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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Author: Josef Čermák (CzechFolks.com PLUS)

Approximately 110km north of Toronto lies a small town of Edenvale and just a little further, you come to the Edenvale Aerodrome, an airport built by a Czeh refugee, Milan Kroupa. The aerodrome rests in the middle of a fruitful plane, even though possibly not as fruitful as the “fertile Haná”, so worshipfully described by a Czech poet whose name my aged brain refuses to surrender. During the second world war, this place was used by the Canadian air force to train its pilots. After the war, the place kept deteriorating until it was purchased, in 2003, by Milan Kroupa, who hails from a little village not far from a town of Nové Strašecí. Kroupa came to Canada as a political refugee in the middle of the sixties. And because he was an entrepreneurial wizard, he built up in this place (as well as putting together the largest janitorial company in Canada) a modern airport. It is this airport where on August 23rd, 2009 we shall reminiscence about the night of August 21, 1968, when frightened rulers in Moscow tried to stop the march of history and sent their army, with the armies of their vassals, to another brotherly vassal state, Czechoslovakia, to eradicate the potentially infectious decease called “socialisms with a human face”. Read the rest of this entry (Čtětě více ZDE) »

Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

While those of us living in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom enjoy basic freedoms and democracy, there are still many people struggling for basic freedoms and human rights in societies which deny them. Their lives, however, can be changed thanks to the commitment of people and organizations to provide them with support and help.

One of the countries where civil liberties used to be deprived was, for example, the former Czechoslovakia. Based on today’s research and surveys, young generations lack a basic understanding of what it was like to live under the totalitarian regime.  Read the rest of this entry (Čtětě více ZDE) »

Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

One of our readers sent us some interesting photos. They describe our past from times that may be long forgotten – from the communist era. Some of the photos made us laugh, whereas others reminded us again how oppressed and isolated our lives used to be. If you lived in Czechoslovakia during this unfortunate time in our history, you know what we are talking about. For those fortunate ones, who did not live through these times, we can just explain what the slide show is about. Simply said, they bring back images of times, places and things that do not exist anymore. For example, you should stop to take a look at a roll of toilet paper that was as stiff as writing paper. Truly, it was a famous shocking item for foreigners that visited our country. You may also see a line to a meat market that did not have much to sell. Read the rest of this entry (Čtětě více ZDE) »

Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

(www.unscburma.org)

The former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, was hospitalized and underwent throat surgery. After the surgery he suffered complications and was in serious conditions. His condition; however, just slightly improved compared to Wednesday morning. He is able to move and eat but he is very tired and needs a respiratory to breath. His wife, Dagmar Havlova, visits him on regular basis but even her visits are limited to give the former country leader a better opportunity for quicker recovery. 

Less than a year ago, Vaclav Havel ended up in the hospital. Last year he suffered from bronchitis and complained of a heart problem. His condition was not serious at that time but he needed intensive treatments. Havel used to be a heavy smoker and frequently experienced health problems. After his operation to remove lung cancer and other surgeries, he had breathing difficulties and needed extra care to treat other health problems caused by these invasive treatments.

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Birkenau

It has been more than half a century since World War II ended. There are fewer and fewer people in the world that can describe what they experienced during these tough times. Stories about German concentration camps are almost forgotten or even dismissed as exaggerated or even fabricated. One Czechoslovak Jewish citizen lives today to tell you that the camps existed and her tattoo with her ID number remains as a reminder of her traumatic experience. Her name is Alice and she moved to the USA along with her children that are now in their 50s. This year they spent Christmas separately but Alice was still present in a way - they watched her interview named “Shoah” (Holocaust) that describes her experiences prior, during, and after her stay at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole.

Almost two weeks ago, the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg presented sixteen individuals and three organizations with the Gratias Agit award in appreciation of promoting the Czech Republic abroad. The award was given in a form of a crystal globe.  One of the recipients was Paul Rausnitz, a Czech citizen living abroad but always proud of his country.

Paul Rausnitz was only 11 years old when he was put in prison in Ostrava, North-East of the Czech Republic. It was right after the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938 by Germans. Then he was thrown to Poland, where he was waiting, along with his parents and two brothers, for visas to America. During that time the war broke out and instead of traveling to the United States, he continued to move the opposite direction - to the Eastern part of Poland.

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Between the two world wars, Czechoslovakia was one of the Europe’s most industrialized countries and one of the world’s biggest arms producers. The LT-35 light tank was the most cutting-edge weapon in its category. It was admired by Nazis during World War II and also by Americans after the war. Now, it is coming back to the Czech Republic from the United States thanks to the Czech Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova, who negotiated its transport within the framework of US radar-base talks in the United States in July.

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It has been 40 years since Russians occupied Czechoslovakia (last Russian soldier left in June 1991) and started a 20-year long repression. Prague was the main target for this attack since it was a center of political happenings. About 160,000 soldiers entered our country on August 21^st, 1968 with about 6,300 tanks. Approximately 80 people died during the first days of occupation and hundreds were injured. The harm to our nation can be still seen today.

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