,
eventually, in Slovakia. Their original home
was the one, common to all Indo-European
peoples, in Central Asia where they had been
lived a nomadic life. The old road of the
Asiatic invader of Europe brought them to
what now is southern Russia. On the extensive
territory between the Volga and the Dnieper
they met the more progressive Scyths and
changed from nomadic to agricultural tribes.
Pressed by the Scyths they proceeded further
west into the woody tracts between the Dnieper,
the Vistula and the Carpathians, the traditional
home of all the Slavs. There they were found
by the geographer, Claudius Ptolemy, who
mentions the “immense nation” of Wends with
undisguised respect.
There has never been a satisfactory solution
offered to the problem of why and under what
circumstances the ‘parting’ of the Slavs took
place. Our curiosity is too great to be satisfied
with what research has so far discovered. Only
the romantic idea of peace-loving Slavonic landtoilers oppressed by warlike nomads has been
refuted, and thereby the theory that it was
the nomadic Avars that brought the oppressed
Slavs to their seats. Besides, both tribes entered
Central European territory from different
directions: the Slavs, from the north-east, the
Avars, from the south-east. It remains a fact
that, in the last stormy period of the Migration
of Peoples the Slavs moved first westwards
and then southwards and eastwards. There are
several other puzzling problems yet to be solved
by historians, such as the explanation of the
relation of Lusatian Serbia to the present Serbia,
and that of the present Croatia to the tribes of
Croats in what is now Eastern Bohemia and to
White Croatia in Galicia.
Source unknown
Plastic People of the Universe
Velvet Underground, there’s not a lot of rock
and roll bands you can say that about. Also,
knowing that the true cultural heritage of
Czechoslovakia includes not just Jan Hus
and Franz Kafka but also Lou Reed and
Frank Zappa makes it easier to understand
why Vaclav Havel’s record collection
includes not just Antonin Dvorak but also
“White Light White Heat” and “Bongo
Fury.” Let’s face it. There’s not a lot of
national presidents you can say that about.
Joseph Yanosik March 1996 issue of
magazine Perfect Sound Forever
e n t e r
Schulenburg’s Sengelmann Hall
As happened in so
many small towns,
Schulenburg’s
Main
Street here was left
behind by the interstate. Among the 19th-century
buildings along the
quiet street is charming
Sengelmann Hall. A
former dance hall and
saloon, it opened in
1894 and closed in the 1940s. Sengelmann is
reborn. It has been brought back to life, not
by a development company or wealthy town
elder but by Dana Roy Harper, a 37-yearold artist from Houston. He has invested
more than $1 million, hoping his live-music
venue, Czech/German restaurant, biergarten,
Czech bakery and general store will make
Sengelmann Hall a tourist destination.
Imagine a Gruene Hall halfway between
Houston and San Antonio, just a mile off
Interstate 10. For Harper, Sengelmann Hall
is more than a business venture. It’s his vision
of how life should be: less corporate and
more authentic and mindful of the past. He is
raising bees to make honey for the restaurant
and planning to grow vegetables, peaches
and berries to sell at a farm stand outside the
dance hall. His restaurant serves local and
regional meat, dairy and produce, and features
everything from burgers to braised rabbit
wrapped in prosciutto. Bar food includes
a Czech appetizer called topinka, which is
sliced homemade rye bread fried in duck fat
and rubbed in garlic. The music is mostly
country, including traditional, progressive and
Western swing. A polka band plays on Sunday
afternoons, like Sengelmann Hall did in the
old days. On Thursdays, Earl Poole Ball,
Johnny Cash’s longtime piano man, performs.
Opera at the Czech Center
said. He married one
of the wealthiest young
women in town, Lillie
Cranz, and her parents
helped Cullen start his
oil business, Harper
said. Cullen made so
much money in oil he
was nicknamed “King
of the Wildcatters.” A
visual artist, Harper has
been involved in some of his family’s business
investments. Harper bought Sengelmann Hall
on his own 11 years ago. The first time he
entered the upstairs dance hall, which had
been shuttered for decades, he found rusty
beer bottle caps and glass beads that had
come loose from women’s dresses on the
dance floor.
‘Architectural treasure’
Locals are helping him with the dance
hall’s history. There’s a bullet hole in one
of the elegant pink-granite columns from
the time when a man hid behind it. The
first bullet struck the column, and the next
one entered the man’s back, Harper said.
Upstairs is a hat-check booth where beer and
cocktail tickets were sold, and it’s covered
by chicken wire. The owners, brothers
Charles and Gustav Sengelmann, installed
the mesh to discourage theft, Harper was
told. There used to be a separate stairway
for women and children so that they could
avoid the men’s saloon when they headed
to the dance floor upstairs. The idea to
revive Sengelmann Hall came to Harper
in 2007. He and his wife, Hana Hillerova
Harper, were driving on a Houston freeway,
passing one strip center after another. “Miles and miles of all these new generic
developments,” Harper said. “It was all the
same.” “Who did all these developments?”
his wife asked. “It’s possible that my family
investments paid for some of them,” he
replied. The couple decided to get involved
in a project totally unlike the strip centers
— something more Old World and akin to
Hillerova Harper’s native Czechoslovakia.
She helped conceive the restaurant menu
and is providing Czech recipes for the
bakery, which opened summer. 2009.
“Hana and Dana Harper have rescued a real
architectural treasure,” said architectural
historian Stephen Fox, who also credited
their architects, Stern & Bucek. Worth the
risk Harper knows Sengelmann Hall is a
big risk, but that only makes the project
more “exhilarating,” he said. Harper said
he has money but is not super-rich. To fund
Sengelmann Hall, “he pulled money from
his family investments,” Hillerova Harper
said. “If it doesn’t work we could lose
our house.” Soon after deciding to restore
Sengelmann Hall, Harper said, he had “an
The place to be
Older Schulenburg residents are thrilled by
the return of Sengelmann Hall. “It’s kind of
like a dream it happened,” 80-year-old Frank
Tilicek said. He remembers when Main
Street in Schulenburg on a Saturday night
was “a production.” That was in the 1930s
and ’40s, before the arrival of TV. People
strolled up and down Main, visiting bars,
cafes and a movie house, and the barbershop
stayed open until 10 p.m. And Sengelmann
Hall was the place downtown, Tilicek said. “All my life we’ve been thinking, ‘What can
we do to bring Sengelmann Hall back? It
took an outsider to make it happen, albeit one
with strong local connections. Throughout his
life, Harper has spent weekends on a family
farm near Schulenburg, and his great-greatgrandmother came from there. Bought 11
years ago Harper is the great-great-grandson
of oil titan and philanthropist Hugh Roy
Cullen. According to family legend, Cullen
came to Schulenburg “to find a good German
wife” before settling in Houston, Harper
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C z e c h
Thursday and Friday, September 17 and
18 2009 were very special evenings for
us. CCMH has
celebrated its
fifth year open
to the public on
September
1,
2004 and many
delightful events
including
art
exhibits, concerts,
lectures, films,
language classes,
organizations
meetings, workshops, weddings, corporate
events, birthday celebrations, reunions,
educating individuals and groups. Those
two evenings were unique as we were
honored, privileged and so excited to work
with Kingwood Lone Star College Opera
Workshop faculty, international Opera
singers (voice coaches), professionals and
talented students from numerous colleges
and universities. Both evenings we had an
almost full house in Prague Hall’s Theatre
in the Round for Bedrich Smetana’s comedy
opera The Bartered Bride and numerous short
arias including Antonín Dvorak’s Russalka. We honored the family of Rudolf and the late
Henrietta Klecka, (see page 25) a number of
the family who were present. The program
was light and fast moving; the cast of fiftyfive or more singers, dancers and actors
were a happy group so the mood was very
contagious. Guests left for the Reception
opportunity to mingle with and meet the
cast and friends all with smiles on their
faces. We felt this was a true community
outreach. There were people there who had
never thought about seeing an “opera” and
yet they had a great time. We had at least
twelve different countries represented. The
buzz is, we may have Hansel and Gretel at
St. Nicholas Eve celebration!!!
