Volume LX, A.D. MMXVIII June 2018 Q2, № 2
Crédit photo: Ořechov To honor the founder of SVU, JUDr. Jaroslav Němec, a memorial is to be raised in the center of his beloved hometown of Ořechov u Uherského Hradi:tě. read more inside
SVU News № 2/2018 2
The 29th SVU World Congress | Prague, July 10–12, 2018
Marking the Sixty Years of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, commemorating the Centennial of the First Czechoslovak Republic and celebrating 100 YEARS OF CZECH-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP
under the auspices of the President of the Czech Senate
Projekt je podpořený grantem Velvyslanectví USA v Praze. Projekt je podpořený grantem Ministerstva zahraničních věcí České republiky. Společenské části kongresu jsou pořádány Stálou komisí Senátu pro krajany žijící v zahraničí. SVU News № 2/2018 3
organized by SVU in collaboration with Metropolitan University Prague and the SVU Praha Chapter with the key social events sponsored by the Standing Senate Commission on Compatriots Living Abroad, supported by U.S. Embassy Prague, the Czech Senate, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
under the auspices of the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences
See pages 24–33 for details. SVU News № 2/2018 4
DR. JAROSLAV NĚMEC MEMORIAL
To honor the founder of SVU, JUDr. Jaroslav Němec, a memorial is to be raised in the center of his beloved hometown of Ořechov.
This project is a joint venture of SVU and the municipality of Ořechov, supported by the Zlín Region.
The monument shall be unveiled in October 2018, marking the 60th Anniversary of our Society.
Please visit the project page at svu2000.org/jaroslav-nemec-memorial - to access the collection of documents commemorating Dr. Jaroslav Němec - to learn about his hometown and region; - to learn about the monument as work of art and about its sculptor, Ondřej Oliva; - to make a contribution through SVU Online Payment or by check; Checks made out to SVU, with MEMORIAL on the memo line, can be sent to the Society’s head office Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences 4410 Massachusetts Ave., NW #174 Washington, DC 20016 U.S.A.
The urbanism of the town of Ořechov and the surroundings of the planned memorial situated in the town center in a newly created intimate area, a hidden square, allows erection of an independent object/statue, of a new meeting point and place of relaxation for residents and visitors. The memorial is designed to encourage the spectator to actively participate and discover texts from all sides. The selected materials – stone, bronze and aluminum – highlight the significance of Dr. Jaroslav Němec as an honorary personality of Ořechov. The texts capture his life and important milestones. The top part of the memorial features the town emblem of Ořechov made of nickel-plated aluminum, which looks like a jewel. There is a walking area around the memorial with light-sensor operated lighting placed in the ground. Thanks to the lights position and illumination from the ground, the memorial gives a dominant impression in the area while creating a pleasant intimate atmosphere. The spectator is lured to come closer for a more detailed view, to sit down on a bench and ponder upon the significance and the life of Dr. Jaroslav Němec. Architectural layout: the surrounding area is formed by a green fence, creating an intimate atmosphere for the memorial. Due to the nearby statue of John of Nepomuk, only a vertical object with similar dimensions and proportions can be added as an imaginary counterpart of similar importance. Significance and morphology: a slender granite obelisk that evokes a tree trunk, a closed book, a mass held together by bronze hoops. Number 3: Texts on ribbons divided into 3 periods of life, 3 parts of book. Bottom part: defense of the nation, soldier, life in emigration, founding of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences. Middle part: name, Ořechov, central theme and life statement. Top part: folklore, history, music. References to the town – Emblem of the town in the top section, a drawing in space. Aesthetic and decorative element – leaves of white walnut tree – refers to the place, the book and the town emblem. A budding tree. The object is designed and surface-treated to withstand weather conditions and vandal attacks.
SVU News № 2/2018 5
Narodil jsem se dne 23. b ezna 1ř10 v O echově na č. 5 jako syn učitele Jaroslava Němce a jeho manželky Boženy, roz. Chrastinové. Po 5ti ročnících obecné školy v O echově studoval jsem Ř let na reálném gymnasiu v Uherském Hradišti a poté na právnické fakultě Masarykovy university v Brně, kde jsem také získal v r. 1ř37 diplom doktora věd právních a státních. Do právnické praxe jsem nastoupil po Mnichově v r. 1ř3Ř a to u krajského soudu v Uherském Hradišti. Po okupaci ČSR 15. b ezna stal jsem se členem krajského velení protiněmecké organizace Obrana národa a po jejím prozrazeni Gestapu jsem unikl do ciziny. P es Maďarsko, Jugoslávii, ecko, Turecko a Sýrii jsem se dostal do Francie a tam jsem vstoupil do tvo ící se čs. armády v Agde počátkem ledna 1ř40. Jako záložní důstojník s kulometným výcvikem sloužil jsem nejprve po 4 měsíce u 12. kulometné roty polního pluku 2 a poté jsem byl jmenován vyšet ujícím soudcem u nově utvo eného čs. divizního soudu v Béziers. Po pádu Francie dostal jsem se s ostatními čs. jednotkami po mo i do Anglie, od prosince 1ř40 jsem byl p idělen ú adu vrchního polního prokurátora v Londýně, tam jsem složil vojenskou soudcovskou zkoušku, byl pak ministrem národní obrany jmenován soudcem u polního soudu čs. obrněné brigády a brzy poté prokurátorem u téže jednotky. V r. 1ř43 jsem se oženil s ú ednicí čs. ministerstva financí, Jarmilou Ježkovou. Rozkazem ministra národní obrany, gen. Sergeje Ingra, byl jsem počátkem r. 1ř44 jmenován vrchním polním prokurátorem u 1. čs. armádního sboru, který se tvo il v SSSR a někdy v srpnu 1ř44 jsem odejel na východní frontu. Manželka, samoz ejmě, zůstala v Anglii. Jako většina důstojníků, kte í p išli na východní frontu z Anglie, ani já jsem nezískal důvěru gen. Svobody, a navíc jsem se s ním dostal do konfliktu v názoru na celistvost území čs. státu. To a vědomí, že vedoucí osobnosti v čs. východní armádě, totiž zejména plk. Reicin a gen. Procházka, vedou subversivní činnost proti čs. demokracii, již jsem neměl moci čelit, způsobilo můj odchod z armády po p íchodu do Prahy. Odešel jsem jako štábní kapitán justiční služby na vlastní žádost do zálohy a nastoupil na ministerstvu vnitra ve zpravodajském odboru gen. J. Bartíka. Bartík byl v r. 1ř46 komunistickým ministrem propuštěn a já jsem na ministerstvu zůstal pak jako p ednosta oddělení reemigrace a repatriace až do svého propuštění v únoru 1ř4Ř. Únor mi jasně ukázal, že musím v zájmu vlastní bezpečnosti znova do ciziny, ale p ešli jsme s manže1kou po všemožných p ekážkách do Německa teprve 1. íjna 1ř50. Naše začátky v USA byly tvrdé. Manželka pracovala jako prodavačka a já, vedle všemožných zaměstnání, jsem studoval knihovnictví na Catholic University of America. V r. 1956 jsem se stal knihovníkem Americké léka ské společnosti ve Washingtonu a o 3 léta později jsem nastoupil u Státní léka ské knihovny ve Washingtonu, jako jejich specialista v oboru historie a bibliografie soudního léka ství. Náš slibný vývoj byl p erušen dlouhou nemocí mé manželky a její smrtí v r. 1ř67. Po více než dalších 2 letech krise jsem se znova oženil, a to s Ludmilou Pavlíkovou, roz. Hrdovou, bývalou učitelkou a vdovou po mem zem elém p íteli, mjr. Vladimíru Pavlíkovi. Ve službě u Státní léka ské knihovny jsem zůstal až do r. 1ř76, kdy jsem na vlastní žádost odešel do pense. Od r. 1ř40 jsem publikoval v češtině 3 knihy, proslovil asi 50 p ednášek na různá témata a napsal nejméně 60 článků do českých časopisů v zahraničí. V angličtině jsem publikoval rovněž 3 knihy, a to o soudním léka ství, pak 5 delších studií, několik článků a promluvil jsem na historická témata na 10ti odborných sjezdech. V r. 1ř56 jsem založil na popud pí. Vlasty Vrázové ve Washingtonu odbočku Československé národní rady americké a o 2 léta později z mé iniciativy vznikla Společnost pro vědy a umění, jejímuž budováni a růstu jsem věnoval většinu svého volného času za posledních více než 30 let. Stal jsem se jejím prvním generálním tajemníkem, pak p edsedou a nyní jsem jejím čestným členem a členem jejího p edsednického kolegia. Za zmínku snad také stojí, že nemalou úlohu v mém životě měla hudba. Od 17ti let jsem byl houslistou o echovské muziky, od r. 1ř31 jsem hrál ve Slováckém krúžku v Brně, v letech 1933 – 36 jako jeho primáš a v r. 1939 jsem vedl hudbu nově založeného Slováckého krúžku v Uherském Hradišti. Rok 1ř3ř však také znamenal můj útěk do ciziny a konec jedné mé lásky. SVU News № 2/2018 6
Appreciation by Dr. Jaroslav G. Polach delivered at Dr. Jaroslav Němec’s funeral service, Washington DC, October 17, 1992
We gather today to honor the memory of Dr. Jaroslav Němec. I believe the best way for us to do that is to recall his ideas and lifelong efforts, which he ultimately put into creating the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) in the United States. From a historical perspective, we see two essential elements in the life of Jaroslav Němec. One was a love, largely romantic, for his native region, Moravské Slovácko, and especially the communities of O echov and Polešovice. In his youth, the outlet for this love was a Slovácký kroužek, a circle of friends who cultivated and sang folk songs, especially those from Moravské Slovácko. Jaroslav would form such a circle wherever he went and stayed for a time, as he did in Brno, where he was a student. It was the same in Washington, where, before SVU, Jaroslav formed a folk song circle and gave it his energy and leadership. His passion for music and the songs of Moravské Slovácko was evidently a spiritual legacy from the elder Jaroslav, his father, who was headmaster at the public school in O echov, where his son Jaroslav was born in 1910. No doubt the father’s historical writings were the source of Jaroslav’s ambition to write a detailed and complete history of his native town. To that end he devoted years to a close study of its historical sources, back to the earliest ones. The result was four volumes, the first published in 1972 with the title Ořechov u Uherského Hradiště, léta 1131-1649. The next two parts, which take the history of O echov and the places around it up to the present, are going into print, as I just learned from Jaroslav’s wife, Ludmila, while the final part, an index, awaits just a few revisions and will then be ready for publication. The other motif and constant in Jaroslav’s life was his devotion to the Republic. It came from his conviction that the Czechoslovak Republic, standing on the ideals of Thomas Masaryk and Rastislav Štefánik (recall that Jaroslav was from Moravské Slovácko, like Masaryk), embodied the best historic humanist traditions of both nations and their contributions to the growth of Western civilization. In this regard, we can dwell on a passage in Jaroslav‘s book about O echov, where he critically examines the events of the 15th century—the time of Constantinople‘s fall and America’s discovery—and finds that “In our lands, however, it was the book that defined the New Age.” For Jaroslav, the most important event in the 15th century was the invention of printing, an invention to which a Czech printer contributed even before Gutenberg, as Jaroslav showed in one of his writings. Jaroslav made his devotion to the idea of a free and democratic Czechoslovak Republic clear after its occupation by Nazi armies, when he at once joined the military resistance group Obrana národa (Defense of the nation). He had to go into hiding soon after, in November 1ř3ř, to avoid falling into the Gestapo’s grasp. He eventually got to France, where he joined the Czechoslovak Army to take part in the armed struggle to restore a free Czechoslovak Republic. After the fall of France, Jaroslav came with the Army to England and later was sent to the Soviet Union as part of the Czechoslovak judicial service. He did not know then that just a few years after the Republic’s liberation, he would have to leave it to fight again for its liberation, this time from the Communist yoke. At stake was the outcome of a global clash of ideals and their impact on politics, economies, cultures and civilization everywhere. This was the situation when Jaroslav arrived in the United States. And it did not take him and his several friends long to realize that if they were to make a real difference in this struggle for a free and democratic Czechoslovak Republic, then they would first have to show our American compatriots that we do not come from some dark corners of Eastern Europe, that our culture and civilization were part of the Western world from the beginning. It may seem incredible today, but in the early 1ř50s, as Dr. Němec wrote, our standing in the free world was no better than at the time of Munich, when Chamberlain called us a people about whom he knew nothing. And what Chamberlain did know about us, the Czechs and Slovaks, was, as Němec added, mostly not objective. SVU News № 2/2018 7
So, it was clear to us that, if we were to change this situation for the better, we must concentrate on the academic world and the universities, for the simple reason that they educate the new generations and the new leaders of the world. But right at the start we sorely needed broad support from our Czech and Slovak fellow citizens, especially here in America. And here we ran into resistance. On one hand, our countrymen here from earlier eras responded to our efforts with mistrust. This we managed to dispel to such an extent that our most important existing ethnic organization in America, the Československá národní rada americká (Czechoslovak National Council of America) in Chicago, with the considerable support of Vlasta Vrázová, helped us, through its local chapter in Washington, to begin our work toward launching the SVU. It was much more difficult to deal with our own political emigration of former Czechoslovak government ministers, parliamentary deputies and politicians, who made it very clear to us that they saw our campaign for an SVU as an intolerable intrusion into their own domain. That was why we emphasized from the very start that we would be an independent and nonpolitical organization. Credit goes above all to Dr. Němec that we succeeded in our efforts to make our identity academic and nonpolitical. It was his perseverance, his gradual and patient completion of successive organizational stages, and especially his ability to work with others (even in circumstances that were difficult for him personally) that made SVU a reality. It was also he who convinced Professor Václav Hlavatý, a mathematician known around the world, to become the first president of this new society. Hlavatý’s name by itself secured a favorable reception for SVU at universities near and far. Němec also secured support from artists and writers for SVU from its beginnings: he won over Jarmila Novotná, Rafael Kubelík, Rudolf Firkušný, the writer Radimský and others, while the politicians who stood up for our cause were Ladislav Feierabend, Juraj Slávik, Jozef Lettrich, Arnošt Heidrich and Štefan Osuský. Our working group in the Czechoslovak National Council of America’s Washington local chapter became the study group in the SVU organizing committee, and it was the group that drafted the first vision of the SVU. When the first SVU conference completed its work in 1961, the existence of SVU as an important cultural organization not just in America but also elsewhere was assured. Dr. Jaroslav Němec was the first Secretary General of the SVU. Later he also served as its president and was named an honorary member for his contributions. Outside of SVU, and we must wonder where he found the time for it while fully occupied at the National Institutes of Health, Němec did much research and writing, work that earned him an international reputation. We must mention at least one of his contributions to research: it is his International Bibliography of Medicolegal Serials, 1736-1967, for which he was awarded the first Regents Award for Scientific or Technical Achievement. But in the end, SVU was the object to which Dr. Jaroslav Němec gave the greater part of his life, as he himself told us at the end of his address to the SVU in Prague, where he said, “My greatest thanks go to those SVU members who never faltered in their work for the Society, in which I always found the meaning and fulfillment of my life.” He said this in June this year. And on October 7th, Jaroslav Němec died.
