The Last Palace Notes
The Last Palace Notes Prologue 2 first-generation Czech-Jewish American: For the sake of concision, I use the adjective “Czech” interchangeably as shorthand to reference Czechoslovakia (as in this instance), as well as the Czech Republic, the Czech lands (including Bohemia, Moravia and a portion of Silesia), the residents of those lands, and the language they speak. 3 one hundred rooms: Ebel and Vágnerová calculate the room count as follows: “upstairs, the house has 18 rooms which are mostly bedrooms and seven bathrooms; the first and second floor have 28 and 32 various types of rooms, respectively, and the ground floor and basement have 26 and 62 rooms.” See Martin Ebel and Helena Vágnerová, Otto Petschek’s Residence: Two Faces of an Entrepreneur’s Villa in Prague, Prague, Exhibition by the National Technical Museum and US Embassy in Prague, November 28, 2012–March 31, 2013. Other estimates vary, and the exact number is unclear. 4 Klaus was a climate-change denier: For more on Klaus, see Gregory Feifer and Brian Whitmore, “The Velvet Surrender,” New Republic, September 17, 2010. 4 “Truth and love will prevail”: “Living in Truth,” Economist, December 31, 2011. 4 “truth-and-lovism”: Michael Žantovský, Havel: A Life (New York: Grove Press, 2014), 456. 5 He and the Russians: Peter Baker and Dan Bilefsky, “U.S. and Russia Sign Nuclear Arms Pact,” New York Times, April 8, 2010. 5 Jewish life was flourishing: For an assessment of religious freedom in the Czech Republic in 2010, see, e.g., U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Czech Republic: International Religious Freedom Report 2010,” November 17, 2010.
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