Sengelmann Hall
intense vision of it completed and full of
people.“ I thought of my ancestors dancing
upstairs. That image is so clear that it gives
me courage. Any time I get doubts I’ll
meditate on that vision.” He said he had no
idea of how much pressure there would be in
doing the project. “I don’t like the business
side,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to
enjoying the place.”
Excerpted from the Houston Chronicle
Ed:Prague-born wife Hana has recently
been commissioned by the City of Houston
through the Houston Arts Alliance to produce
a public art for Houston’s Intercontinental
Airport with multiple sculpture stars in
space from which emanates “Houston the
Eagle has landed!” It truly gives you
“goosebumps” when you think about these
talents among us.
C e n t e r
Magnificent Contribution – A Room Full of Treasures – Ottervik Collection
Eric and Barbara Ottervik of Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, visited our gift shop store in
Northwest Mall. (We just celebrated five
years in our new building.) They were in
town visiting their daughter and family. The
daughter is an executive with the Museum of
Fine Arts Houston.
Some time ensued with several visits, but the
last time bringing pictures representative of
their collection and indicated it was to be a gift
candlesticks…pottery, glass, porcelain…a vast
and varied collection, not just quality, but also
representing all facets of the items that had been
exported at the time.
Much of these items, created solely for export
during the period of 1918 to 1938, were actually
never available (or seen) in Czechoslovakia. And
all were marked (or “signed” as the expression
goes), with some sort of etched or stamped
marking. In fact, when Barbara’s relative saw
the collection, they were astonished: The items
were unlike anything they had seen in their
youth or since.
Fifteen years later, when their daughter
Kathleen Ottervik Jameson returned to Houston
(she is now Assistant Director of the Houston
Museum of Fine Arts), the family stumbled upon
the original “outpost” of the Czech Cultural
to the Czech Center Museum Houston. The
Center in a strip mall and met Effie Rosene, the
pictures displayed some 692 pieces! In order to effervescent darling of Czech culture! Again, it
acquire the collection it had to be transported to was happenstance…collectors and lovers of all
Houston so we ask several moving companies in
things Czech…Barbara and Eric were always
Bethlehem to assess the collection and estimate looking to expand their collection and meet
the cost of packing and shipping telling them we new people. Of course, Barbara had to buy a
thought it was the number of pieces displayed in necklace from the gift shop offerings!
the pictures. Eric advised us the actual number
Barbara and Eric had always thought
was 1200!
that their collection of over 1200 pieces of
The following is their story told by Barbara
glass, china, and pottery was “museum quality”
Ottervik: Simpy put, Eric Ottervik fell in love. Not
and especially worth sharing with the others
just with his bride-to-be, Barbara Špatná, but with particularly because for native Czechs, these
her family and all things Czech. Most importantly, items were unknown, and for “transplanted”
he fell in love with helping Barbara get further in
Czechs, the collection was all encompassing
touch with her heritage and her roots.
and brought a whole new art form to the world
Barbara, a full-blooded Czech and first and the Czech culture.
generation American growing up in Queens,
And so, they started to look for the perfect
New York (home to many Czechs and Slovaks as place to donate their collection. They were
well as the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden and keen on finding people as passionate about
perhaps the last remaining Czech restaurants in
their heritage and sharing that heritage with
New York City, Zlata Praha, grew up speaking the rest of the world. And during all this time,
Czech as her first language, yet never really Bill and Effie Rosene were seeking to do the
appreciated her heritage until she met her aunt same, establishing the Czech Cultural Center to
and uncle from Prague for the first time in celebrate, share and promote the rich cultural
1981. It was a pivotal moment for her and was
abundance of a major Slavic ethnic group and
followed by her first trip abroad in 1982 to spend their history. There was no doubt in Barbara
a month in what was then Czechoslovakia. At and Eric’s minds, that these folks were as
that point, she was hooked.
committed to the preservation of history as
Eric and Barbara met in 1985, married in they were. And so began conversations on the
1987, and in 1988 took their first trip together
potential donation of their lifetime collection.
to what was still communist Czechoslovakia. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eric was into his “music phase” and collected
Effie and Bill Rosene visited the Otterviks
as much Czech classical music as possible on and the collection in situ, spent two nights
that first trip to Prague – so much so that they and one glorious day with them (great folks,
had to pay $72 duty to leave the country with great hospitality) at their beautiful home in
all the records! Returning home, there was no Bethlehem, a beautiful city. Eric a PhD is a
turning back: He was as much as in love with
retired administrator of Lehigh University and
his new country as he was with his wife. And Barbara was an executive with a publishing
then the fun began. Together, Barbara and
company. They have amassed seven or eight
Eric, started scouring flea markets, antique collections, one a very impressive collection
shows and emporiums, looking for “all things of Japanese prints (some are being sold at
Czech” from the time period 1918 to 1938 auction), a collection that the Asia Society
when the country was independent. And thus would probably love to have.
began the collection. An end of day vase, a belt
David Whitehead, a certified appraiser has
buckle, a piece of Amphora, perfume bottles, examined each piece for insurance purposes.
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CCMH will acquire appropriate display cases
and compile a catalogue. In amassing their
collection the Otterviks insisted each piece
have a distinctive mark attesting to its origin
and provenance during the First Republic
1918 to 1938.
David Whitehead and Effie Rosene
Glassware made in Czechoslovakia for the
twenty year period 1918 to 1938 between
the two world wars with addenda of Pottery,
Porcelain and Semi-Porcelain comprises
the collection.
The Czechs and the Slovaks settled in
Bohemia centuries ago. On October 28, 1918,
they were set free of the Austria Hungary
domination of 600 years and granted a country
of their own called Czechoslovakia its first
president Tomas Masaryk.
The same glass artisans who made
Bohemian, Moser and Austrian glass, came
forth with a portrayal of color in glassware
which brightened the gloom of even the Great
Depression of the 30’s.
The glass of Czechoslovakia is blown, molded
and cut in the many forms of vases, perfume
bottles, water sets, boxes, lamps, baskets, etc.
The Czechoslovakians created great beauty
with the skillful use of beads, flowers, dancing
girls, birds etc., in vivid colors and icy crystal.
It is known and revered in the world. The Art
Deco influence is quite prominent since this was
the period when Art Deco was popular. Also,
the Egyptian influence prevailed because of the
opening of Tutankhamen’s Tomb 1922-23.
Most pieces are marked. The mark is usually
found on the bottom. Occasionally the mark can
be found on the side. Types of marks are: Acid
Etched, Ink Stamped, molded, Stamped in metal
and small metal name plates. The type of mark
is of little importance. However, it is of great
importance to collectors the piece be marked.