Translated for SVU NEWS by David Chroust, from the Czech original of Dr. Jaroslav Polach.
The Czech original is available at svu2000.org/jaroslav-nemec-memorial SVU News № 2/2018 8
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Kristin Anderson, Cambridge, MA – student member Roman Berka, Algonquin, IL – individual member Merlene Bravenec, Temple, TX – individual member Allison Cornell, Allentown, PA – individual member Paul Havlinka, Wharton, TX – individual member Josef and Eva Motycka, Venice, CA – couple membership Marty Mullins, Whitefish, MT – individual member Nancy Petschek-Kohn, Briarcliff Manor, NY – individual member Karolina Syrovatkova, Modesto, CA – student member Robert Tomanek, Iowa City, IA – individual member Eva Vanhova and David Gilmour, Aliso Viejo, CA – couple membership
We have seen another encouraging three months of new member signups! Welcome, and please take an active part in the life of the SVU. We warmly welcome all the past members who have recently returned to the Society!
2018 ELECTION OF SVU OFFICERS
Pursuant to Art. 17-5 of the SVU Bylaws, members in good standing received Notice of the 2018 Election, both electronically and by first-class mail, containing the legal background and election schedule. Following the Membership Referendum of December 20, 2016, the SVU was obliged to enable electronic voting as per Art. 17-6. To ensure an uncompromising compliance standard and to catch up with modern times, a professional provider was selected on the basis of trusted referrals: Survey and Ballots Systems (SBS), so that in 2018, at last, SVU is joining organizations such as: State Bar of Georgia, American Foreign Service Association, United States Air Force Academy - Association of Graduates, American Physical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Historical Association, The American Literature Association, American Association of School Administrators, and many more, nationwide. Survey and Ballots Systems (SBS) has been setting standard in election management for the past 28 years. On May 31, 2018, SBS distributed invitation to vote online, closing this online phase on June 14 at 11:59 PM EDT. On June 15, 2018, SBS distributed a paper ballot to the voters who had not voted online. The standard response time is 2 weeks, nevertheless, the paper ballots must reach SBS by July 9, 2018, at the latest. Thank you for your participation! SVU News № 2/2018 9
2018–2020 SVU EXECUTIVE BOARD NOMINATION SLATE Ticket nominated by Petition of Members as per Art. 17-3.
Ivo Budil, President Formal Training: Cultural Anthropology, History, Sociology Work Experience: Dean, Fac. of Humanities, Pilsen; Metropolitan University Prague, Professor Volunteer Experience Elsewhere: Democratic Club (President) Honors: Dean Emeritus, Faculty of Philosophy, University of West Bohemia SVU Seniority: 16 years
Georges Eichler, Secretary General Formal Training: Business Administration, Diplomacy Work Experience: Czech Government, Dep. of Trade and Industry, Foreign Service, Deputy CIO Volunteer Experience Elsewhere: Union of Interpreters and Translators (EVP); … Honors: SVU Beyond the Call of Duty Award; SVU Presidential Citations; Chairman of Examination Board, Inst. of Translation Studies, Charles University; … SVU Seniority: 18 years
Thomas Holbik, Treasurer Formal Training: Economics, Business Administration Work Experience: Federal Reserve Bank; HSBC; Citizens Bank; … Volunteer Experience Elsewhere: Risk Management Association (NY Governor) Honors: Certified Risk Manager SVU Seniority: 4 years
Hugh Agnew, EVP, Academic Liaisons and Publications Program Formal Training: History, International Affairs Work Experience: Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Professor, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Volunteer Experience Elsewhere: American Historical Association Honors: Fulbright Scholar SVU Seniority: 18 years
Michael Seng, VP for Educational Exchange Programs Formal Training: Law Work Experience: United States District Court; The John Marshall Law School, Professor Volunteer Experience Elsewhere: Czech/Slovak Legal Institute; John Marshall’s Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Clinic Honors: Leonard Jay Schrager Award of Excellence, Chicago Bar Foundation; Renaissance Man, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services; … SVU Seniority: 20+ years
SVU News № 2/2018 10 MEMBERS’ NEWS
Beginning in 1993, Professor Michael Seng organized delegations of lawyers and judges to create a legal exchange that allowed the Czech and Slovak Republics to bring American attorneys to Europe to assist the bar as the countries rebuilt their legal systems after the fall of Communism. The program eventually became the Czech/Slovak Legal Institute and has produced a cadre of lawyers and judges who are distinguishing themselves in private practice, the courts and in positions of trust throughout the Czech Republic.
The faculty and alumni of The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, together with the encouragement and support of the dean of the law school, Howard T. Markey, established the Czech/Slovak Legal Institute. It was an interest in helping the Czech and Slovak Republics emerge from the communist era as independent nations committed to the rule of law that led to the establishment of the institute. A variety of programs for students, attorneys, judges, and friends of the law school were created over the years to foster a better understanding of the U.S. legal system as well as an appreciation of the cultures of the three partnering nations. • VISITING SCHOLARS & FELLOWSHIPS The Institute regularly extends invitations and arranges programs and visits with individuals from Metropolitan University Prague (MUP); the Constitutional, Administrative and Supreme Courts of the Czech Republic, and other academic and legal institutions to come to John Marshall to partake in lectures, conferences, fellowships, and research projects. • INTERNATIONAL STUDY OPPORTUNITIES FOR JOHN MARSCHALL STUDENTS John Marshall offers law students an opportunity to study European Community Law in the Czech Republic at either Metropolitan University Prague (MUP) or Masaryk Faculty of Law during the fall or spring semesters. In addition, John Marshall students may choose to enroll in a 2-3 credit European law course presented in the Czech and Slovak Republics. This study opportunity is offered annually during the summer. • CZECH & SLOVAK STUDENT EXCHANGE Czech and Slovak students currently enrolled at Masaryk University Faculty of Law may apply to study at The John Marshall Law School during the fall semester. • STUDY TRIP TO THE CZECH & SLOVAK REPUBLICS A legal study trip for American lawyers, judges, and friends of the law school to the Czech and Slovak Republics is planned annually. Participants visit the Faculty of Law at Masaryk University in Brno, various courts, government agencies, and private law firms. The participants also present A Day of U.S. Law at Masaryk and may make presentations to members of the Czech and Slovak bar associations. • SEMINAR FOR CZECH/SLOVAK LAWYERS Each year, The John Marshall Law School's Czech/Slovak Legal Institute presents a week-long seminar for Czech and Slovak lawyers in cooperation with the Czech and Slovak Bar Associations. The program is funded in memory of two John Marshall alumni, Robert Beart and John Drost. The program is designed to develop a better understanding of the American legal and entrepreneurial systems. SVU News № 2/2018 11
On May 17, 2018, a high-level delegation of the Faculty of Law of the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, headed by Dean Ms. Markéta Selucká, visited the John Marshall Law School in Chicago with which it has already been cooperating since 1993. The deans of both schools signed a new Memorandum of Understanding. The Memorandum of Understanding envisages exchanges of students and law teachers, organization of conferences, arrangements of Czech legal study tours for attorneys and judges from the USA, mutual publication activity and other types of cooperation. Students of the Faculty of Law of the Masaryk University can also make an internship at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Chicago during their studies at the John Marshall Law School. From the center: Dean Darby Dickerson, Dean Markéta Selucká, Prof. Michael Seng
On April 18, 2018, Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Smolek, Representative of the Czech Republic to the Court of Justice of the European Union, lectured at the John Marshall Law School on the European judicial structure. He gave a lecture also at the University of Chicago on April 17, 2018.
From the left: Deputy Foreig Mi ister Marti S olek, Co sul Ge eral Bořek Lizec, Prof. Michael Seng SVU News № 2/2018 12
MEMBERS’ NEWS
Czech-American Research Collaboration in Speech Classification and Processing
Anthony Bartos, board member computers only at the university level and of our Washington DC Chapter, access to basic US text books, even after 1989, and five other Czech and were only available as Russian translations.
