CZECH REPUBLIC: POLITICAL PRISONERS
12 February 2013
Michal LouÄ and Tomáš BouÅ¡ka report on ‘Political Prisoners’ a Prague-based, cross-disciplinary, unsubsidized research project.
‘The primary purpose of the project is to collect, analyze and disseminate the life stories of political prisoners who survived jailing in Stalinist prisons and working camps in the former Czechoslovakia and other European countries. Most of our narrators were jailed in the 1950s and 1960s but their traumatic experiences continued after they were released from prison and inevitably affected their families. We think their life stories can enrich our view of the Czechoslovak socialist dictatorship with new perspectives.
‘Our team of volunteers is made up of students (mostly PhD candidates) from various universities and science fields including history, psychology and social anthropology. We hold historical conferences, youth workshops, and compile the Czechoslovak Political Prisoners anthology to enable these stories to cross the globe.
‘We use the website www.politicalprisoners.eu to share the authorized transcripts of interviews and multimedia resources with the public. Our offline archive is also available at the Oral History Center in Prague. We have collected thirty-five life stories so far and recently had ten of those translated into English for the website.
‘One of our current projects is K.Ch. – The story of a female political prisoner, a documentary on the story of a young woman raped, impregnated, and forced to give birth to her prison guard’s child in a former Czechoslovakian prison in 1948. She met her daughter more than fifty years later and both of them appear in the film. The film introduces Karla Charvatová, a strong and level-headed woman who was able to overcome tragedy and fight for her life under severe and unfair circumstances. The opening night of the documentary was on the 17 November 2011 at a cinema in Prague. About 250 people came to the opening night where Mrs Charvátová, director Tomáš Bouška and historian Tomáš Herajt were available for discussion. Currently we are working on producing an English subtitled version of the documentary.’
• For more information on the project please visit www.politicalprisoners.eu or contact Michal LouÄ at: michal.louc@politicalprisoners.eu
source: ORAL HISTORY, Spring 2012, p. 28
Number of Visits: 3763
The latest
Most visited
A Statistical Glance at the Oral History Archive of Iran
The Oral History Weekly, an electronic periodical that commenced its regular publication in November 2010, now stands on the threshold of releasing its 700th issue. Published every Wednesday, the newsletter consolidates all content posted on the Oral History website over the preceding week and circulates it to more than 850 subscribers via email. This report—drawing upon statistical data from content published on ...A Memory of an Army Aviation Pilot
I was taking a nap in my office when the door opened and a soldier entered the room. I got up from my chair and after arranging my clothes, I prepared to hear the soldier's news. After saluting, he said, "Captain, the commander has business with you." And with this, he paid military respect and left the room.Monafeghin: A New Deception
July-August 1989Following the discussions around the asylum of Iraqi prisoners of war in Iran during peace negotiations, the Iraqi side, not wanting to fall behind, launched their own campaign to offer asylum. At the outset, they attempted to attract prisoners by making grand promises ...
Supports from Guilds and Bazaars peaple
Memoirs of Haj Hossein FathiOur base of operations had become the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in the Kamp-Lou neighborhood of Ahvaz. With the assistance of Brother Khani and his companions, we began preparing hot meals and sending them to the frontlines. We ourselves, along with several fellow merchants from the bazaar, entered the conflict zone, bringing warm clothing, ...