The Czechoslovakian glass of later date has
a paper sticker. Printed on sticker usually is
“Bohemian Glass Made in Czechoslovakia.”
Ed: The CCMH is quite overwhelmed by the
Otterviks generosity of this magnificent gift.
Until this collection is displayed for reference
view similar items on view from the collection
of James and Danna Ermis.
www.bohemianhall.com/main_body.htm
www.zlatapraha.cc/main.htm,
e n t e r
Sorbian culture promoted in Prague’s Malá Strana
The Lusatian Sorbs are a students in Prague’s Malá Strana. Throughout
small Slavic minority who the 19th century, important figures in the
can mostly be found in Czech national revival such as Karel Jaromír
the East of Germany. But
Erben came to lecture at the seminary. The
they have their history, and seminary even provided one of the backdrops
their friends, in the Czech for Sorbians’ own national revival. Today, the
Republic too. Petr Kaleta is
building no longer functions as a home for
in charge of the Friends of
budding priests, but as the headquarters of the
Lusatia Society, ‘Společnost přátel Lužice” I’ll
Friends of Lusatia Society, of which Petr Kaleta
let him introduce himself to you in Sorbian: “Ja
is in charge:
sym Petr Kaleta. Ja sym předsyda towarstwa
“This is where Catholic Sorbs from Upper
přećelow Serbow.” Who are the Lusatian Lusatia were able to come and study. And this
Sorbs? And where can you
is important, because there
find them? “It is all, of course,
are more Protestant Sorbs
very complicated, because
than there are Catholics, so
Sorbs always lived; let’s say
it was very important for
these past few centuries, in
these Catholic Sorbs that they
what is now Germany, in
had their own institution.
Saxony, around about the
And within this institution
town Bautzen. Bautzen is
a library was founded, it
their cultural center. However,
was later called the Hórnik
there are links with the Czech
Library, and it is a collection
Republic which go way
which was, at first, made up
back, because as of the year
of predominantly religious
1329, Upper Lusatia formed
writings, but then came to
a part of the Czech state, so
include writing about the
the common history of the
Sorbs, their culture and
Czechs and the Sorbs dates
traditions, and other Slavonic
back.” In 1635, Upper Lusatia
literature. And then in 1846 a
ceased to be a part of the Czech state, but there Sorbian organization called Serbowka was set
are other reasons why Czechs and Sorbs have a
up here which took charge of the library, and
past and a culture in common – language being
they were the ones who built up this collection
one of them:
which today is used by Czechs as it is by
“Sorbian can be divided into UpperLusatian Sorbs themselves.”
Lusatian Sorbian, and Lower-Lusatian Sorbian.
Petr Kaleta reads an extract from a SorbianSorbian is a Western Slavonic language, just
language book in the seminary library. He’s
like Czech, or Polish, or Slovak. So the
chosen a 19th century study of Sorbian
languages are very similar, and then
mythology, and more specifically, the
in the 19th century especially, Upperstory of ‘Boze Sedlesko.’ According
Lusatian Sorbian was in particular
to Petr Kaleta, ‘Boze Sedlesko’ is
very much influenced by Czech, so
a mythical figure specific to the
I would say that every Czech can
Lusatian Sorbs – she appears on farms
understand Upper-Lusatian Sorbian
and in villages in the form of a crying
very well.”
girl, and if you see her, then look out.
According to Petr Kaleta, Sorbian has
She’s normally a precursor of some ill event.
borrowed a great deal from the sort of Czech
On the subject of ill events, the Lusatian
spoken in Prague in particular, but more on
Seminary has only just now reopened after the
the reasons for that later. First to the question devastating Prague floods of 2002: “Of course,
of whether many Sorbs continue to live on this place has had many problems in the past,
Czech territory today, after all of the shifting and there have been many occasions on which
of boundaries to have taken place over the past
the seminary has had to fight for its right to
couple of centuries in Central Europe:
exist, but right now we are standing in front
“The Sorbs that are living in the Czech of a picture of how things were in 2002. This
Republic today are normally really only here is when Prague was inundated by disastrous
for work, or let’s say a couple still live maybe floods, and as we are right beside the Vltava
right on the border - on the Czech border River, and the Charles Bridge, the seminary
with Germany - those are people who came was unfortunately affected by the flooding. A
here after the Second World War. Otherwise,
lot of books were destroyed, the majority we
Sorbs live in Germany, in what was formerly were able to save or in some way repair, but you
East Germany.” But Sorbs traditionally came
can see how it looked.”
to Prague to get a religious education at the
The library is only just now being unpacked
city’s Theological Faculty. In the 18th century,
from boxes and restored to its former glory and
a Lusatian Seminary was built for Sorbian
it is only recently the Společnost přátel Lužice
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moved its headquarters back into the building.
But the association is already planning its
biggest event of the year, to which you are
cordially invited.
“Once or twice a year we organize a bigger
event and this year in November we are doing
something to celebrate 100 years since the birth
of one of the best Sorbian poets who stayed
here and studied in Prague – his name is Jakub
Bart-Ćišinski.”
The Friends of Lusatia meet around once a
month in Prague’s Malá Strana to watch films,
attend lectures and discuss matters Sorbian. For
more information on them, in both Czech and
Sorbian, visit their webpage www.luzice.cz
Prague Radio - Rosie Johnston
Ottervik Collection
Jane Cyva and Effie Rosene
view collection
At last count 1268 pieces of beautiful
Czech glass circa 1918-1938
Appraiser David Whitehead
assessing collection with
Effie Rosene
e n t e r
The Courtyard that Honors and Remembers Forever
The first phase of the installation of Honor and Memorial Tiles were completed in time for the Grand
Opening Festivities. The gold inscribed tiles, numbering 387 in all sizes, is a magnificent tribute to
those honored and those honoring their friends or loved ones. The contributions made to etch these
tiles has been a significant factor in our fundraising along with a major gift by Keith and Norma
Ashmore applied to the construction of the courtyard and the contribution to underwrite the beautiful “Mary’s Gate,” by Mrs. Frank Pokluda. The courtyard furnished with a Bronze Little Mermaid
sculpture fountain, a gift of Marta Latsch, wrought iron tables and chairs, a gift of Bessie Pekar and
family proves to be a restful area to view the tiles.
The second and third phases added additional tiles with the contributions to be applied to the finish
of the third floor of the building, which is vitally needed.
We will continue to accept donations for a now fourth phase. It is
necessary to order a sufficient number of marble tiles to be etched
in order to be economical. So please use this highly public method
to honor a friend or loved one. Celebrate your contribution to the
Czech Center by honoring someone important in your life or your association with this organization. Inscribe your name or your honoree’s name on a tile as a lasting and meaningful memento
of thoughtfulness and support of the mission to provide a unique new site to celebrate the culture,
language, scholarship and the arts of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Silesia.
The tile sizes and contribution levels are as follows: 4” x 12” - $250.00; 6” x 12” - $500.00; 8”
x 12” - $750.00; 12” x 12” - $1,000.00; 12” x 12” and the $5,000.00 sizes are framed in gold leaf
and enjoy a prominent position on the top row. Prospective purchasers may request a form which
displays the number of letters that may be used for each denomination tile or may be found on the
Czech Center’s website at www.czechcenter.org by pointing to Support your center, point to Honor
Wall and e-mail or mail the form to us. If you do not have Internet access we would be happy to
mail a form to you, or if you need assistance, please call 713-528-2060. Volunteers who care for the
attractive landscape are: Cecilia and Bob Forrest, Rudolf Kovar and Allen Livanec.