American co-authors have Very gradually, the situation improved at BUT recently had their paper, and by 1997, a group dedicated to speech Noise-Robust Speech Triage, processing was formed. Another very
published in the Journal of the important factor was that gifted students were Acoustical Society of America. finally allowed to travel outside Czechoslovakia and therefore, study abroad. One other very This paper deals with classifying voice communications, important factor was in the person of Professor based on speaker gender, the language being spoken Hynek Hermansky, currently director of the and the speaker’s identity, in extremely noisy Center for Language and Speech Processing at conditions when the speech itself is barely audible or The Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, even recognizable as speech. Radar or certain Maryland. communications signal properties are predictable, making them easier to detect, process and classify. A breakthrough of sorts for the speech group in
Human speech signals, however, are the most difficult Brno came when Professor Hermansky made to process and classify even in ideal conditions, contact with them. Dr. Hermansky, also a because they are always different, even for an identical graduate of BUT, got out of Czechoslovakia in utterance from the same speaker. Two aspects led to the 1970s. He received his doctorate in Japan, the paper’s acceptance for publication the detection later moving to the United States. While in the of when speech activity is present within the deep US, he became a celebrity in the speech noise and 2) its correct classification based on gender, processing research area, initially at Panasonic language or speaker identity. The US-based co-authors Technologies in Santa Barbara, CA, through US were primarily responsible for the former and, most WEST in Boulder, Colorado and then at Oregon importantly, the Czech-based researchers in Brno for Graduate Institute (OGI). From 2001 onward, the latter. These co-authors are from the US there were many BUT students able to study commercial and government (Naval Research under Dr. Hermansky at the OGI laboratory for Laboratory and Fort Meade, MD) sectors, from the several years because of his position. This Brno University of Technology (BUT) and Phonexia, became an unbelievable boost for the BUT Ltd., also in Brno. students, interacting with professionals in the speech research area. One other very important Today, the Faculty of Information Technology, part of factor was that many of these students then BUT, is world-renown for its research in speech returned to the Brno speech group, after processing. This was not always the case, because finishing their studies abroad. before 1989 in communist times, Czech students in this research area first received access to personal SVU News № 2/2018 13
Eventually, the Brno speech activity became part of the formed to commercialize speech products Faculty of Information Technology at BUT, and it was invented (two blocks away) at the university. able to win several research contracts from multiple Currently there are 20 researchers working at European sources. They also began to partake in FIT, and Phonexia has about 50 employees. Both international evaluations in speaker and language entities receive funding from the Czech identification organized by the US National Institute of Republic, EU and USA defense, intelligence, and Standards and Technology (NIST). Many world- commercial sources, primarily for automated renown universities and research institutes regularly data mining of information from human participate in these NIST trials, where Brno began to speech. These technology applications are a form of machine leaning or artificial make a name for itself. In 2006, it was determined that if this group wanted to deliver functioning products intelligence applied to speech. Additional resulting from their research efforts, they would need information on this article, including download some kind of commercial entity to exist beside the access to the article, is available through the group at the university. As a result, Phonexia, Ltd. was following Phonexia link: https://www.phonexia.com/en/2018/04/25/speech-technologies-proved-even-extremely-noisy-conditions/
MEMBERS’ NEWS IN SLOVAK LANGUAGE
Na knižnom veľtrhu v Prahe, ktorý sa konal od . do . mája 2018 vo Veltržnom paláci v Hole:oviciach, predstavil Dušan Šimko svoju prózu s názvom Mramor a Granit Kalligram, ”ratislava v českom preklade - pod titulom Ctnosti a neřesti. SVU News № 2/2018 14
Kniha má nový titul Cnosti a neřesti, sochařská elegie. Pražské nakladateľstvo Novella ”ohemic ju vydalo v preklade profesora Lubomíra Machalu (Katedra bohemistiky, Palackého univerzita Olomouc).
Mladá reštaurátorka Barbora žije v Prahe v čase vrcholiaceho stalinizmu. Cestou do práce míňa stavbu pomníka J.V. Stalinovi na Letnej, ktorého autorom je sochár Otakar Švec (1892-1955). Pamiatkový ústav ju poverí výskumom barokových sôch v Kukse pri Dvore Králové. Geniálny sochár Matyáš Bernard Braun (1684-1738) je autorom celej plejády sôch v sídle čudáckeho grófa Františka Antona Šporka (1662- 1738). Sochár dostal za úlohu vytesať monumentálne plastiky do pieskovcových skalísk v Novom lese na Šporkovom panstve. Torzá Braunových sôch, ničené po viac ako dve storočia vetrom, dažďom a nezáujmom ľudí sú pre Barboru príležitosťou presunúť sa z tiesnivej reality diktatúry do snového sureálnehoo sveta vrcholiaceho baroka.
Dušan Šimko * , Ko:ice Od roku žije vo Švajčiarsku. Slovenský spisovateľ, publicista, docent geografie na Univerzite v Bazileji. Predseda švajčiarskej skupiny SVU. Diela: Maratón Juana Zabalu, 1984 Japonský diván, 1993 VI. prápor, 1997 Esterházyho lokaj, 2000 Exil v Bazileji, 2003 Gubio – kniha udavačov, 2009 Jeho prózy boli preložené do če:tiny, nemčiny, angličtiny, Mramor a granit, 2015 maďarčiny a srbčiny.
MEMBERS’ NEWS
A year ago, in June 2017, SVU NEWS presented Rachel Corbett as our new member (recruited by her grandmother Olga Chyle Jung) and we reported about her successful book You Must Change Your Life that won the 2016 Marfield Prize. It is a great pleasure to share the news about Rachel’s another success. Invited to Prague by the international book fair SVĚT KNIHY / BOOKWORLD for the book launch of the Czech translation: Musíš se proměnit: Příběh Rainera Marii Rilkeho a Augusta Rodina. With permission of ”ookWorld’s director Radovan “urer, we are bringing part of Rachel’s interviews.
SVU News № 2/2018 15
Rachel Corbett at BookWorld in Prague, presenting her book You Must Change Your Life. Crédit photo: Svět knihy
„I would not want to be a wife of one of these artists, but, maybe I would have liked to be one of these artists, admitting with smile, Rachel Corbett, American writer and publicist, who came to Prague to introduce the Czech edition of her book You must Change Your Life telling the story of Rilke and Rodin. é é Cr dit photo: Mus e Rodin Rachel referred to the group of artists meeting up at a noble house in Paris (rue de Varenne) bearing the name of marshal Biron, nowadays known as Musée Rodin, personalities such as Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, Isadora Duncan, Clara Westhoff, and, of course, Rilke and Rodin.
The book describes the relations of the two since 1902, when the 27-year old poet comes to Paris to write a monograph about 60-year old sculptor Rodin and becomes a devoted student of his – in observing and perceiving the world. Rachel Corbett not only introduced her book in a debate with Renata Povolná, but also read three excerpts, and assisted at the book launch on May 13, 2018. It is to note two things, btw: 1) R. M. Rilke was born in Prague (December 4, 1875), and 2) Rachel Corbett’s ancestors come from South Bohemia and they founded the town of Protivin in Iowa.
SVU News № 2/2018 16
READ IN CZECH
“merická novinářka a spisovatelka s českými kořeny Rachel Corbett přijela na Svět knihy Praha představit svou knihu Musíš se proměnit. Dílo získalo cenu Marfield Prize, kterou uděluje Umělecký klub ve Washingtonu. Děj se odehrává na přelomu . a . století v Paříži a zachycuje zrod modernismu na osudech dvou slavných umělců. Rachel se narodila v Iowě, vystudovala prestižní Kolumbijskou univerzitu a pracovala například jako šéfredaktorka časopisu Modern Painters. Její předci založili ve státě Iowa v roce 55 malé městečko Protivin pojmenované po českém Protivínu, kde se každoročně pořádá víkendový festival Czech Days.
Sepsala jste fascinující příběh, který může posloužit nejen jako pohled do života dvou slavných umělců, ale také jako poutavý návod pro mladé studenty, autory a výtvarníky. Jaké je vaše osobní pouto s uměním a jak vaši knihu přijala mladá generace umělců ve Spojených státech? Rilkeho kniha Dopisy mladému básníkovi patří ve Spojených státech k nejčastěj:ím dárkům, které se dávají absolventům na promocích, a moje kniha vypráví příběh vzniku těchto dopisů jako takových. Rilke je začal psát, když byl sám mladým básníkem. Jeho dopisy inspirovaly nejenom titulního básníka, ale celé dal:í generace mladých lidí. Moje kniha ov:em pátrá po kořenech těch dopisů. V mojí i Rilkeho knize vidíme mladého umělce v oněch raných, radostných časech inspirace – pro Rilkeho byl onou osudovou inspirací Rodin pro mě to byl Rilke se svými Dopisy mladému básníkovi. Velice nás zajímá český původ vaší rodiny. Už víme, že váš předek emigroval do Spojených států v 50. letech 19. století a založil město Protivin, je to tak? Narodila se vaše babička v tomto městě? Co se tam dělo? A jak to tam vypadá v současnosti? Ano, moji prapraprarodiče Franti:ek Chyle and Maria Jiřina založili americké městečko Protivin, pojmenované podle Mariina rodného Protivína v jižních Čechách. Moje babička Olga vyrostla v americkém Protivinu a městečko pořád je:tě existuje. Je malé, ale dosud v něm žije česká komunita. Nachází se nedaleko Národního českého a slovenského muzea National Czech and Slovak Museum a České vesnice Czech Village , což je distrikt obchodů a restaurací, kde mnoho lidí pořád je:tě mluví česky. Kromě toho mám v České republice pořád je:tě několik příbuzných. Můj bratranec Štěpán Jíra žije v Plzni a jeho syn Tomá: bydlí v nedalekých Vejprnicích se svou dcerou a manželkou Ivetou. Rilke ve vaší knize nemluví o Praze zrovna nadšeně… Rilke rozhodně litoval, že nevyužil pražských literárních dějin a tradic a že se nikdy nenaučil pořádně česky. “le když tam na sklonku . století vyrůstal, jeho německy mluvící rodina chovala vůči če:tině předsudky. Domnívala se, že slovanskými jazyky mluví niž:í společenské třídy, zatímco němčina (a francouz:tina je jazykem umělců. Přesto se zdá, že k Čechům, které znal, choval Rilke respekt, a ve svých raných dílech, například ve Dvou pražských povídkách, je zobrazoval v pozitivním světle – rozhodně pozitivněj:ím, než jak často vykresloval německé mluvčí.
SVU News № 2/2018 17
INTRODUCING NEW MEMBER
Marty Manor Mullins completed her Ph.D. in East Central European History at the University of Washington in 2013. With funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in conjunction with the Fulbright Program, she conducted research for her dissertation in Ko:ice, Slovakia, a city where she has lived and worked for 7 years. Her published work focuses on Ko:ice and eastern Slovakia’s experience of Czechoslovakia’s 1948 Communist takeover, 1968 Soviet invasion, and 1989 Velvet Revolution. A regular participant at the Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Conferences, she serves as Officer at Large for the Slovak Studies Association. Dr. Mullins currently teaches at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, Montana.
The next edition of KOSM“S NS Vol. , No. , in preparation, will include Dr. Mullins’ article Prague Spring on the Periphery: Eastern Slovak Steelworkers React to Reform and Invasion in 1968. See the abstract on page 50.
