Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)
Twenty-two years ago, on September 21, 1951, at the time of the most brutal communist repression, a driver of a personal train was traveling from Cheb to Aš alongside the German border. Just before reaching Aš, Jaroslav Konvalinka switched to the adjacent track and continued in the new direction until he reached Selb-Ploeszberg in West Germany, which was about 35km from Hof. The train supposed to stop at the border station, but it didn’t. Instead it broke through the Iron Curtain and earned the name the “Freedom train.” It arrived in Selb with the train staff and 111 passengers, who had no idea about the change of the travel plan, and majority of them returned back to the Czechoslovakia. The Toronto Telegram, on October 26, 1951, described this change of the travel plan “as one of the most spectacular escapes from tyranny in modern history.” Continue reading
Miloš Šuchma (CzechFolks.com PLUS)
Josef Čermák (CzechFolks.com PLUS)
(This article was sent to the organizer of the conference, Professor Vilem Prečan. This is his response: „Many thanks for your excellent contribution. It will be posted on the conference website and distributed in written form to all conference participants.”)
The house Zdena and Josef Škvorecký for quite a number of years called their home (and Zdena still does), is located in one of the nicest Toronto residential areas: an area of well-preserved middle-age residences with well-tended gardens and here and there a magnificent old oak (or maple) tree. Škvorecky’s is a truly historical house. Not only because it was a pilgrimage stop for journalists and prominent visitors from the Czech Republic (in February, 1990 – when their native land was still called Czechoslovakia – it witnessed a reception following president Havel’s appearance at the Convocation Hall of the University of Toronto, where he delivered an important speech to several thousands of his countrymen and received an honorary doctorate from the York University); but mainly because it was the editorial and publishing centre of 68 publishers, the most important exile publishing house. It is the house, where the last several years of his life he was cared for by Zdena, and from which he was taken to the hospital, where he died, after just a few days, in the morning hours of January 2, 2012.
If you understood the title above, you know we are talking about the short evening children’s series on Czech TV. Vecernicek is the name of a boy (translated: Little Eveninger) that brings short fairytales to little Czech or Slovak children every evening (“vecer”). During communism, this was a special time for kids, since at that time, the TV program selection was very poor.
Today, the former Czechoslovak and Czech President, Vaclav Havel, has “peacefully” passed away in his sleep in his cottage. He was 75 years old.