History is not Boring!
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the
water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used
to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s.
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in
May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to
smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence
the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house
had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men,
then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then
the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the
saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the Bath water!”
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood
underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats
and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it
became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the
roof. Hence the saying “It’s raining cats and dogs!”
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a
real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up
your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the
top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence
the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in
the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep
their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when
you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was
placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.
(Getting quite an education, aren’t you?)
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always
hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the
pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would
eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight
and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had
been there for quite a while Hence the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas
porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.”
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Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.
It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They
would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and
chew the fat.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid
content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead
poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next
400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom
of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the
upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking
along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.
They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family
would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would
wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places
to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to
a bone-house, and reuse the grave.
When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have
scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying
people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it
through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone
would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift)
to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was
considered a dead ringer.
And that’s the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring!
Sister Anita Smisek, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.
Ed. A brilliant educator this lady is in the music publishing business
among other things. What a wealth of scientific knowledge! Now I
know why my son-in-law Larry and two grandsons Matt and Chris
don’t like tomatoes!
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An Opera Based on the Life of King Wenceslas?
The Czech Center Museum Houston has the
rare opportunity and privilege to sponsor the
creation of a never before presented stage
production of a Grand Opera. The theme
is predicated on an individual that
would be instantly recognizable
to the general public, invoking
memories of holidays that were a
part of the Holy Roman Empire
and in particular those of Czech
and Slovak heritage.
The life of King Wenceslas
of Bohemia (907 – 935 AD),
(Vaclav in Czech), best known in
the English-speaking world as the
subject of the Christmas carol,
Good King Wenceslas, had all
the pathos, intrigue, history making
events and a life lived piously and generously
to become revered in the Czech and Slovak
lands as the Patron Saint of those nations.
His remains are enshrined in Saint Vitus
Cathedral in Prague.
What makes this a significantly rare
occasion and opportunity is that Robert J.
Dvorak, a long-time board member of the
Czech Center is a noted educator, composer
and conductor, currently composing a
Latin Mass for orchestra and chorale to be
performed in the Czech Republic in 2010,
has taken on the task of the musical score.
We, along with Maestro Dvorak will chose
a librettist after determining that this person
and Maestro Dvorak agree on the scope of
work and share the same determination and
ability to perform the work.
The score will be translated into the
Czech language which will give Mr. Dvorak
the opportunity to project the feeling and
nuances of that language into the opera score.
A translator will be a part of the team along
with an experienced Opera singer, currently
a professor of voice and music at Kingwood
College. The translator will work with
Maestro Dvorak during the development of
the early stages of the score and in the phase
two will provide the final translation and the
latter two individuals will be brought fully
into the production as a part of phase two.
It is planned to offer highlights of Good
King Wenceslas in an open-to-the-public
preview production at the Czech Center
Museum in and, equally significant, to offer
a rare opportunity for the Houston public to
directly engage with its composer. In itself,
our preview of the opera would fit well into
Museum’s focus on bringing Czech opera to
the citizens of Houston.
On September 17 & 18, 2009 there was
hosted here for those two nights a wellattended English-language performance of
Czech-composer Bedřich Smetana’s Bartered
Bride at the Museum (offered by Kingwood
T h e
College Choral Society and in March 2010
will host a pre-performance public lecture
and then a Czech-language performance
of the Bartered Bride (offered by the
College of Music at the University
of North Texas). Previous to that
was premiere performance on each
of four nights July 9 – 12, 2009 of the
Bartered Bride at Kingwood College
for, which Effie and Bill Rosene
previewed and attended along
with several of our members.
It was a natural progression
that working with the Kingwood
College group to help publicize
their offering of the Bartered
Bride that we would seek their
collaboration and expertise in the
staging and production of our own opera
of King Wenceslas that it was realized that
there was an incredible symbiosis in utilizing
the production talents of several important
professors of Lone Star Community
College campus at Kingwood College in
the Department of Music namely Gottfried
Schiller, Adjunct professor of Music and Dr.
Todd Miller head of the Department.
When approached for assistance of staging
and production of this Opera they were
enthusiastic about the project and offered the
College’s 400 seat auditorium, their voice
students and professionals for leading roles
and chorus along with the school Chamber
Orchestra as the college is always open to
venues and programs, which would provide
exposure and a learning experience for their
students. A staged production at Kingwood
College and possibly at other campuses of
Lone Star Community College would follow.
It should be noted that Professor Schiller is an
opera singer with thirty-five years experience
from Dresden, Germany and his American
wife, Anne Welch; also an international opera
singer and Dr. Miller would be the conductor
of the orchestra and producer of the staged
production featuring the students of Lone Star
- Kingwood College to hone the production.
Immediately preceding performances of
Good King Wenceslas on two nights in Prague
Hall and at other venues (this would be
significant especially there will be workshops
for aspiring composers, music educators, and
music lovers of all ages to meet with Maestro
Dvorak and the librettist in an informal setting
to discuss the creation of (and then to actually
witness) an “opera in progress.” This would
provide a truly extraordinary opportunity to
peer into the mind of a working composer,
to stand at the center of his creative process,
to understand how his decisions about “this”
led to “that” and, ultimately, to make “opera”
(and the arts in general) more accessible to the
public-at-large.
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C z e c h
This project unofficially started in house
after a remark was made to an officer of our
organization by an individual after reading an
article on Wenceslas in our Newsjournal that
initiated his interest in pursuing this project.
The officer approached the Professor Dvorak
regarding the feasibility of the project and much
thought, discussion and research has already
taken place, both to determine its suitability for
an opera, the central themes and the association
and compatibility of the working relationship
of the group. Working from known historical
records (unfortunately much of Wenceslas’ life
is wrapped in myth) the librettist will prepare
work in progress script.
Research continues of the 900’s for period
costumes, instruments and mores of the times
for this project, which is vital to bringing this
meaningful Opera to the City. The resources
of the Czech Academy of Sciences and
Professor Oldrich Kralik will be utilized for
historical details.
The Committee is unanimous in feeling this
project is an opportunity and an opportune
time to present an opera about an individual
of universal appeal (Wenceslas) that also
has special meaning to those of Czech and
Slovak heritage. The opportune time is
brought about due to the Czech Center
having a member with the once in a lifetime special talents to make this happen
along with the mental acuity, stamina and
credentials to undertake what would be the
major accomplishment of his lifetime.
It should be noted that composer Robert
Dvorak has a national and international
experience and following. The premiere
performance of his West Point Symphony
at Moores Opera House has given him and
the CCMH an introduction and accessibility
to the fine arts faculty at the University of
Houston. The CCMH was instrumental in
providing publicity to his event. This is
a comment on a special opportunity that
seldom arises for an organization to have as a
Board Member a noted composer, still active
in his vocation and avocation, a passionate
devotee of the arts, ninety years of age this
year and one who has been active and an
excellent example of those of his heritage to
commit to the work of composing the score
of an opera that has so much meaning to his
heritage. Not only will it bring recognition
to him personally, it will reflect well on this
organization and if it can be presented on
a stage in Houston, Texas it will reflect on
the cultural depth of this city. The CCMH
will announce the choice for a librettist to be
able to lend its own support in bringing the
parties together to accomplish an opera that
will have world-wide appeal and it is actively
seeking underwriting support.