MEM”ERS’ ”OOKS
Rechcígl, M., Jr., Autorhouse, May 2018: Czechs Won’t Get Lost In The World, Let Alone In America - a panorama of the lives of selected personalities, whose roots had origin in the Czech lands and who, in the US, reached extraordinary success and who, with their activities, substantially influenced the growth and development of their new homeland. It is a saga of plain, as well as powerful, people whose influence and importance often exceeded the borders of the US. A great portion of included individuals may be unknown to readers since it concerns persons whose Czech origin was usually not known. The book covers the period from the times of the discovery of New World to the end of the twentieth century. During the selection, little concern was given to ethnographic criteria, the only prerequisite was that the respected individuals were either born on the territory of the Czech lands or were descendants of emigrants from the Czech lands. The image on the front cover is a portrait of Augustine Herman, Lord of Bohemia Manor, the first documented Czech immigrant in the United States. Rechcígl, M., Jr., Autorhouse, June 2018: American Jews with Czechoslovak Roots - a pioneering, comprehensive bibliography of existing publications relating to American Jews with ancestry in the former Czechoslovakia and its successor states, the Czech and the Slovak Republics, which has never before been attempted. Since only a few studies have been written on the subject, the present work has been extended to include biobibliography, in which area a plethora of papers and monographs exist. Consequently, this compendium can also be viewed as a comprehensive listing of biographical sources relating to American Jews with the Czechoslovak roots. As the reader will find out, they have been involved, practically, in every field of human endeavor, in numbers that surprise. As for the definition of Jews, the present work encompasses not only the individuals that have professed in Judaism but also the descendants of the former Jews who originally lived on the territory of the former Czechoslovakia, regardless of the generation or where they were born. SVU News № 2/2018 18
MEMBERS’ NEWS
The communist regime seemed to be at the height of its power when I graduated from the Charles University’s Faculty of Medicine in 1961. The path to my graduation was by no means a straight line. When I was fifteen years old, the party decided I couldn’t continue my studies. They didn’t mean to punish me (I actually welcomed the news with PAUL ORT the enthusiasm of youth), they were punishing my father. They found him too bourgeois – he was a doctor, a surgeon in Prague. My step-mother arranged a job position for me in a chemical plant Spolana Neratovice. There I received my re-education to become a working-class cadre and I was able to enrol in secondary school in Nymburg and, after three years, start studying medicine in Prague. After graduation, a job was assigned to me in a department of orthopaedics in a hospital in Teplice. When the opportunity to go to Tunisia as a tourist came up, the head physician asked to talk to me and said See that you don’t forget to come back to us, Pavel! “nd I remember replying How could I possibly sir, now, when I got a raise? I was recently awarded fifty extra crowns and my new monthly wage came up to 9 0 Czechoslovak crowns around of today’s dollars . Four hundred of us Czech people boarded the Russian ship Poběda in Odessa. There must have been cops as well, mingling with the tourists. On the last day of the trip, they took us to a beach near Tunisia. I seized the opportunity and made a break for it. I sneaked off only wearing my trousers, I was too afraid to carry anything else. Only my swimsuit I put in my pocket – a souvenir. Not far from the beach I flagged down a car which took me to a city. People from West Germany helped me a lot back then in Tunisia. I felt like it was a partial compensation for the Nazis having killed my mother when I was only six years old. A cultural attaché who has been looking after me asked me if I wanted to go back to the dock. Pubuda was leaving that evening. A resolute No! was my answer – and that’s how I gained my freedom. I spent three more months in Tunisia. Two more Czechs escaped from Pobuda, independently of each other. Authorities granted all of us political asylums, we even received documents that served as passports. It was quite a generous gesture for such a poor country. I often ponder if my home country would have treated refugees with similar generosity. When I decided to immigrate to the US, Americans also provided me with accommodation and food. Simply put, there were always people willing to selflessly help me. SVU News № 2/2018 19
I knew I had distant relatives in Venezuela and so I set off again. I found a job as a doctor accompanying a geographic expedition which determines the Venezuela-Brazil border every year. The border is defined by the water divide of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers – if the water travels to the Orinoco, the land is claimed by Venezuela while Brazil gets the area where the rivers flow into the Amazon. We had to travel vast distances through a thick jungle. Local doctors refused to take part in these expeditions, so I was able to make good money in one season. The high-quality education I received in Prague helped prepare me for this experience. I even put into use my basic knowledge of teeth pulling. I came back to the States and started to build my career in medicine. I passed an exam validating the education I received while in Czechoslovakia and trained for six years as a surgeon and an orthopedist. I was lucky to study at the New York University (NYU) and to work there, as well as at the renowned Bellevue Hospital. I went on to open a private practice at the university. I was also building an academic career. It helped both of my careers a lot that I was present when a new method for operational treatment of hip fractures was created. We travelled a good part of the world giving lectures on this treatment, including South America and Europe. I eventually achieved the title of Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the NYU. I was in private practice for a total of 35 years. When I was going to retire, I was offered a job as a chief physician at V“ Medical Centre in Manhattan. I’ve been working here for thirteen years. I very much enjoy talking to medical students who want to specialize in orthopaedics. And they enjoy coming with me to Bohémka – a Czech garden restaurant. Apart from sport, learning and talking to the young generation is what keeps me in a good shape. Finally, I want to say that communists actually did me a favor when they forced me out of my home country. It wasn’t easy to leave I had to overcome various challenges and adverse circumstances. ”ut I had interesting adventures. “nd that’s definitely a better way to spend a life than to live in a totalitarian regime. That just wasn’t for me. This article is based on an essay sent to us by Pavel Ort. Mr. Ort still lives in the US and actively participates in local ex-patriot community. He was only able to visit his home country after the Velvet Revolution.
The main purpose of the Czechoslovak Talks project is to collect, process and publish true stories of Czech and Slovak compatriots around the world—stories of personal ups and downs, opportunities and obstacles of people, whose life experiences should not be forgotten but preserved for future generations. The Czechoslovak Talks will publish a comic book edition at the occasion of the Centennial of the birth of Czechoslovakia. The project, called "Stories of our Czechoslovaks", will be presented in a comic book form and will include selected life stories of Czech compatriots from around the world (USA, Canada, South America and Australia). The selection of characters whose stories will be portrayed in this comic book is based on recommendations from compatriot organizations and also by compatriots themselves. We would greatly appreciate any ideas and recommendations. The publication of the comic book is partly funded by the Dotek Endowment Fund. The project can be financially supported in the form of a donation that we will use to cover costs related to the publishing of the book. Your financial support can contribute to the publishing of this beautiful comic book “Stories of our Czechoslovaks”. For more information about the project and donation possibilities, please contact directly the coordinator of The Czechoslovak Talks, Martina Kaňáková: [email protected] The Czechoslovak Talks Tel. CZ +420 732 361 325 | Tel. USA +1 (315) 636-6065 | [email protected] | www.czechoslovaktalks.com SVU News № 2/2018 20
Dear Friends,
2018 marks the most important anniversary in modern Czech history. On October 28, 1918, Czechs regained independence after 300 years. Important chapters of the remarkable story of the creation of Czechoslovakia were written one hundred years ago in Chicago and other parts of the US Midwest. The Czech and Slovak state would not have come into existence were it not for Charles Crane, Czech- Americans and other friends from the traditional center of Czech immigration to the United States since the 1850s. Their help to Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard ”eneš, the first two Czechoslovak presidents and also University of Chicago professors, was of key importance. On the occasion of the centennial of the founding of Czechoslovakia and the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Czech Republic, the highest representatives of our country will travel to Chicago to honor Americans and Czech-Americans who contributed to the birth of the modern Czech statehood and its rebirth after World War II.
I have had the great honor to represent the Czech Republic in the US Midwest for over seven years. To serve as Consul General on the occasion of the centennial is yet another special privilege. During my tenure, I was able to discover many stories of remarkable Czech-American friendship that should be told. That is why I decided to write one more issue of special historic newspaper Czechs & Chicago that is available free of charge. I would like to offer you a book in the near future. I wish to thank all Czech-Americans, for what they have done for my country and for me personally over the recent years. In many cases, your ancestors came more than 150 years ago. I have never stopped being amazed by how much the Czech heritage has remained in your hearts. We can always rely on you, as well as on many other friends here, in enhancing the Czech-US relations, in making sure that our special bond does not remain just a historic curiosity.
I am extremely grateful to our main sponsor CZ-USA, other sponsors, partners and countless supporters who offered us help in preparing truly special centennial programs. We have all agreed: Where better to celebrate than in Chicago?! I hope that you will find the program that we have prepared interesting and that some of you, even if not from Chicago, will join us for the main Czech Centennial Weekend at the end of September and / or for more events at the beginning of November.
More information about the events as well as ticket information is available at www.czechcentennialchicago.cz Regular updates about the celebrations, including video-greetings and interviews, will be posted at my official Facebook page ”orek Lizec .
Thank you very much for your kind interest in my invitation. I look forward to welcoming you at our September and November events!
Bořek Lizec Consul General of the Czech Republic in Chicago CZECH CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS CHICAGO
Friday, September 28, 6 pm Saturday, September 29, 6 pm MAIN EVENT – CZECH CENTENNIAL GALA Czech Centennial Night @ Union League Club of Chicago (65 Jackson Blvd, Chicago) @ Sokol Tabor Hall (1602 Clarence Ave, Berwyn) Donation: $175 Petr Janda, The Swings, Euroband, Divadlo Bohemia & More Donation: $19.18 Concert “Czech Rock Lions” Saturday - Sunday, September 29 - 30 Jim Peterik & Petr Janda 79th Moravian Day Czech-American & Czech Music Legends Sharing a Stage @ Lithuanian World Center (14911 E 127th, Lemont) Saturday – Welcoming Dance 7 pm Art Exhibition Sunday - Holy Mass 10 am, Main Program 2 pm “Carving Destiny” Jiří Helán & Band, Dancers & Singers of United Moravian Societies & Guests Alphonse Mucha, Albín Polášek & Vojtěch Preissig Donation: $20 (each day) Great Artists & Czech Patriots with Strong Chicago Connections Saturday, November 3, 6:30 pm Dancing to the Music of The Swings Czech Swing in the Chicago Clouds Dinner by a Top Czech Chef Jan Smigmator & Guests in Concert Special Guests, Historic Presentation & More @ Mid-America Club - 80th loor (200 E Randolph Dr, Chicago) Cocktail Reception Saturday, September 29, 10 – noon Free Admission (Reservation Required) Special Viewing – “Carving Destiny” Art Exhibition @ Union League Club of Chicago (65 Jackson Blvd, Chicago) Sunday, November 4, 3 pm Free Admission (Reservation Required) Czech Centennial Concert The Czech Philharmonic in Chicago Saturday, September 29, 2 - 4 pm @ Chicago Symphony Center (220 S Michigan Ave, Chicago) Special Guided Tour - Bohemian National Cemetery Antonín Dvořák: New World Symphony in B minor, Op.104 & Cello Concerto (5255 N Pulaski Rd, Chicago) Special Reception Free Admission (Reservation Required) Czech Philharmonic will also perform @ Great Hall – Wharton Center, East Lansing, MI (Oct. 30), Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI (Nov. 1) & Other US Venues
Main Platinum Sponsor Golden Sponsor Oicial Airline
MAGELLAN
Organizer Partners
More Information, Donations & Tickets www.czechcentennialchicago.cz
“Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Chicago” “Borek Lizec” SVU News № 2/2018 22
MEMBERS’ NEWS
April 17, 2018: Chicago Symphony Center. Standing ovations to Riccardo Muti and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Guest of Honor: Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Smolek, Representative of the Czech Republic to the Court of Justice of the EU.
SVU is a proud part er of the Prague Co ittee’s eve ts. Co ittee’s Prague the of part er proud a SVUis is a proud member of the SVU. SVU. the of member proud isa The Prague Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International International Sister Cities Chicago of Committee Prague The SVU News № 2/2018 23
MEMBERS’ NEWS
At the Annual Meeting of ASCE-Engineering Mechanics Institute at MIT, Cambridge, MA, Professor Zdeněk Bažant received on May 31, 2018, the Alfred M. Freudenthal Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was cited for developing a comprehensive theory of probabilistic mechanics of strength, lifetime, and size effect of quasi-brittle structures. This biennial medal is generally considered to be the highest recognition for contributions to structural safety and probabilistic mechanics. Zdeněk ”ažant is a McCormick Institute Professor and a W.P. Murphy Professor of civil and mechanical engineering and materials science at Northwestern University. He holds 7 honorary doctorates and is a member of NAS, NAE, AAAS and a foreign member of Royal Society London and of the national academies of Austria, Czech Republic, Greece (Athens), India, Italy (Lincei) and Spain (Royal), and of Academia Europaea. From prof. ”ažant’s acceptance speech:
President Deodatis, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an exalting, thrilling moment for me to join the ranks of the famous previous recipients of this medal. I wish to express my gratitude to the EMI, to my university, to my sponsors, to my wife Iva, and to my students. Without their help, I would not be standing here today. I have actually two reasons to cherish this medal.
1) Freudenthal’s life story is echoed in mine. Like me, he got both his engineering and doctoral degrees in Prague. Like me, he started his career by designing bridges in Prague. Like me, he fled an oppressive regime, although in his case it was a life-saving move, to Palestine. Like me, he immigrated to America on a Czechoslovak passport. And, like me, he apparently had not touched probability until he reached 40.
2) Freudenthal’s work epitomizes my favored dictum that probabilistic mechanics of strength cannot ignore mechanics of the material failure process. Indeed, about half of Freudenthal’s numerous seminal papers deal with mechanics residual stresses in fatigue, effect of material flaws on strength, strength of airframes, workhardening laws for metals, viscoplasticity, plastic shells, shrinkage stresses, consolidating media, shear dilatancy in rock, seismic waves, orthotropic sandwich plates and shells, relaxation spectra, etc. Besides, he wrote great books on solid mechanics and on viscoelasticity. At the same time, he became the father of structural safety. His works dealt with the statistics of microscopic flaws, statistics of cumulative fatigue damage, integration of joint material and load randomness (now called the Freudenthal integral), random lifetime, random failure of structures with multiple load paths, reliability of nuclear reactor components, reliability of aircraft and of offshore platforms in seismic regions, extreme-value risk assessment, safety of prestressed concrete, structural optimization, risk control, etc. Freudenthal obviously perceived the fields of: 1) structural safety, and 2) mechanics and physics of materials and structures, as inseparable. He mastered both, and tackled both at the front of research of his time. SVU News № 2/2018 24
The 29th SVU World Congress | Prague, July 10–12, 2018
PROGRAM OUTLINE
DAY … Tuesday, July 3 PM: Congress Opening, Knights Hall, Wallenstein Palace *) Registered participants, please come at 2:30 PM to reception C2 of Valdštejnská.
