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| A Teacher from Bela pod Bezdezem Dear readers, It was a pure coincidence which led my hand, when I found in an antique bookstore a letter which someone forgot in a volume of the Czechoslovak Theatre magazine. It was a strange feeling to read the lines of a letter by a teacher from Ceska Lipa to his friend Holas. Below, you yourselves can now read the sentences, which will bring you to the uncertain time halfway between the accords of Munich and the Second World War. You can also find here his notes made during the radio speech by the Czechoslovak Minister Vavrecka of 21st September, 1938 - they record the strongest points of this fateful text. |
| For the time being I teach at Bela instead of my colleague, who enlisted for the army. I believe that you do not study much any more, you must be interested more in the international situation. Did you meet or talk to any of our common friends? Hopefully, when you visit Bela, we will meet in better times. Yours, Honza |
| The speech notes News quite late! 21. IX. 38 A speech by Minister Vavrecka at 20 o'clock to the nation. After a short break: A great crisis - after 20 years - nation in danger - only and exclusively by ourselves against the enemy. Friends unfortunately advised to buy off peace, could not help. territorial appeasement |
| Dear Holas, My hearty greetings to you, my apologies for not writing for so long. I often remember my friends, especially in times so difficult for our country, but it has been difficult to find enough time to grasp a pen. You will surely be interested how this difficult historic period appears to us in the border regions. It can be said in one sentence: the Germans were changing like chameleons. As you are certainly well aware of periods when they were militant and when they kept low and humble. They were especially surprised by the mobilisation. Many Germans from our region did not enlist, they hid in the woods. Because of the military sentry on the bridge at Karba (Peklo near Zahradky) was so numerically weak, we had to help out. Just imagine, schools had to be closed, all teachers in the plain rank of private guarded the bridges. Many of us had to learn everything from the very beginning. I had the first sentry from 7 to 11 p.m. and it was there that I could shoot for the first time at a hind running away. In short, I lived thoroughly like a soldier and, I must say, a merry one. The only thing I did not like was the fact I could not get home to Bela. After the Munich Pact we could see that us border soldiers are finally betrayed. The crying and weeping, that was something terrible. And I must say that the state institutions in the time of evacuation totally failed. Imagine just that. Our inspector ran away first and did not let anyone know. We waited for the order to move. Unfortunately, it was a waste of time, so we tried our best ourselves to save what we could from the state property. We managed to get everything from the school except 200 kg of coal, which we had to leave behind. It just would not do. As soon as I arrived to Bela, I heard terrible rumours that Bela should be ceded to the Reich. The rumour was that Messrs. Menzel and Waldstein should take care of that. And so the citizens of Bela live on scales, you know that exclusively Czech towns were ceded as well (Policka). |
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| Notes from the speech |