C e n t e r
King Wenceslas Opera (continued from page 23)
Robert James Dvorak
performed in the Czech
born in Chicago, Illinois
Republic, it is our
in 1919 cultivated
opinion he is eminently
an interest in music
qualified and excited
study at an early age.
about composing such a
He attended Chicago
major work as an King
Musical
College
Wenceslas opera.
Conservatory on a
A remembrance of
full scholarship from
Robert from a friend:
1938-1946, completing
Robert played
Singsong at Luncheon for Visitors from
Bachelor and Master
for WestPoint Symphony
the Czech Republic with Rev Chovanec
Degrees in composition
in front of (Franklin
accompanied by Robert Dvorak
and theory. He was
D. Roosevelt).
the founder of Chicago Manuscript Society
They were unable to attend – he is Main
which presented new works by young Speaker for Armistice Day Celebration in
composers. He was to join the Chicago town. We are both Irish but it was Robert
Symphony Orchestra as a French horn player who made us appreciate our heritage.
but was instead called to military service
Our family used to attend all Robert’s
during WWII assigned to the West Point concerts, operas, his “Bartered Bride”
Academy and again during the Korean War, Opera, his children especially enjoyed Star
commissioned as a Lieutenant to serve as Wars. Redd’s biggest Life’s honor was when
Assistant Bandmaster. One of his assignments Robert took one of his poems, set it to music
while there was to compose appropriate –still on internet
music for the Academy’s sesquicentennial
When their son was born, to Schumann’s
celebration in 1952 where he completed his Spring Symphony, Robert was first to
West Point Symphony for Orchestra and see him, bringing a blooming Crocus
re-arranged it for the band. Returning in (Spring flower)
1953 to head the Fine Arts Department of
Robert was so well-known. Faculty
J.S. Morton College and High School during everywhere respected his talent. So many
his twenty-seven year career there he was students he helped left a tremendous
instrumental in establishing two year music following wherever he was.
conservatories at junior colleges in Cicero
I passed by the apartment this morning
and Berwyn. He was invited to teach for two where Robert had lived for a long time
summers at Interlochen, Michigan, served looking after his Norwegian mother. He
as Chairman of the Mid-west International noted a train in transit and hearing the
Society of Contemporary Composers for whistle he remembered Robert saying, “You
three years and as President of the Illinois know that engine is off pitch!”
Music Educators Association. Throughout
We love you Robert and would have loved
his illustrious career, he continued to write being with you at your surprise birthday
music and plans to at ninety and beyond to celebration at CCMH given by your family
produce a major work each year until his Mary & Redd Griffin – Professor of
one-hundredth birthday.
Humanities, serves on PBS Radio &
The recipient of numerous honors from his TV Board
many years of providing leadership in the
Chicago music community, he values most Another Stab at Wisdom
that the music educators and professional “The only thing really worth having is Time.
musicians of Illinois selected him to be their But it’s made of the Lord’s own Teflon ™ and
1976 Illinois Bicentennial Composer. His no matter how much of it we think we have,
musical life has included performing as a
pianist, French horn player, an accompanist it slips right through our fingers.”
in vocal and instrumental recitals, in theatre From the fading brain of Gene Deitch
pit orchestras as well as acting as an organist
and choir director and guest conducting
on numerous occasions all over the world.
Dvorak’s music has been and continues to be
played world-wide in many countries.
He is chairman of a committee of the
Czech Center Museum Houston called the
Prague Arts Council whereby he is consulted
on the Musical Series presented by this
organization. The University of Houston’s
Moores School of Music recently honored
him with a retrospective of one of his
Art Professor Sandria Hu, U of Houston,
composed works, the Sacred Heart Cathedral
brings an etching by noted Czech artist Oldrich
Chorale has performed some of his choral
Kulhanek (designer of Czech currency) of
works at the Czech Center and he regularly
Rudolf II for the permanent collection.
performs at significant occasions here.
Rev. Paul Chovanec Effie and Bill Rosene
(see underwriters page 5)
Currently composing a Latin Mass to be
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C z e c h
Diane Kahanek Weldon and Brian Weldon
with son Nathan donate a beautiful conference
table for the Presidents Room
Jonathon Glus,
CEO Houston Arts
Alliance greets Effie
at an HAA Board
Meeting at CCMH
At the Reception
after The Bartered
Bride performance
Effie congratulates
Professor and Director
Gottfried Schiller
Artist Treena Rowan whose hobby is bead
jewelry making displays her work
accompanied by her granddaughters
Honorary Board Members Mary and Frank
Pokluda and Effie at a reception and luncheon
hosted by the CCMH to welcome Tour Director
Marie Slamova visiting with a group from the Czech
Republic attending a Sokol Slet in Fort Worth
(rt) Boardmember Wesley Pustejovsky with wife
Janell and family attend a function at the CCMH
C e n t e r
Vignettes of 2009
At our Members
and Friends Dinner
Saturday, March 28,
2009 the Czech Center
and Professor Tom
Sovik, University of
North Texas, proudly
presented the Three
Czech
Amigos,
members of the Brno
Philharmonic for entertainment benefiting the
Third Floor Opening Capital Campaign with
a Cocktail Reception and a beautiful dressed
Hanus Prague Hall with a Champagne Toast,
Dinner and a Silent Auction.
A Very Poignant Event It was a thrill to
attend the March 7, 2009 world premiere
of Board Member and composer Robert
Dvorak’s 1952 West Point Symphony
played around the world all these years but not
all three movements at once and not to a nonmilitary audience, at University of Houston’s
Moores Opera House. Over sixty members
and friends were in the audience and most
attended an after premiere celebration of this
poignant and emotional event at the CCMH.
The Band with incredibly beautiful sound
was conducted by David Bertman. After the
concert the conductor asked our Robert to
join him on stage with a standing audience for
Robert to thank the conductor, the band, the
men’s chorale and the audience. There were
many Bravos! The young band members were
visible touched and spellbound, as were we.
Fellow Board Member Harry Mach, who did
not attend, told us earlier this accomplished
composer is a crown jewel of Czech heritage
and he certainly proved it this night. Aren’t we
fortunate the world gave us another Dvorak
for all to enjoy?
Benefactor Julie Kloess Visits Friday, March
20, 2009 we had the honor and pleasure of
a luncheon and visit from CCMH Honorary
Board Member, Czech born, Julie Halek
Kloess and two friends from San Antonio.
Julie enjoyed her “update” of the Museum
showing her friends recently installed art glass
windows in the Presidents Room, the Honor
Memorial Courtyard and numerous beveled
glass windows and doors.
Life goes on Saturday March 21, 2009 we
readied Prague Hall on request of the Opatrny
children Tim, Tom, Jack and Kelly for the
celebration of the life of their father Gerald
Opatrny (see page 6) who died Monday,
March 16th in his hometown of Cleveland,
Ohio. Son Tom gave a eulogy of his father’s
love for his children, his Czech heritage
which he enjoyed and lived, and his love of
music, song and friends. One learns a lot in
eulogies. We had no idea this wonderful man,
a classy gentleman who attended our Galas
and other events until night driving became
a problem was an accomplished musician,
composer, singer, never far from his numerous
instruments he played while still working in
his real estate business. A beautiful shiny
trumpet, his favorite, was among mementos
present as were a multitude of his family
and friends. It was truly Gerald’s kind of an
event! Honor donations to the CCMH were
suggested by family.