5 PM: Vernissage: Československo v proměnách Evropy 20. století Wallenstein Garden (with invitation card only)
7 PM – 8 PM: Puppet Theater by Vít Hořejš (see page 25) Czech & Slovak Fairy Tales With Strings American Center at Tržiště 13
DAY … Wednesday, July MUP Campus at Dubečská 9 / , Prague 10 AM – 12:45 PM: Plenary Sessions 1 PM – 4 PM: Academic Panels
5:30 PM – 7 PM: Concert by Prague Film Orchestra, Wallenstein Garden *) Please come at 5 PM to Valdštej ské á . 7/4 (with invitation card only)
7:30 PM – 10:30 PM: Dinner Cruise by Pavlína Moskalyková (see page 26) Please reserve your ticket at [email protected]
DAY … Thursday, July MUP Campus at Dubečská 9 / , Prague 10 10 AM – 11:50 AM: Plenary Session on Prague Spring 1968 CZECHOSLOVAKIA Portrait of a Tragedy
1 PM – 4 PM: Academic Panels 4 PM – 5:30 PM: Plenary Session – Youth Panel 5:30 PM – 8 PM: Reception SVU News № 2/2018 25
Vít Hořejš will perform live at American Center in Prague
The 29th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, the Prague Chapter of SVU & GOH Productions present Puppeteer and Storyteller Vít Hořejš Director of The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre in a performance of Czech & Slovak Fairy Tales With Strings Recommended for ages 4-104
Internationally known Czechoslovak puppeteer, storyteller and author Vít Hořejš and his troupe of century-old hand-carved marionettes will perform live at American Center in Prague, Trziste 13, on July 10 at 7 PM. Free admission, please reserve at [email protected] For fifty years, a troupe of antique marionettes was confined to a dusty closet at Jan Hus Church, in the heart of New York’s Czechoslovak neighborhood. Discovered by Vít Hořejš, Czech storyteller, author, and puppeteer, the 24-inch century-old traditional masterpieces by Czech puppet makers, have since brought joy to thousands of spectators young and old on tours to 34 continental states, and more. Mr. Hořejš’s performances include tours to the Smithsonian Institute, Detroit Institute of Art, the International Festival of Puppet Theatre organized by the Jim Henson Foundation in New York City, Celebrate Prague Festival at Winter Garden in New York City’s World Financial Center, Folk Arts Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts; as well as International Festivals in France, Pakistan, Turkey, Poland, Korea, and the Czech Republic. Mr. Hořejš performs a one-man show of Czech fairy tales (in English) replete with kings, clever village maidens, witches and spirits. His marionettes speak in dozen voices, dance, play violin, swim and fly. The program will be composed of favorite Czech and Slovak fairy tales such as Salt over Gold (a Princess who values her father only as much as salt, is banished, but returns to save her father when salt disappears , The Stingy Tailor a proud and stingy tailor is taught a lesson by the water spirit Vodnik and Kacha and the Devil a shepherd outwits the devil who is pursued by a dance- loving shrew). The Czech and Slovak puppetry has been declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2016. Read more at www.svu2000.org PAVLINA MOSKALYKOVÁ President of European Union Arts Foundation in partnership with the CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIETY OF ARTS & SCIENCES (SVU)
Cordially invites you to the
2018 EUROPEAN UNION ARTS AWARD CEREMONY DINNER ENTERTAINMENT
July 11, 2018 7:30 - 10:30 pm Romantic Prague Riverboat Cruise Ship Hamburg 19.30 End of Cihelna Street & Rivers Edge (next to Manes Bridge)
2018 GOLDEN Europea Award 2018 GOLDEN Europea Award for artistic and cultural achievements for promoting arts and culture
VLADIMÍR MIŠÍK “LEGEND” LIDA SANDERA Czech Rock Singer, Songwriter, President of the Los Angeles Lyricist and Guitarist Chapter of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU) Mr. Misik has been one of the most prominent personalities of Czech popular Ms. Sandera is being honored for music since the 1960s. her outstanding contributions to the promotion of the Czech culture in the He will receive the award for his outstanding United States, and for facilitating the body of work that has inluenced many transatlantic cultural cooperation. artists from a musical, visual, literary scene.
July 11, 2018, 7:30 - 10:30 pm Ticket per person 1500 CZK ($75), SVU, EUAF & EUU Members 1000 CZK ($50). Limited capacity. Reserve a ticket at [email protected] 2018 EUROPEAN UNION ARTS AWARD CEREMONY DINNER ENTERTAINMENT JULY 11, 2018 7:30 - 10:30 PM
Mission Statement European Union Arts Foundation is a platform which allows talent to exchange their knowledge and experiences around the world.
EUAF connects talent with resources, supports our younger generation to ind their artistic skills. We also help physically or socially impaired talent to be able to overcome their dificulties and we strive to raise funds for the talented, and less fortunate to enter the business world.
EUAF supports its sister company, European Union of Arts with additional funds to fulill their mission, and promotes Club of Laureates EUA.
Thanks to all supporters of the EUAF for your contribution. We are all one artistic family.
The Award European Union of Arts Awards are given to individuals, associations, institutions, communities for creative artistic and cultural activity or their signiicant support. It awards unconventional expression, originality with emphasis on general helpfulness and human awareness. It emphasizes the artistic and cultural achievements which is spiritually uplifting, emotionally fulilling, and it cultivates happier individual and unites them. It also focuses on activities evaluated in the context of the historical development of our land, especially awarding a preservation of the historic traditions of the European Christian roots. All Awards of the European Union of Arts are awarded to all nationalities, ethnicities and cultures, to all religions and political beliefs, to Europeans and citizens of all continents. SVU News № 2/2018 28
The 29th SVU World Congress | Prague, July 10–12, 2018
ACADEMIC PROGRAM IN DETAIL – DAY 2 AND DAY 3
DAY 2 – July 11
10:00 – 11:00 Plenary Session of July 11 – Part 1 Room no. 117 – 1st floor
Welcome Note: Michal Klíma, rector
Honorary Guests: US Embassy in Prague, Czech foreign service, Slovak foreign service
Our Discussants: Eliška Hašková Coolidge, Martin Palouš, Milada Polišenská
11:00 – 12:00 Plenary Session of July 11 – Part 2 Room no. 117 – 1st floor
11:00 – 11:20 Hugh Agnew: Legacy of Renascence: What Czechoslovakia inherited from národní obrození
11:20 – 11:40 Paul Burik: The Cleveland Agreement of 1915
11:40 – 12:00 Gregory Ference: The Pittsburgh Agreement 1918
12:00 – 12:45 Plenary Session of July 11 – Part 3 Room no. 117 – 1st floor
Vít Hořejš: The Role of Puppetry in the Founding of Czechoslovakia followed by film screening: Faust on a String (27 min.)
12:45 - 13:30 Lunch Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden; or nearby restaurants
13:30 – 15:20 Parallel PM Session I of July 11 – Panel 1 Room no. 117 – 1st floor
13:30 – 13:50 Martin Nekola: Česká Amerika a boj za nezávislost Československa (CS)
13:50 – 14:10 Antonie Doležalová: Jak zaplatit za nový stát: Ekonomické důsledky vzniku Československa (CS)
14:10 – 14:30 Šimon Müller: Nobelisté z oboru ekonomie (CS)
SVU News № 2/2018 29
14:30 – 14:40 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
14:40 – 15:00 Miriam Potocky & David Rafaidus: Czechs and Slovaks in the US: A Sociodemographic Snapshot
15:00 – 15:20 Helena Durnová: The networks of Václav Hlavatý (world-renowned mathematician and the first SVU president)
13:30 – 15:20 Parallel PM Session II of July 11 – Panel 2 Room no. 003 – ground floor 13:30 – 14:10 Recreating an Extraordinary Character: Marie Provaznikova, 1948, 1968 A multimedia Co-Presentation with Radio Prague’s Peter Dudek, and artist Anna VA Polesny, granddaughter
14:10 – 14:30 Evelyn Funda: Cherished Rewards: The Remarkable Correspondence between American Novelist Willa Cather and Czech President Tomáš Masaryk
14:30 – 14:40 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
14:40 – 15:00 Asako Umezu: Diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Japan after dispatch of troops to Siberia
15:00 – 15:20 Karen Moritz: Working Together as People of Faith: Working in Partnership in the Czech Republic and the United States of America 15:20 – 15:40 Hana Waisserová: On a manuscript from Czech immigrant’s trunk: Postil by Johannes Spangenberg (1557)
13:30 – 16:00 Parallel PM Session III of July 11 – Panel 3 – Prague Chapter Room no. 206 – 2nd floor 13:30 – 13:50 Alena Morávková: Aktuální význam dramatického odkazu Václava Havla (CS) 13:50 – 14:10 Radoslav Kvapil: Přínos české hudby k ustavení našeho státu v roce 1 1 (CS) 14:10 –14:30 Jiří Jindra: Americký laureát Nobelovy ceny se slovenskými kořeny (CS)
14:30 – 14:40 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
14:40 – 15:00 Jiří Rak: Odrakouštění T. G. Masaryka (CS) 15:00 – 15:20 Olga Pujmanová: První světová válka očima české vlastenecké mládeže (CS)
15:20 – 15:40 Eva Střížovská: 28 let Dialogu (CS) 15:40 – 16:00 Jaromír Šlápota: Spolupráce s krajany od roku (CS) SVU News № 2/2018 30
NOTE: CULTURAL AND SOCIAL PROGRAM OF DAY 2 – JULY 11
17:30 – 19:00 Concert by Prague Film Orchestra (included in registration) Wallenstein Garden – entrance opening at 17:00 Recommended transfer: Metro A from Strašnická to Malostranská (12-min ride net)
19:30 – 22:30 Dinner Cruise by Pavlína Moskalyková (ticket 1000 CZK) Vltava River – boarding at Mánesův most / Cihelná ul. Ticket reservations: [email protected] or [email protected]
DAY 3 – July 12
10:00 – 11:50 Plenary AM Session of July 12 Room no. 117 – 1st floor
10:00 – 11:30 The 1968 Prague Spring after Fifty Years: A Post-Cold War Perspective exclusive film screening of CZECHOSLOVAKIA - Portrait of a Tragedy (50-min documentary made in , before the invasion…) followed by a discussion
11:30 – 11:50 Louis Reith: Remembering the Prague Spring of 1968 – Summary of an international conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, April 3-7, 2018
11:50 - 13:00 Lunch Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden; or nearby restaurants
13:00 – 15:50 Parallel PM Session I of July 12
Panel 1 – Politology and Journalism Room no. 117 – 1st floor
13:00 – 13:20 Petr Just: Continuity or Discontinuity? First Czechoslovak Republic’s Political Tradition and Their Reflection in Czech Politics after 1993
13:20 – 13:40 Mary A. Stegmaier: Speaking Up to Stay in Parliament: The Electoral Importance of Speeches and Other Parliamentary Activities 13:40 – 14:00 Eduard Nižňanský: Anti-Czechoslovak and Anti-Western Propaganda in Slovakia during the WW2
14:00 – 14:20 Sandra Štollová: The Turner Movement as a Political Instrument of the Sudeten German Irredentists – The Role of Sudeten German Sport Organizations in Breaking-up Czechoslovakia
SVU News № 2/2018 31
14:20 – 14:30 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
14:30 – 14:50 David Chroust: What Are Russian Scholars Writing about the Czech Republic? A View from the Russian Electronic Library 14:50 – 15:10 Zlatica Plašienková – Katarína Horváthová – Eva Hanušovská: The Importance of the Journal Mosty in the Context of Czecho-Slovak mutuality after Partition of Czecho-Slovakia (SK)
Panel 2 – Arts Room no. 117 – 1st floor
15:10 – 15:30 Antonia VG Bartoli: Nazi Looted Libraries, Books, Manuscripts, and Incunables: an International Perspective on Provenance Research and Restitution in the 21st Century
15:30 – 15:50 Anna Jaeger: Sculptor Albín Polášek
13:00 – 16:00 Parallel PM Session II of July 12 Panel 3 – Immigration History Room no. 003 – ground floor
13:00 – 13:20 Alison Orton: The Displaced Laborer: Brewery Workers, Unions, and Migration Between the Czech Lands and Chicago, 1895-1914
13:20 – 13:40 Mila Saskova-Pierce: Forging Bonds Across Borders: Czech American Women’s Involvement in the 19th and 20th Centuries US and Czech Culture and Politics
13:40 – 14:00 Louis Reith: Willa Cather’s My Antonia (1 1 -2018) – Czech and Slovak Immigration to Nebraska in retrospect
14:00 – 14:20 Layne Pierce: 110 years of Czech Language at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln; the Bridge between Generations and Continents
14:20 – 14:30 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
14:30 – 14:50 Brian Bulin: Czech American Press and its Journalists 14:50 – 15:10 Jane Kinsey: History of a Czech Emigree Family 15:10 – 15:25 Anna Cook: Pillars for Peace: Charles J. Vopička & The Konopiště Spy 15:25 – 15:40 Edward Brent Lane: Joachim Gaunze of Prague: The First Czech in America was the Lead Scientist in a Prototypical New World Scientific Entrepreneurial Colonization Venture
15:40 – 15:55 Joseph Swoboda: The Beginnings and Continued Development of The Nebraska Chapter of SVU
SVU News № 2/2018 32
13:00 – 16:00 Parallel PM Session III of July 12
Panel 4 – Health Room no. 206 – 2nd floor
13:00 – 13:20 Marie Bobková: Some aspects of music therapy for children 13:20 – 13:40 Ludmila Faldíková: An Outstanding Personality of Czech Veterinary Medicine Prof. MVDr. Antonín Klobouk, DrSc.
