Chapter12

CzechandGermany
(July2001;Prague)
Johan,Tenma,Nina...thesethreecentralcharacters
toourstorywentfromMunichtoPragueintheCzech
Republic,insearchoflostmemories.Thosereadersof
thisbookwhohavebeentoPragueperhapsunderstandwhy
Johanand
Ninabothcalledthiscitya"fairytaleland."Faced
withthesightofOldTownSquarelitupatnight,Ihad
the
illusionthatIwassomehowtransportedtoDisneyland.
ItiseasytoseewhyEuropeansrefertoitasthemost
beautiful
placeinEurope.
IsecuredaccomodationsattheBettelheimHotelnear
CharlesBridge,andsetforthtosearchthecity'sused
bookstoresforthecursedstorybookstheworksofEmil
Scherbe,KlausPoppe,JakubFarobek,andFranzBonaparta.
After
noluckatthestoresaroundmyhotelandontheother
sideofCharlesBridge,Imadeacalltoapublisher
specializing
instorybooks,andwasabletofinallyprocurecopiesof
TheNamelessMonster,TheGodofPeace,andothersfor
myself.
Tobecompletelyhonest,Ididnotfindthearttobe
sounique.Infact,italmostlookedfamiliar.Butany
GermansorCzechswhoreadhisbookswillimmediately
noticesomethingelse.Puttingthemysteriousauthor's
cryptic
messagesaside,anothercommonalitysharedbythebooks
isthenamesoftheircharacters.BeginningwithJohan,
then
Otto,Hans...extremelycommon,traditionalGermannames
areused,butsimilarCzechnameslikeJan,Milosand
Pavelare
nowheretobefound.ItisquiteplaintoseehowTenma
andAgentLungemadetheirsuppositionthatthesingle
German
nameamongtheauthor'spennames,KlausPoppe,mightin
factbehisactualname.TheauthorisofaGerman
minorityin

theCzechRepublic;aGermanCzech.
[Picture](TwophotosofbuildingsintheCzechRepublic)
TheareaofBohemia,whereCzechsandGermansfound
themselvesatodds.Thereexistsalongstandinghatred
betweenthe
twoethnicitiesinthisplace.Itisapartofhistory
thatmustbeexplainedinattemptingtodescribethe
birthofthe
monster.
Atthispoint,itwilldoubtlessbehelpfultomost
readerstotakeacloselookatthecomplexhistorical
backgroundoftheCzechRepublicparticularlyBohemia
andGermany.
Tobeginourstory,theBohemianregionwas
originallysettledbytheBoiipeoplearound150BC.By
about60BC
theyhadbeenreplacedbyGermanictribes,whoruledthe
areauntilthe5thcenturyAD,whentheymigratedto
Bavaria.
Afterthat,threedifferentSlavictribessettledthe
area:Czechs,MoraviansandSlovakians.Bythe9th
century,the
Czechshadseizedcontroloftheregion,foundingthe
kingdomofBohemia,ruledbythePremysliddynasty.But
totheeast
laythemightyHungarian(Magyar)Empire,andtheroyal
familywasforcedtojoinamilitaryalliancewiththe
Germanic
HolyRomanEmpiretoavoidthethreatofinvasion.The
PremyslidlinenowservedunderthekingofGermanyand
thePope
intheHolyRomanEmpire,butinthe12thcentury
VladislavIIwasgrantedthelandsofAustria,openinga
newperiodof
prosperity.Ofcourse,theywerestillruledin
actualitybyGermany,soitisnothardtoimaginethe
Czechs'eventual
struggleforindependenceinthe15thcentury.
Inthe16thcentury,theCzechlandsfellunder
HabsburgMonarchycontrolareignthatwouldlastfour
centuriesandinthe17thcenturytheCzechnobility
startedtheThirtyYears'War,whichledtoblunt

oppressionfrom
theHabsburgthroneandthedemotionofCzechinto
Austrianholdings.
Itwouldnotbeuntilthe19thcenturythattheCzech
pushforindependencegainedmomentumonceagain.With
historicalleaderslikePalackyandMasaryk,andtherise
ofethnicselfdeterminationinthewakeoftheFirst
WorldWar,
theCzechsfinallysucceededinformingtheirown
sovereignnation,Czechoslovakia.
ThishistoryasseenfromtheGermanperspectiveis
asfollows.TheoriginalGermanexpansiontotheeast
begins
inthe10thcentury,forashortperiodduringtherule
ofCharlemagne.TheGermancolonistssettledtheland,
andinthe
12thcentury,thePremyslidrulersoftheDuchyof
BohemiaactivelysoughttoinvitemoreGermanstohelp
cultivateand
advancetheprosperityoftheirland.
ThefirstGermanstocrossoverwereminersand
farmersdrawnbythesilverrichCzechmountainsand
nutrient
heavysoil.Nextcameclergymen,cityplanners,
merchantsandcarpenters,andGermantownswereborn
theBohemian
regionnearthebordersofpresentdayGermany,Poland
andAustria.
AstheseGermanmigrantscamefromvariousareassuch
asFrisia,Bavaria,Saxony,Swabia,StyriaandAustria,
the
CzechsreferredtothemwiththeblankettermTeutons,
buttheycalledthemselvesSudetenGermans
(Sudetendeutsche),after
theSudetenMountainsonthebordertoPoland.
Inthe14thcentury,whenLuxembourg'sCharlesIV,
rulerofCzechwascrownedKingoftheGermanHolyRoman
Empire,itaffectedtherelationshipbetweentheCzechs
andGermanimmigrants.TheSudetenGermanssuddenly
gainedmuch
influenceandpoliticalpower,andbegantofinancially
andpoliticallyoverwhelmtheCzechs.The15thcentury
Hussite
WarswerethefirstrebellionagainstGermanybythe