T h e
Update on Center’s
Annex Building The
Annex Building located
at 4917 Fannin to the
rear of the Center’s
building on San Jacinto
has been in use since its
purchase as additional
parking for venues at
the Center. The Center
purchased the property for future expansion
however in the meantime must find a more
and additional productive use for the property.
It was proposed to and approved by the Board
of Directors to use the building to establish
an upscale new and used retail shop with use
as an additional venue. Many have said how
apropos this is to the present economic times.
September 13, 2009 The 46th Annual
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slavic Heritage
Festival at beautiful Our Lady of Czestochowa
Catholic Church in Spring Branch included
the blessing and dedication of their Pope John
Paul II Heritage Center opening spring of
2010. The lovely wooded terrain was covered
with pure white tents offering a medieval feel
to great food, beverages, jewelry, books and
everything that makes a Festival great. It is a
two day event with the Polish contingency the
Host Country in 2009. The Slavic Heritage
Festival is composed of the Czech, Croatian,
Ukrainian and Polish. CCMH Board member
Rev. Paul Chovanec inherited the presidency
of the Slavic Heritage Alliance of Greater
Houston from the well-known and loved late
Bishop John L. Morkovsky (1990) who in
conjunction with Ukrainian Rev. Dymtro
Blazejowskyj and Maurice Hafernik founded
the Slavic Alliance including then the
Polish and in time joined by Croatians and
Slovenians. The Groups alternate in hosting
the celebration annually.
Saturday, September 14th was Houston
Museum District Day which brought
hundreds of people we had not met before and
even from all points of the globe. We reaped
comments of “unbelievable, cool, awesome,
really interesting, learned a lot and most
beautiful museum I’ve ever visited.”
Thursday and Friday, September 17 and
18, 2009 were very special evenings for us.
CCMH has celebrated its fifth year open
to the public on September 1, 2004 and
many delightful events including art exhibits,
concerts, lectures, films, language classes,
organizations meetings, workshops, weddings,
corporate events, birthday celebrations,
reunions, educating individuals and groups.
Those two evenings were unique as we
were honored, privileged and so excited to
work with Kingwood Lone Star College
Opera Workshop faculty, international Opera
singers (voice coaches), professionals and
talented students from numerous colleges
and universities.
A very quick trip to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
to visit the donors of Czech porcelain, pottery,
glass collection in situ who are gifting the
Czech Center Museum Houston. Our one
day there was indeed a gift of beautiful
terrain, mountainous, clear, and sunny and
50 degrees (to return to Houston next day to
N e w s
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25
C z e c h
95 degrees). To meet people who share their
personal treasures with the world is indeed
a humbling and joyful experience. We shall
keep you posted on upcoming development
of this major acquisition made only between
World War I and II. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
a lovely surprise has a fascinating history,
founded in 1741 by the Moravians, a
Protestant group, who envisioned it a support
center for missionaries and as headquarters
for the Moravian Church in North America.
It became all this and more, famous for
many colleges including Moravian College,
Bethlehem steel, canals, railroads, silk mills,
Bach and a diverse population. The Moravian
Museum was certainly one of its many
attractions, and the town readying that day for
a major Celtic Festival for the weekend.
We were still in Europe Monday, October
26, 2009 when we received word of the
passing that day of a great friend, a significant
personage in the life of the Czech Center
Museum Houston. The life story of Dorothy
Newman Chernosky and (Allen Chernosky
pre-deceased) was captured beautifully in this
morning’s October 29 obituary in the Houston
Chronicle. We will always remember the
Chernosky Family for having one, two, or three
tables of family and/or friends at every CCMH
occasion. It was always a great competition
to our family’s usual table of thirteen! Their
three beautiful daughters and husbands
produced twelve grandchildren and nineteen
great- grandchildren!! What a Legacy! The
Chernoskys were a huge family; in fact our
dear departed Thelma Burnett Maresh advised
us early on they were a Texas Czech Dynasty!
Every time we saw Dorothy she would always
advise us “I am so glad to be here and having
such a great time.” We really miss these special
people. Dorothy and Allen supplied the floral
centerpieces from their and their neighbors’
flowers for ten years of our existence!
Saturday, November 7, 2009 Board member
and composer Robert Dvorak arrived at 10:00
a.m. as usual for his docent volunteer work at
CCMH. Only this morning a group of fifty or
more including all his family welcomed him
to a beautiful Surprise Champagne Brunch
to celebrate his 90th young birthday
October 3! To say he was surprised is an
understatement. The next hour and a half were
filled with birthday wishes, anecdotes and
many emails and greeting cards from friends
in Chicago, suburbs and even international
opera star Erik Halvorsen remembering earlier
times. Robert was especially touched that
many of you honored him with contributions
for the CCMH, his other major interest besides
his continuous music composition. The Czech
Center Museum Houston is grateful for these
gestures as well.
Czech and Slovak Art Glass, Pottery and
Porcelain The early morning of November
10th Mayflower Transport delivered to
CCMH possibly the largest private collection
in the world of Czechoslovakian Art glass,
pottery and porcelain, gift of donors Eric
and Barbara Spatna Ottervik. We had to
immediately mobilize those we could to
unpack, Elsie Pecena, Jerrydene and Rudolph
C e n t e r
Vignettes (continued from page 25)
Kovar, Ferial Kharraz, Carol Williams, Jean
Spears, Bill Rosene, James Ermis and Crystal
from University of Houston. Three days later
we had unpacked 1289 pieces of treasure from
forty two huge boxes. We are so grateful.
That’s the good news followed by today’s
good news that our air-conditioning for the
third floor, which is not built out, will begin
first phase installation this week, this followed
by an urgent need to move hundreds of those
items for a five foot wide work path to install
ductwork in the ceiling above the work area
containing tables of the unpacked Czech items,
followed by an urgent need for some etageres
(display cabinets) followed by an urgent need
to purchase at least ten appropriate display
cabinets, followed by an urgent need for
mobilization of some contributions for them. I
can tell you we never have a dull moment here.
Life is indeed wonderful!
Tis the Season for Snow Houston had its
incredibly snow storm and freeze Friday,
December 4th. With driving conditions so
hazardous we reluctantly had to cancel (a first)
our 15th annual delightful St. Nicholas Eve
Celebration. While it was the right thing to do,
we still miss St. Nicholas’ visit.
At a Grand Musical Event on Monday,
December 14, 2009 the CCMH welcomed from
Prague international piano artist Jitka Frankova
for a concert to a
full house in Brno
Gallery performed
on a Grand Steinway
brought especially
for the concert.
Jitka had appeared
on KUHF Radio at
noon that day. A
reception followed.
Jitka
Frankova
began studying piano at age four in the music
school of Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
At age eight she won her first international
competition. After Conservatory in Ceske
Budejovice, she studied at the University of
Graz, Austria where she received a Masters
Degree in Teaching in 2000 and Masters
Degree in Concert Performance in 2001.
Arriving in Houston, Texas she earned her
Masters Degree in Music, 2003 at Rice
University and her Doctorate of Music
Education, 2008 at Rice University Shepherd
School of Music in Houston, Texas. Jitka
has performed as soloist and in concert
with national and international symphony
orchestras in the Czech Republic, Austria,
Germany, Italy, France, Hungary, Belgium,
Switzerland, Croatia, and the United States.