13:40 – 14:00 Roman Berka: Vaccine Safety
14:00 – 14:20 Mary Swoboda: Epigenetics Related to Trauma
14:20 – 14:30 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
14:30 – 14:50 Mary Swoboda: Yoga for Osteoporosis EXTRA: 14:50 – 15:10 Asako Umezu: Applied Mathematics – Visualisations
13:00 – 16:00 Parallel PM Session IV of July 12
Memory Training Workshop Room no. 109 – 1st floor
Dana Steinová: Memory Training Workshop
14:20 – 14:30 Coffee Break Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden
Note: All parallel sessions end at 4 PM, followed by PM Plenary Session – see Page 33.
SVU News № 2/2018 33
16:00 – 17:30 Plenary PM Session of July 12 – Youth Panel Room no. 117 – 1st floor How my stay in the United States influenced my professional career back in Czechia/Slovakia Organizer: Věra Dvořáková, PhD, Rutgers University Co-organizers: Veronika Tuckerová, PhD, Harvard University Hana Waisserová, PhD, University of Nebraska List of presenters (tentative, ordered alphabetically) 1. Lucie Jarkovská, PhD – sociologist, gender studies University of Massachusetts Boston; Masaryk University Brno . Jiří Kadeřábek, PhD – composer Columbia University; Academy of Performing Arts in Prague 3. Jana Marková, Bc. – tourism, professional English guide University of Northern Colorado; University of Economics, Prague . Veronika Mišunová, MSc – economist, financier UBS Investment Bank, NYC; Ringier Axel Springer, Slovakia . Michal Mlčoušek – philanthropist, film and TV producer York University, TIME FOR WORDS, Inc. Bratislava/New York 6. Anna Pravdová, PhD – art historian and curator (to be confirmed) Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery in Prague . Andrea Průchová, MA – visual culture studies Pratt Institute & NYU Steinhardt The National Film Archive, Charles University, The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes 8. Magda Stanová, PhD – artist San Francisco Art Institute; Academy of Fine Arts in Prague . Lenka Šlachtová, PhD – molecular geneticist and biochemist University of Maryland Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences . Milan Vodička, MSc – sports management, former sportsman Weber International University in Florida; USA Sport & Study, Prague . Františka Zezuláková Schormová, MA – translation, African-American poetry, Cold war, transnationalism Harvard University, Charles University
NOTE: SOCIAL PROGRAM OF DAY 3 – JULY 12
17:30 – 20:00 RECEPTION Room no. 205 – 2nd floor, room no. 021 – ground floor + garden SVU News № 2/2018 34
IN MEMORIAM
Ambassador Rudolf V. Perina
b. January 3, 1945, in Tabor, southern Bohemia d. June 13, 2018, in Washington D.C.
A loyal member of SVU, and one of the organizers of the upcoming 29th SVU World Congress in Prague, left us suddenly, but peacefully in sleep.
Dr. Perina was a member of the Senior Foreign Service. He joined the Department of State in 1974 as a specialist in Russian, East European, German and NATO affairs. He served at the U.S. diplomatic missions in Ottawa (1975-76), Moscow (1979-81), Berlin (1981-85) and to NATO in Brussels (1985-87). In the 1990s, Dr. Perina was Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs (1996-97), Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade (1993-96) and Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova (1998-2001). Rudolf Perina served later also as Chargé d’Affaires at American Embassies in Reykjavik (2010), Yerevan (2007) and Chisinau (2006). His other experience in the region included an appointment as the U.S. Special Negotiator for Nagorno-Karabakh and Eurasian Conflicts from 2001 to 2004.
Dear Rudy, Thank you very much for being part of the SVU Congress organizing team. Our conversations over the past six months gave me strength to go on in the right direction. I know how much you were looking forward to our gathering and to discussing further prospects. Me too, and I can speak for my colleagues – we shared this enthusiasm and appreciated your active part. You and I spoke about the program details last Monday, and only a few days later we heard from your wife Ethel that God has called you, suddenly and unexpectedly, for service in blessed eternity. I learned how moving this can be when it is sudden like this. You will be with us, we will pass your message, we will be screening your film as you wanted, and we will pay honor to your life. Your life, which I find inspiring, your experience and your firm opinions will remain of value for me personally, for our intellectual community, and for the next generations. Your daughter Katherine gave me the transcript of your interview for the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, a document of the Library of Congress, so I can share some of your words here in this newsletter – pertaining to your early life, while your professional perspectives shall be shared with relevant audiences. Georges SVU News № 2/2018 35
The words of Rudolf Perina: I see myself as a product of 20th-century Central European history. My father owned a lumber mill in southern Bohemia started by his grandfather in the 19th century. It was a fairly large enterprise that exported lumber all the way to Germany and throughout Central Europe in the inter-war period. He was thus considered a capitalist by Communists, which came into play after World War II. On my mother's side, her father was a civil servant in Bohemia. He was also trained as a lawyer and served as a type of deputy mayor in the town of Tabor. He was during World War II one of the many Czechs executed following the assassination in 1942 of Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the German occupation of Bohemia and the most senior Nazi successfully assassinated during the war. The well-known destruction of the town of Lidice was one part of the retaliation for Heydrich’s death but in fact thousands of people throughout the country were executed as well. The Germans targeted public figures and those suspected of being Czech nationalists. My grandfather, as a representative of the town government, and his brother who had been a military officer in the Czech army, were arrested within days of Heydrich’s death. They were executed by firing squad on June 10, 1942. About 180 other people from Tabor were also executed over the course of the next few weeks. My mother was 17 years old at the time and learned of her father’s and uncle’s execution through the newspapers. It was a defining experience for the rest of her life. During the war my father was allowed to continue operating his business because the Germans wanted it to continue as a source of lumber and wood. He was able to continue operating, though under all the rules of the Protectorate. My mother's family was in a much more difficult situation because when the father was executed the family was also condemned to confiscation of property. She had horrible stories of how a carload of soldiers came with a truck to the house a few days after my grandfather had been executed. They went through the house and took anything of value: pictures, jewelry, the radio, pieces of furniture etc. They left the family with minimal necessities to survive. This was a family of two daughters and two sons, a mother and four children. They were allowed to stay in the house, but they lost title to it, and they were moved to the upstairs of the house, with a German family moving into the first floor. It was a very difficult period for my mother through the end of the war. She also had to leave school and was put to work in a factory. Then she met my father, and they were married in 1944. I heard many stories about encounters with the Russian army from my parents. Apparently, at one time I was almost kidnapped by a Russian soldier who was drunk and thought I was really cute and wanted to take me with him. In the last months of the war, there was an incident very close to our house, actually just across the road, where there was a railroad track. There was an air raid and my parents saw what people said were American planes coming in and bombing the railroad tracks. With the Russian army, however, the main problem was a total lack of logistical support in the military structure. Russian soldiers had to find their own food and support themselves from the territory through which they passed. Thus, stealing and ravaging the countryside were sort of unavoidable. But the real problem came with the domestic political situation after the War. Russia and the Czech Communist Party were the strongest political influences in the country. In February 1948, Communist Party leader Klement Gottwald came to power and began a policy of radical socialization: confiscating factories, businesses, persecuting so-called capitalists and so on. At that time, my parents and many others didn't believe that the Communist government would last very long. Everybody thought it would collapse, given the chaos developing in the economy. Very quickly, however, the government started turning against the so-called capitalists, which included my father’s family. It was wealthy in the context of this little town, but not really in a broader context. The persecution became so threatening that my father felt he had to escape from the country. At the time, he still believed that it was a temporary move and that the Communists wouldn’t last long. He escaped from Czechoslovakia by illegally crossing the border into Austria. He expected to be back in a year or two when the Communists collapsed but it soon became evident that the Communist government might last longer than anyone thought. SVU News № 2/2018 36
As things kept getting worse, my mother decided to take me and to join my father, even though by then it was much more difficult to escape. When my father left not long after the Communist takeover, the borders were still not very tightly controlled. By the time my mother and I were trying to leave, it was a challenge to get across the border. There were lots of patrols and so on. Had my mother been captured during such an attempted escape, she would have gone to prison and I would have been put into a foster home. My mother’s sister, my aunt, was married to a Yugoslav, a Croat, and through him my mother found and hired professional Yugoslav smugglers to take us across the border. Yugoslav citizens were already then in a unique position— able to travel more freely than Communist bloc citizens but not considered enemies by the governments. The Yugoslavs my mother found were Croats who made a business of going back and forth across the border smuggling various commodities on which one could make a profit in post-war Europe. She paid them to take her and me across during one of their crossings. There were three or four of these fellows and I was tied to the back of one of them, and he carried me across the border overnight. I was apparently given something to drink to keep me drowsy and quiet. Still, I do believe I remember some of that night because it was so tense and unusual. It was the night of January 28, 1950. Obviously, we made it across the border into Austria. My father by that time was living in Zurich, Switzerland which he had reached through some pre-war business contacts, and after a few months in Vienna my mother and I managed to join him. The person who carried me across the border returned to Czechoslovakia and was captured and arrested on a subsequent crossing. In Vienna, he and my mother took a photograph which I still have showing how I was taken across the border on his back. My mother also began a diary where she recounted the escape in some detail. I hope to translate it for my daughters at some point. We ended up in 1950 as refugees in Zürich, Switzerland, and we lived for about a year trying to find an onward destination. The Swiss at the time were hospitable to temporary refugees but wanted us to move on as quickly as possible. My parents applied for emigration to the United States, Canada and Australia, since the Swiss did want us to move on. My father had a congenital heart condition, for which he was later operated in the U.S., and he did not pass the physical for Canada which had a rule at the time that all refuge immigrants had to spend two years working as laborers on farms. Australia was not favored by my mother, who felt that the distance would make a return to Europe more difficult, and the U.S. visa was not forthcoming. My parents still believed the Communist government in Czechoslovakia would not last long and they would be able to go home in a year or two. This led to the strange episode of our short immigration to Morocco. The French wanted Europeans to move to Morocco because there was growing resistance to colonial rule, and many French were leaving. They wanted more Europeans to populate the country and made immigration there very easy, and even subsidized it. We took this up and traveled to Morocco in August 1950. We went via boat from Marseille to Tangier, and then on to Casablanca. Almost immediately, however, my mother got culture shock and became very depressed. At the beginning of October, we returned to Switzerland before our Swiss visas expired. The Swiss were not completely surprised to see us come back. But this was an interlude that I remember because Casablanca, where we lived, was so different from Europe. I remember markets with parrots and monkeys and things like that—very exotic things for a young boy. When we returned to Zurich, my parents submitted visa applications for other places, including New Zealand and Venezuela, but still hoped for a U.S. visa. This finally came through in January 1951. We went from Le Havre in France to New York City by ship on the USS Washington. I do remember watching from the deck as we arrived in New York harbor, and my mother pointing out the Statue of Liberty to me. In retrospect it’s almost like a movie scene but it did happen, and I remember it. Recorded by Charles Stuart Kennedy December 2006 SVU News № 2/2018 37
IN MEMORIAM
Ladislav Haňka SVU founding member
b. July , in Mnětice, Czechoslovakia www.svu2000.org
d. March 26, 2018, Kalamazoo, Michigan Readmore in REMEMBERING Dr. Haňka grew up on state-owned horse breeding station in Nemošice not far away from the place of his birth. He attended secondary school in Pardubice, graduated, and started studying agriculture in Prague. His higher education was interrupted, however, as universities were closed during the German occupation; during that time, he worked in large agricultural establishments and taught in a boarding school for future farmers. After the war he studied agricultural engineering in Prague and in Denmark and was active in student organizations. After graduation he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and put to good use his knowledge of the new technique of artificial breeding in cattle that he studied in Denmark. In 1948 he married Eva Neugebauer and they settled in Prague but not for long. In September 1950 they escaped to Germany crossing the forbidden zone in Šumava Mountains. They did not stay long in the refugee camp though, as they moved to Frankuft/M where they worked for International Refugee Organization (IRO) for almost a year, until they obtained an immigration visa to USA. They crossed the stormy Atlantic by boat, landed in New York on November 24, 1951 and settled in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ladislav worked then at a large cattle-breeding farm thus again putting to work what he learned in Denmark. After about a year and a half, seeing the need for an advanced degree he accepted a position on a similar farm at Iowa State College in Ames and began to study again. It was at this time that he was contacted and informed about efforts to form an organization that in time became SVU. He was enthusiastic about the project, cooperated fully and thus became a member right at the beginning. The Haňkas lived in Ames until 5 but Ladislav did not quite stay with agriculture and became more interested in science. In 1958 he received PhD in microbiology and accepted a position with Upjohn pharmaceutical company in Kalamazoo, MI. There he worked first on antibiotics and a few years later he joined the company’s cancer research department. During his career at Upjohn he pursued some successful research projects and was also quite active in organizing cancer research on international level. He took part in a number of meetings and symposia as a speaker and organizer. In 1986 he retired, and it was only after his retirement that he received recognition for a drug he worked on and had a patent for - Vidaza used now to treat myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of leukemia. It was marketed by Pharmion, now Celgene Co. The Haňkas, both members of SVU attended a number of conventions of SVU, spoke and did their part. They also quite often drove to Chicago to join the Czech community’s events there and after the Velvet Revolution made many trips to their native republic. Michigan was a good place for Ladislav to settle though because he was an avid fisherman and hunter and found a lot of opportunity for both in this new home. Ladislav is survived by his wife Eva, son Ladislav and daughter Jana, their spouses and two grandsons. SVU News № 2/2018 38
FROM OUR LOCAL CHAPTERS
SVU Edmonton/Alberta www.svu-edmonton.org
Our ambitious programming for the all-important year 2018, with all events presented under the unifying banner
has been highly successful so far, with five musical events either fully organized by the SVU or that involved the SVU in active participation with other presenters. Some of these events were mentioned in our previous report, which appeared in Zprávy SVU / SVU News 2018, no. 1, including a concert of two piano quintets by “ntonín Dvořák. This virtually sold-out concert continues to bring us accolades and keeps us on track.