Holiday Celebrations So many events occur
during this season as we celebrated the Holy
Day of Christmas. On Epiphany, January
6, 2010, we celebrated the news of the
Wonderment and Astronomy of the Star in
“Galaxy Hall.” We were all intrigued as we
heard Dr. Carolyn Sumners, Vice President of
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences at Houston
Museum of Natural Science and Professor of
Physics and Astronomy, Rice University present
just what was really going on out there the
evening the three Magi were following that
Star “in Wonderment.” We had star gazing,
T h e
star education, star quality food and beverage
and were star struck with a teaser preview of
the Barbara and Eric Ottervik Czech art glass
collection and even introduced many of our star
members, supporters and friends!
What is the Epiphany?
Board Member
Father Paul Chovanec offers a quote about
the Epiphany: “The name Epiphany indicates
a Feast, Eastern in origin, dating from time
when Greek was the prevalent language of the
civilized world. The feast appears to be ancient
and probably from the second century, if not the
first. The feast date, January 6, is significant
because long before Christianity, there was a
pagan festival on that day celebrating the birth
of light. In all likelihood, the feast of Epiphany
was instituted as a corrective of the pagan
notion. Epiphany celebrates the birth of the
True Light Who shines in the darkness of human
history. In the West, the Epiphany was observed
in Gaul during the fourth century. Later in
the West it came to be a commemoration of
the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles who
were represented by the Magi, the Wise men
sometimes depicted as kings, from the East.
Epiphany is celebrated to this day in both
the Eastern and Western Church.” William J.
O’Shea, S.S., D.D.,
The Newman Press
Feedback
Eugene Vecera writes: Greetings I’m A-OK
and Living the Dream. As You may recall, I
was “recalled” to Active Service in the Army
due to the needs of the war. This continues to
be my situation. I am stationed at Fort Monroe,
Virginia; and am working for a 4-Star HQ
in support of Operation Enduring Freedom
(Afghanistan). With the surge now I am VERY
busy! It has afforded me the opportunity to meet
all the military attaches at the Czech Embassy
in Washington DC, and at NATO HQ’s. I even
danced with the Public Affairs Officer for the
Czech Supreme Command at a military ball.
They are a fun crowd and as you know the Czech
Army works with us in Afghanistan. As you all
keep up the Good Work over there; I and our
Allies will keep it up over here. Pray for Our
Brothers & Sisters who Hold the Frontier!
Very Respectfully, Eugene A. Vecera, LTC U.S.
Army Accessions Command, G-5
Donna Alberti writes after attending a
performance here at the CCMH: Everyone
loves to look at the beautiful grace and
elegance of a swan as it glides across the water.
It looks so effortless - so tranquil. No one sees
the frenzied kicking and paddling that’s going
on beneath the surface. No one even notices
the “machinery” that makes it go. It’s the
artist’s job to never distract their audience
with the nuts and bolts of a performance. You
must always strive to put them at ease. Let
them enjoy. The goal is to always have an
audience walk away exclaiming: “Beautiful!
They made it seem so effortless!” The same is
true of any performance, whether it’s music, or
a birthday party; wouldn’t you agree? Bravo,
Bill! Brava, Effie! And kudos to Valerie and
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26
C z e c h
Olivia. May we always glide like swans! With
warmest appreciation, Donna
Ed. Donna, a performing artist herself
knows the fervor that goes on backstage.
Thank you Donna.
Tom and Marie Zahn, www.pathways.cz
writes from Prague, Czech Republic: Thank
you for all that you are doing to help preserve
and promote the culture of origin for so many
Americans. I want you to know that we do read
each and every news letter that we get from
you, and while we cannot be there to help you
celebrate the many events that you host, we
are there with you in our thoughts and prayers.
Although these are difficult times for all of us,
there is no better lesson from history than that of
our forebears. In hard times it is always possible
to find meaning and take strength from the
difficulties that others suffered so that we might
prosper. To this extent, the stories we learn,
while helping others to find their roots, lend
perspective to our own struggles. Indeed, there
are no short cuts to faith or the labors of love
Ed: We received Holiday Greetings from this
Iowa couple living in the Czech Republic whom
we met on our trip to Prague with Iowan Jan
Kuba who resides in Podivin, Moravia
Five years ago we met Rosie Bodien, (shown here
with husband, Danforth) a dynamic lady who had
attended a Czech and Slovak Conference here in
Houston. We were still located in Northwest Mall,
but she became aware of our building a Museum
so foresaw the need to establish collections
showcasing Czech & Slovak items. The next
we heard, she began gifting CCMH by sending
figurine treasures she bought especially for the
CCMH and this has been going on for five years!
She is a treasure herself! Thank you Rosie!
The hand wine pickers nemesis!
The Gregoire manufactured in France has
made its appearance in Moravia being only
two there now. Digitally operated it replaces
at least fourteen pickers to do a job in one
day it took ten days to do by hand. And you
wouldn’t know the difference.
C e n t e r
Prague Hall
Brno Gallery
Legacy of Duty – Courtesies of the Heart
The Czech Center Museum Houston
A European Palace in Houston’s Prestigious
Museum District
Rental space available for all
occasions.
Weddings, Showers, Bridal Teas, Receptions,
Rehearsal Dinners, Anniversaries, Reunions,
Birthdays, Private Parties, Corporate Functions,
Breakfast Meetings, Luncheons, Award Banquets,
Seminars, Galas, Social Events. Wenceslas
Chapel for intimate weddings or renewal of vows.
The Brno Gallery hosts a magnificent Petrof baby
grand piano beneath a massive sparkling Bohemian
crystal chandelier enhanced by a beautiful grand
staircase of scrolled wrought iron and brass,
museum exhibits and historical furnishings. Two
conference rooms - The Presidents Room and The
Comenius Library. Prague Hall - An elegant grand
ballroom graced by two enchanting Bohemian
crystal chandeliers, a Petrof baby grand piano and
Alfons Mucha’s Art Nouveau renderings.
The Prague International Gift Shop
for your shopping pleasure.
Prague International Gifts has a selection of
Czech Desna crystal flutes, wines, cordials,
vases and the new Bohemia glass fingernail
files; Bohemia and Caesar finest cut crystal
bowls and vases in clear and colors, a large
selection of hand enameled collectibles, eggs,
stars, bells, hearts, figurines, treasure boxes.
The Shop is filled with heirlooms from around
the world – Czech, Slovak, Russian, Polish,
German, etc. There are wood puppets and
numerous toys, Tupesy and Modra pottery hand
painted; Bohemian porcelain; Moravian stars;
antique laces, table linens and much more.
For information call: 713-528-2060
E-mail: [email protected]
Or visit us at www.czechcenter.org
4920 San Jacinto at Wichita
T h e
One of the fiercest battles of the Second
their lifetime. From time to time they
World War occurred on September 11,
were aided by many who supplied clues,
1944, over Germany adjacent to the Czech
some of which were helpful, others which
border. Strategic Mission 623 placed 1,131
led nowhere. The three never surrendered
bombers and 44 fighters of the U. S. Army
their pursuit of the missing pilot. Each
Air Corps against 525 German fighters.
man, in his own time and in his own way,
Thousands of men were
seeing duty through their own
engaged in preparation for the
prism, pursued a legacy of duty
fighting. The American Eighth
to the fallen airman.