Two more events are worth mentioning here. On illustrated and vivid descriptions of Martin’s May 1, in our regular lecture series, SVU Once climbs in the Himalayas, where he summited a Month, we listened to a fascinating presentation by seven of the world’s fourteen highest
one of our youngest members, a 17-year-old student, mountains and was the first Czech to reach the “nna Minaříková, who lives in Edmonton. She is the top of Kangchenjunga, 3rd highest mountain in daughter of one of the most-accomplished Czech the world. On some of these climbs, he mountaineers, Martin Minařík 19 -2009, see Fig. 1). partnered with the legendary Roman Jaroš, the only Czech—and one of only 15 persons in the world so far—who summited all of the world’s fourteen highest mountains, those over 8000 meters, and without an oxygen supply. Martin passed away doing what he loved most when he was climbing Annapurna in 2009. The lecture fitted perfectly into our overall programming, highlighting proudly Czech and Slovak accomplishments in the various walks of life, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia. Also the next event, in which SVU partnered with one of the several Polish cultural societies in Alberta, brought a distinct feeling of pride, this time to Czech music lovers. The main goal of the CD Release Concert was to launch a The talk, titled “ Climber’s Life: The Life and World Premiere CD recording of the complete Climbing Expeditions of Martin Minarik, gave piano sonatas of Luboš Fišer 193 -1999) by our a detailed account of her father’s life and climbing SVU Alberta member, the Canadian pianist of expeditions. The presentation culminated in richly Czech origin Zuzana Simurdova (see Fig 2). SVU News № 2/2018 39
”aťa University in Zlín, Czech Republic. The exhibition will be hosted at the University of Alberta, where the opening reception is scheduled for June 14, 2018, from 7 to 10pm. The exhibition will run until July 12, 2018. It will be followed by a photography exhibition, which will open to coincide with the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup hockey tournament, to be held in Edmonton August 2-6, 2018. This exhibition will feature photographs illustrating the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968 and the events of the Velvet Revolution in 1989. It will feature Edmonton resident Jan Novotný and internationally-acclaimed Czech photographer Tomki Němec, former personal photographer of Václav Havel, who will be invited to visit from Her chief musical education was at the Janáček Prague to open the exhibition. Both exhibitions Conservatory in Ostrava and the Janáček Academy of are in the final stages of feverish organizational Music and Performing Arts in Brno. Simurdova has activities. Our next contributions to Zprávy SVU won several prestigious prizes in international will bring details about these events, as well as competitions, including one for her Carnegie Hall information about our other offerings, ongoing debut, the Chopin Award at the IBLA International and in preparation. These include a concert of Competition. She makes our quest for this year’s yet another of our local SVU members, the programming excellence so much easier! Simurdova humorous pianist Jan Janovsky, who just returned from a highly-acclaimed concert series perfected his unique interpretive style in his in Russia, where, on the invitation of the Czech eight years of entertaining cruise-ship crowds; embassy, she again contributed (at least indirectly) to a Czech National Day recital concert of our commemorative musical activities. Her Luboš celebrated Czech violinist Ivan Ženatý on Fišer CD is a major accomplishment, helping to bring October 28, 2018; and possibly, as the the name of this prolific Czech composer to culmination of our Year of Czech and Slovak international attention. As Zuzana said at the CD Music, a concert still in negotiation of the launch program, ... in the Czech Republic, you are University of Alberta student orchestra playing consciously or unconsciously surrounded by the Janáček’s Symfonietta, as a fanfare for the events music of Luboš Fišer . Her CD is the first recording 100 years ago and as the finale of our musical of all the seven surviving sonatas by Fišer. (His sonata celebrations. no. 2 is irretrievably lost.) Anyone planning to visit Alberta at the times of In the summer months, our activities will focus on two these events (or any other time, for that matter!) visual arts exhibitions. The first, its title fitting the would be most cordially welcome to enjoy with historically commemorative character of our events us our celebratory programming. Spoločne/Společně/Together , is an exhibition of modern paintings by five artists from the Academy of Respectfully submitted by Arts in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, and four from the Paul Jelen, Past President and Faculty of Multimedia Communications at Tomáš Petr Musílek, President, SVU Alberta
SVU News № 2/2018 40
FROM OUR LOCAL CHAPTERS
April 7: The Journey of Three Czech Doctors to American Hospitals
Michal Vytopil, Diana Apetauerová, Andrew Popelka Jr.
Diana Apetauerová, MD. Associate Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine; Visiting Associate Clinical Professor, Charles University, Czech Republic; Director, Movement Disorders Program, Neurology Department Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. Michal Vytopil, MD, PhD. Assistant Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine; Program Director, Neurophysiology fellowship, Director, Electromyography Laboratory; Staff Neurologist, Department of Neurology, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. Andrew Popelka Jr., MD MBA CPE. Director of Population Health Management, Hospital Medicine Vice Chairperson of Hospital Medicine, Burlington/Peabody Clinical Assistant Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine Lahey Hospital & Medical Center.
To learn more and to check photos from this event, visit our website at svu2000.org/boston SVU News № 2/2018 41
May 5: Literature Knows No Borders: US Poetry in Early Cold War Czechoslovakia & Samizdat Networks in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Beyond Františka Zezuláková Schormová She studied English and German at Charles University where she is also currently a Ph.D. student of Anglophone literatures and cultures. She came to US as a Fulbright-Masaryk scholarship holder to work on her thesis entitled “frican- American Poets Abroad: Black and Red Allegiances in Early Cold War Czechoslovakia at Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University. Her previous research stays include Edinburgh, Berlin, and Oxford.
Anna Horáková was awarded a PhD in German Studies from Cornell University in 2016. She is currently a Harvard College Fellow in the department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. In 2014-15, she was a research fellow at the Humboldt University Berlin. She is currently working on a monograph on the intersection of aesthetics and politics in self-published East German underground literature (samizdat).
Our chapter is dedicated to advancing the understanding of Czech, Slovak and Rusyn cultures by people of all backgrounds. See what we do at svu2000.org/cleveland
Hrůša at Severance – in April, Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša lead the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. Maestro Hrůša has performed in Cleveland several times and has always found time to meet with SVU membership. This time we shared a dinner at Pier W restaurant in Lakewood with great views of the downtown. Although the overcast weather spoiled the great views of the city, about twelve SVU members enjoyed a chat with the maestro. Eastern European Congress of Ohio dinner – Also in April, thanks to our member Laurel Tombazzi’s efforts, “pril has been designated as Eastern European Month by the Ohio legislature. It is EEC’s mission to promote the histories and cultures of the eastern European nations, many of whom were formed years ago just like Czechoslovakia. SVU Cleveland Chapter’s Paul ”urik addressed this historic development as a guest speaker at the EEC’s annual dinner with 120 attendees from variety of nationalities. SVU Cleveland annual dinner meeting was held on April 25th: this year the Chapter was due for an election of officers. Georgia Maresh kindly agreed to be the nominating committee and Dr. Bohonek served as the election committee. SVU News № 2/2018 42
Elena Sokol recites from a book she translated as Ted Krejsa listens.
A presentation by Elena Sokol on the challenges of translating Czech literature concluded the evening with readings from Daniela Hodrova’s trilogy Prague: City of Torment (Trýznivé město).
Film discussion – In May, in collaboration with the Cinematheque, which was presenting films of Czech animator Jiří Trnka, our Chapter organized a post screening discussion of the film Czech Legends. Paul Burik and Dr. Bohonek provided background information to about twenty attendees. The program lasted nearly an hour.
Coming up later this summer is a picnic at Blossom Music Center with the Cleveland Orchestra performing an all-Czech concert: Smetana, Janáček, Dvořák. As a commemoration of the centennial of Czechoslovakia and 50 years since the Prague Spring a rededication of granite plaques in the Czech Cultural Garden is planned in August. In September, also in the Czech Cultural Garden, the installation of the Probulov Hall key stone is planned to commemorate Dr. Boho ek a d Paul Burik dis uss Cze h Lege ds 100 years of Czechoslovakia. The Probulov Hall was a center of Czech activity in Cleveland in the early 1900s and a recruitment point for Czech and Slovak legionnaires. SVU Cleveland is also participating in major celebration event to be held on October 28 spearheaded by the Chapter’s Dr. Sebesta and Helen Roth.
For SVU Cleveland Chapter by Paul Burik SVU News № 2/2018 43
See what we do at svu2000.org/los-angeles
CZECH THAT FILM Festival Los Angeles, April 14-19, 2018
The grand opening of the 7th CZECH THAT FILM festival in Los Angeles took take place on April 14, 2018, at the Real-D Theater in Beverly Hills. (a view from Wilshire Blvd)
Oscar-winning director Jan Svěrák came to present two of his films: BAREFOOT (2017) and ACCUMULATOR (1994). The festival opened at 4 PM with BAREFOOT, a lyrical feature film about childhood and heroism of ourselves, a heart-warming story set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation. Director Jan Svěrák received the 2018 Czech Lion Film Fan Award for this film. The film further received 13 Czech Lion nominations and won 3 (best cinematography, sound, and supporting actor). A red carpet event with a reception under the auspices of Ambassador Pavol Šepeľák, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles, followed at 6 PM. Following the official opening, the evening continued at 8 PM with the world premiere of the newly restored sci-fi parody ACCUMULATOR. This wild comedy remains one of the most popular films in Czech cinematography and obtained cult classic status. The audience that filled the theater to the last seat was grateful to lead actress Edita Brychta and director Jan Svěrák for their personal retrospectives.
Jan Svěrák is one of the most highly acclaimed Czech film directors today. He became internationally lauded for his film KOLYA, which received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996. He previously received an Oscar nomination for his film ELEMENT“RY SCHOOL (Obecná škola, 1991). He won the Czech Lion “ward for ”est Direction three times, the Czech Republic’s highest honor for a director. He often works with his father, renowned screenwriter Zdeněk Svěrák, who also played a number of roles in his films. SVU News № 2/2018 44
Czech Oscar entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards ICE MOTHER was screened on “pril at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center. Bohdan Slama's latest film is a warm and sensitive comedy-drama about late-life love and second chances. ICE MOTHER garnered the Best Screenplay Award at the recent Tribeca Film Festival and received 6 Czech Lion awards, the country's top honors in such categories as best film, director, and screenplay. The program concluded April 19 in the Real-D Theater with THE LINE, the Slovakian Golden Globe and Oscar entry for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 90th Academy Awards. Under the direction of Peter Bebjak, this entertaining, fast-paced criminal story with elements of thriller tells a story of a father and the head of a criminal group that smuggles cigarettes from Ukraine to Slovakia. The Closing Night Ceremony and reception was entirely sponsored by Rusnak Auto Group, whose owner is of Czechoslovak origin. Czech That Film 2018 was made possible thanks to the invaluable contributions of all partners involved, especially ELMA. Without their support, the festival would not have been possible. The sponsors included Rusnak Auto Group, ELMA, Milk and Honey Pictures, Prague Studios, Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, Czech Centers, Jelinek, Avast Foundation, Pilsner Urquell, Solo Film Company, MEDIAPLAN. Special thanks go to Juraj Vojnik and Fabio Banegas.
CZECH THAT FILM (CTF) is probably the largest Czech cultural event in the United States, growing year by year. The 7th edition is reaching 18 major cities in the US and Canada, touring for four months across the North American continent.
Pavlína Ciorobea Pascal Ladreyt Ja “věrák Aneta Campbell Pavol Šepeľák SVU News № 2/2018 45
Pavlína Moskalyková Ja “věrák Edita Bry hta
Calendar of the CTF Festival Touring: Karla Chadi ová Ja “věrák Lída Sandera Los Angeles, CA … “pril –19 San Francisco, CA … “pril –22 Salt Lake City, UT … “pril –19 Austin, TX … “pril –24 Washington D.C. … “pril –12 Denver, CO … “pril 19–22 Dallas, TX … “pril –15 Little Rock, AK … “pril –28 Atlanta, G“ … May –6 Memphis, TN … May www.czechthatfilm.com Pittsburgh, P“ … May / / Portland, OR … May –13 Phoenix, “Z … “pril – May 19 Chicago, IL … July – July 20, July 22 – August 1 Minneapolis, MS … tba Toronto … May 18–21 Seattle, W“ … July – 8 Ottawa … May – June 3
SVU News № 2/2018 46
See what we do at svu2000.org/newyork
Our spring turned out to be quite busy.
On March 21, we had the pleasure of welcoming nine exceptional Czechs and Slovaks who presented their work at the 8th installment of our staple 6-Minute Challenge. More details and photos can be found on our Website and on Facebook. We are very happy that SVU member Věra Dvořaková will bring the format to the Youth Panel of the SVU World Congress in Prague this July.
Painting by Pavel Kraus
Back row, from left: JUDr. Nora Kurzová (stand-up comedy), Karel Heř á ek Jr. (performing arts), Aneta Chaloupková Kamimura (SignageOS app), Dr. Christopher Harwood (SVU-NY Chapter president), Matěj Vakula (PhD candidate, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., electronic arts), Veronika Cibulková (Columbia University/Sciences-Po Paris, sociology, Roma communities), Duša Prištic (architecture), Dr. Renáta Kamenárová (Slovak language textbook project), while Pavel Kraus (visual arts) is missing from the picture. Front row, from left: Dr. Viktor Kryštůfek (acupuncture and TCM), Suzanna Halsey, Helena Fisera (both SVU-NY Chapter).
On March 26, two special guests from Moravia visited us, thanks to Šárka Vamberová, cultural attaché at the Czech Embassy in Washington. Two malérečky from the ”řeclav region Marie Švigrová and Dagmar ”enešová, demonstrated the Art of Traditional Easter Egg painting and explained the designs on their clothing. Dagmar, a founder of the Výtvarná folklorní akademie, presented her project for preserving the decorative folk art of the Podluží region in Moravia. SVU News № 2/2018 47
Meanwhile, Vít Hořejš braided and used a serious-looking pomlázka.
On April 3, our audience enjoyed a most interesting and thought- provoking talk, Deception, Myth and Reality in Czech History (1918 -1 4 ): “ Perspective from the “rchives, by Professor Igor Lukeš, Boston University. The event was presented as part of the centennial celebration of the Czechoslovak independence.
On April 20, we hosted the 2018 Czech and Slovak Studies Workshop’s keynote address, "My Little Czech Fakebook," delivered by Prof. Michael Beckerman, New York University. Fifteen scholars from the United States and abroad gathered to explore Czech- and Slovak-themed topics at Columbia University. SVU News № 2/2018 48
Czech and Slovak Studies Workshop of April 20, 2018 Prof. Michael Beckerman
On May 30, Vít Hořejš, SVU-NY Chapter officer, director of the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theater (CAMT), gave a talk and demonstration, The Tradition of Czech Puppetry: More Than Entertainment, on subversive puppet activities over three centuries. “ screening of the award-winning film Faust on a String followed. The film traces the history of centuries-old Czech marionettes that were found in the Jan Hus Church on the Upper East Side in Manhattan and now are part of the CAMT family.
SVU News № 2/2018 49
Our chapter is dedicated to promoting Czech and Slovak culture in the Greater Washington DC metro area. See what we do at svu2000.org/washington-dc
April 15: Washington DC Chapter 2018 Annual Meeting & Champagne Reception
Newly elected board of the SVU Washington DC Chapter Chapter DC SVUWashington the of board elected Newly
I the e ter: Re eptio guest Deputy Ja “kopeček, e er of Parlia e t of the Cze h Repu li
SVU News № 2/2018 50
KOSMAS NEW SERIES
Watch out for the next edition (FALL 2018): Marty Mullins Prague Spring on the Periphery: Eastern Slovak Steelworkers React to Reform and Invasion in 1968
Utilizing recently-declassified documents, period newspapers and eye-witness interviews, this article exposes the untold story of how Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring reform era commemorating its th anniversary in and ensuing Soviet invasion occurred distinctly in Slovakia’s second city of Košice and its surrounding region. Košice was the fastest-growing urban center in Czechoslovakia from 1961- 1967, its population tripling from 1950 to 1961 primarily due to the migration of individuals employed at the steel mill, which was teeming with over 17,000 workers by 1968. By examining labor reactions at the Eastern Slovak Steelworks both before and after the invasion, this piece illuminates the impact that blue- collar citizens on the country’s periphery made during this seminal moment in Cold War history.
Meetings have been taking place at factories to oppose factory directors. … “t the Košice metallurgical combine [Eastern Slovak Steelworks], … the director, Cde. Knižka, was accused of receiving an excessively high salary, of owning a new car, of having a private room in the recreational facility, and of other such things. Newspapers all over the country covered this in full, and as a result, Cde. Knižka reached the point where he suddenly had a heart attack in ”ratislava. –Report from Yurii Il’nytsk’kyi, First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party’s Transcarpathian Oblast Committee, to Petro Shelest, First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party, April 30, 1968.
The largest factory VSŽ [Eastern Slovak Steelworks] is preparing a general strike if Dubček does not appear today on the radio or on television. Other factories are joining their appeal which is threatening paralysis of the entire business life. –Košice Municipal Police Report, “ugust , .
The eastern Slovak experience of the 1968 Prague Spring and subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion and its response contribute to a holistic understanding of this turning point in Czechoslovak history. The region’s distinct participation in Czechoslovakia’s reform era reached its ultimate culmination when more casualties were recorded in Košice than in any other Slovak city during the “ugust , , incursion. Ironically, the Soviets and Brezhnev himself had personally freed the city in 1945 only to return twenty- three years later as oppressors. Thanks to the expansion of Eastern Slovak Steelworks or VSŽ today U.S. Steel , Košice had become the fastest-growing city in Czechoslovakia in the years 1961- . Many of the city’s , inhabitants were employed at the steel mill by 1968. Some were conspicuously bold in their support of Dubček before and after the tanks rolled into Liberators’ Square. Mass gatherings of workers demanding change within the factory and in town forced VSŽ Director Michal Hanka to blame the democratization process as the culprit causing a dip in production rates in the months prior to August 1968. Yet even after the intimidating soldiers were present, Košice steel workers threatened strikes, publicly observed the anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising, willingly gave their names to reporters as they pledged support to Dubček in newspaper interviews and voluntarily worked Saturday shifts to ensure no SVU News № 2/2018 51
loss of production from to their protests against the invasion. While other newspaper presses were occupied with Soviet troops, Ocel’ východu (Steel of the east) went to press twice daily in the early days after the invasion, with a readership that extended far beyond eastern Slovakia. Such significant steel worker participation both during and after the 1968 Soviet invasion reflects a high degree of civil society among Košice’s working class. Perhaps it is appropriate that in , the fiftieth anniversary of these seminal Cold War events and the centennial of the inception of Czechoslovakia, the account of those on the eastern periphery is brought to light.
Notes: Krajské oddelenie Štátneho Štatistického Úradu, Štatistika o hlavnom meste Slovenska ”ratislave Štatistická ročenka 1968 (Bratislava: EPOCHA, 1968), 46- . Štefan Šutaj, Ethnic Development in Košice after , Studia Historyczne 4 (2013), 471. Jaromír Neuhort, Ohováraním sa družba nepestuje, Ocel’ východu, Sept. 13, 1968. Quoted in Mark Kramer, Ukraine and the Soviet-Czechoslovak Crisis of Part , in Cold War International History Project, eds. Christian Friedrich Ostermann and Kathryn Weathersby (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Winter 2003-2004), 284. “ugust , Situačná správa Mestskej správy V” Košice odoslaná . . , Ústav pamäti národa ÚPN , Bratislava, Slovakia
KOSMAS NEW SERIES: SPRING 2018
KOSMAS New Series, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 2018) was released in electronic version on March 24, 2018. Hard copy is being distributed in batches since May 2018 as per the orders.
Hard copy can be ordered in the SVU BOOKSTORE at www.svu2000.org/payments/bookstore
Prices of NS Vol. 1, No. 1: SVU Members: $20. Others: $25. Inquiries at [email protected] Check out the contents of NS Vol. 1, No. 1 at https://kosmas.svu2000.org
Electronic version of the regular editions
is a free bonus available for download
in the Downloads / e-books section of the KOSMAS website at https://kosmas.svu2000.org
Premium e-books can be purchased in the SVU BOOKSTORE for a small price. SVU News № 2/2018 52
Your news and thoughts are welcome at: [email protected]
The next issue is scheduled for September 2018. Deadline for submissions is September 10, 2018.
Members who wish to stop receiving the paper version of the newsletter, please indicate your choice by e-mail to: [email protected]
Please send your email or postal address changes to: [email protected]
Zprávy SVU / SVU News (ISSN 0036-2050) Date of issue: June 2018. Volume 60, No. 2 Periodical Postage Paid at Kalamazoo, MI. Printing and Distribution: PJ Printing LLC, Allegan, MI So iety’s glo al we site: svu2000.org
Published quarterly by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences Inc., Washington DC. Produced at no charge by Georges Eichler. Proofread at no charge by David Chroust.
All contributors and collaborators are unpaid volunteers.
ZPRÁVY SVU / SVU NEWS | ISSN 0036-2050 | PERIODICAL Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) 4410 Massachusetts Ave., NW #174 Washington, DC 20016 USA