Air Force lost 42 bombers and
Three previous attempts by
25 fighters. German losses
the US military to recover
were thought to have numbered
the airman’s remains resulted
about 50 percent. The American
in failures before a chance
Armada left their bases in
encounter on the internet
England that day for the duel of
brought Breaux and Zdiarsky
Eagles at 30,000 feet. During
into contact, and together, their
the melee, airplanes and parts
efforts resulted in an attempt
2nd Lt. William
of airplanes were strewn across
to recover the remains of the
Melbern Lewis, Jr.
the mountainous region without
airman in July of 2002. This
the report of a single fatality to civilians
effort was successful.
on the ground. One American fighter pilot
On Memorial Day, 2004, the remains of
was never accounted for.
the American pilot, Lt. William M. Lewis
Thus begins the story of three men,
Jr., were returned home to Memorial Park
citizens of different generations, different
Cemetery in his native Tulsa, Oklahoma, to
countries and different cultures; Germany,
a full military funeral. A flyover of World
Czech Republic and United States, to find
War II aircraft along with F-16’s of the
the missing pilot. The search lasted nearly
Oklahoma Air Guard completed the honors
60 years.
is described in the book by Kenneth Breaux,
The German was Adelbert Wolf,
entitled “Courtesies of the Heart,” after
born 1900, who was a naturalist of
a quote by the German poet Johann von
Oberhof, Germany, who wandered the
Goethe (1749-1832). Signed copies of the
forest after the air battle
book can be purchased at
and found and buried the
the Czech Center Museum
pilot’s remains. He placed
Houston, 4920 San Jacinto
a small wooden cross on
Street, Houston, Texas 77004.
the site, and tenderly cared
Telephone 713/528-2060. It
for it for many years. The
is inspirational.
second was Jan Zdiarsky, a
Breaux and Zdiarsky
young Czech who gathered
continue their efforts to
debris from the battle
search for the missing of
and built a memorial and
World War 11 of whom
museum in his hometown.
18,000 of the 78,000
The third is Kenneth
still missing are deemed
Lt. Lewis’ daughter
Breaux of Houston, a
recoverable. Families of
Sharon Cross with author
former Naval Officer, then
World War II MIA’s contact
Kenneth Breaux
a member of the consulting
them by e-mail, letters, and
group of a major technology company.
phone to ask for help in searches of their
Breaux learned of the missing pilot from
relatives. A group to which he belongs has
the daughter of the airman in a social
testified at Congressional hearings on the
gathering in Houston on New Years
World War II issue of missing servicemen.
in 2001 after viewing “Saving Private
The work begun in the search for Lt.
Ryan.” He wrote the book I have found
Lewis continues.
so fascinating.
Charles A. Saunders, Esq.
Herr Wolf spent the better part of his life
Ed: Author Kenneth Breaux spoke
trying to attract the attention of someone in
and presented a power point video on
the United States to bring about the return
“Courtesies of the Heart,” Tuesday,
of the pilot’s remains. Zdiarsky, unknown
November 17, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. with
to Wolf, was also attempting to learn
a Reception following during which
more about the pilot placed a message on
the author signed his book. The
the internet seeking contact with persons
presentation commemorated the Velvet
interested in the account of the sky-battle
Revolution 1989 and the overthrow of
and who might wish to visit his museum.
communism in Czechoslovakia.
Breaux first became acquainted with the
Copies of the book are available at
Missing in Action endeavor during the
Czech Center Museum Houston’s Prague
Vietnam War. Each man, unknown to
International Gift Shop. To order please
the others, was driven by an insatiable
call 713-528-2060 or online at www.
desire to resolve the mystery of the lost
czechcenter.org. Price $21.95 plus $6.81
pilot. None of them knew the pilot during
tax, shipping and handling.
N e w s
o f
T h e
27
C z e c h
C e n t e r
VOL. XVI No. I, II & III
Museum • Library • Archives
Anniversary Edition
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PA I D
Houston, Texas
Permit No. 10259
C z e c h C u l t u r a l C e n t e r H o u s t o n , T e x a s ( K U L T U R N I C E N T R U M C E S K E )
The News of The Czech Center
In the Museum District
4920 San Jacinto Street
Tel: 713-528-2060
Prague International Gifts: 713-528-2060
Email: [email protected]
Webpage: http://www.czechcenter.org
www.houstonreceptions.org.
www.receptionshouston.com
The CCMH exists to celebrate culture,
language, scholarship, and arts preserving
history and heritage, espousing the significance
of knowing one’s ancestry that all roots are
important to being a citizen of the world. It is
the CCMH’s belief that education and charity
are cornerstones to enhancing a Civil Society
in these challenging times.
Events
January 2 King Wenceslas Opera Workshop 6.
Star of Wonderment on the Epiphany. Dr. Carolyn
Sumners, Professor of Astronomy, Rice University
and V.P. Astronomy and Physics, Houston Museum
of Natural Science 11 Alpha Delta Kappa Lecture/
Tour 13 Day Trek Lecture/Tour 20 Ft Bend County
Czech Heritage Society Lecture/Tour 22 Happy
Hearts Lecture/Tour 23 Museum Educators Day
Exhibits/Lectures 9:00 – 1:00 p.m. 27 Jiri Grbavcic
– Moravian Artist Exhibit
February 2 Red Hat Society Lecture/Tour 6
Network of Strength 11 Lockheed Lecture/Tour 15
Ottervik Czech art Glass Collection Private Viewing
continues 23 Humble Seniors Lecture/Tour 26 U of
H Law Symposium
March 8 St. Francis Cabrini Lecture/Tour 10
Hammersmith Community Lecture/Tour/Lunch 16
Christ Good Shepherd Lecture/Tour 17 Music with
Michael Sust and Family & Reception 24, 25, 26
Prague Hall Vignettes of Opera Medley series Opera
Vista Workshops – juried competition. Info 713-5220799 27 16th Annual Members Friends Reception
Brno Gallery Evening with Bedrich Smetana’s The
Bartered Bride Opera – University of North Texas
and Dr. Tom Sovik – Prague Hall Theatre
April 11 Art and artists of the world. Reception/
exhibits featuring artists from Czech Republic,
Serbia and Mexico. Professor Sandria Hu University
of Houston – Clear Lake 13 Houston Engineering
and Scientific Society Lecture/Tour/Lunch 13
Morava Krasnas Hrncirik/Cincebeaux Honorees
Reception – Josef Ivasko vocalist -special guest
June 12 Russian National Day Celebration
July TBD Watch for Premiere Preview performance
of a Vignette of the CCMH King Wenceslas Opera
at Lone Star Kingwood College composed by Board
Member Robert Dvorak and presented by artists and
performers at the College with Kingwood Orchestra,
conductor and vocalist Dr. Todd Miller
August 28 Czech Center Museum Houston’s Sixteenth
Annual Benefit Gala featuring Entertainment. Dinner
and Auction
October 28 Czech exhibits at University of St.
Thomas. Anniversary of Czechoslovakia National
Day October 28, 1918
November 17 Remembrance of the Velvet
Revolution of Czechoslovakia 1989
December 6 Celebrating St. Nicholas day at the
CCMH with Dinner and entertainment
Events require RSVPs to 713-528-2060 or email: [email protected] Website www.czechcenter.org Register and donate anytime online.
The Czech Center
“When we build let us think that we build forever. Let it not be such for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such
work as our descendants will think of us for. And Let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these
stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say as they look upon the labor and wrought
sibstance of them, ‘See this our father did for us’.”
John Ruskin

Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Chotek

Transcription

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