Czechs,andthe17thcenturyThirtyYears'Warwasa
battleforpower
betweentheAustrianHabsburgdynastyandtheCzech
nobility.Withtheirlosshere,theCzechsbecame
totallysubordinate
totheGermansandAustrians,evenhavingtheirlanguage
slowlyreplacedbyGerman.
Butinthe19thcentury,Czechindependencewould
growcloserwiththewaningoftheHabsburgdynasty.
Meanwhile,
theSudetenGermanswerepushingtohavetheirland
holdingsbecomeapartoftheAustrianEmpire.The
Industrial
Revolutionofthatcenturywouldworktotheadvantageof
theCzechswiththeenrichmentoftheircapitalassets.
When
GermanyandAustriaHungaryfellinWWI,itwasthe
Czechs'capitalbackingthathelpedthemclaimtheir
independence.
WiththeconsolidationofCzechsandSlovaksandthe
birthofaSlavicnation,theSudetenGermansbecamea
minorityonceagain.TheCzechoslovakiangovernmentwas
verygracious,evengoingsofarastograntsignificant
autonomy
totheSudetenlandarea,buttheirGermancitizenswere
stillunhappy.Therewerestill3.3millionGermansin
Bohemia,a
globallyrenownedlandofproduction,exportingsilver,
coal,uranium,metals,machinery,paper,textiles,linens
and
glass.
Theirplantoregainpowerlayinthenewlyformed
GermanNaziParty.InJanuaryof1933,withthe
formationof
theThirdReich,SudetenGermanpoliticianKonradHenlein
wasquicktosupportHitlerandrequesthishelp.Under
the
bannerofGermanunificationandaidedbytheannexation
ofAustria,theSudetenGermanPartyabsorbedallofthe
other
GermanpoliticalpartiesinCzechoslovakia.
HitlerandHenlein'sclaimwasasfollows.The
GermanpeoplehadlivedintheSudetenareaforover700

years.
ItwasapartoftheHolyRomanEmpireuntiltheearly
1800s,apartoftheGermanConfederationuntilthemid
1800s,and
AustrianHungarianterritorythrough1918.Therefore,it
hadlongbelongedtoGermany.
In1938,Czechoslovakiawasforcedtosignthe
humiliatingMunichAgreementbyfearfulcountriesseeking
to
appeaseHitler,cedingtoGermany40%ofitsland,30%of
itspopulationandnearlyhalfofitsindustrial
production.
Uponseeingthefamouspicturesofthewildlycelebrating
peopleatthesightofHitler'sarmyadvancinginto
Sudetenland,
onemightwonderwhypeoplebeingconqueredwouldbeso
happy.Butconsiderthatthosepeopleidentified
themselvesnot
asCzechsbutGermans,anditmakessense.Bynext
March,whenHitlerhadtakenallofCzechoslovakiafor
himself,there
wasnotasingleCzechlanguagesignorlandmarkertobe
foundinSudetenland.
[Picture](AcontractinGerman,withsignatures)
ThecessationcontractbetweenCzechandGermany,signed
byHitler.
[Picture](PhotoofaNaziparadethroughacity)
TheSudetenGermansfanaticallygreetingaNazimarch
intoBohemiabeforeWWII.Itwouldlaterleadto
tragedy...
ButtheSudetenGermanprosperitywouldendwiththe
ThirdReich'sdefeatinWorldWarTwo.AtthePotsdam
Conference,itwasdecidedthatallGermansonCzech
landsbetween2.4and3.5millionwouldbedeported
backto
Germany.Allprivatelyheldlandswereseized,andthey
wereleftwithwhatevertheycouldcarrywiththem.Many
ofthem
between20,000and200,000,thoughtherealnumber
willneverbeknownwerebeatenormurderedoutof
hatredforthe
Germanaggressioninthewar.Thedeeprootedhatredof

NaziGermanyinthetwocountrieswasdirectedatthe
Sudeten
Germans.
TheCzechGermanrelationshiphasbecomesocomplex
thatitwasnotuntilveryrecentlyin1997thatthetwo
countriesofficiallymetatatableandfirstrecognized
theirinjusticesineventsrelatedtoWorldWarII.
WhathappenedtotheonceprosperousSudetendeutsch
afterthewar?AccordingtotheSudetenGerman
Association
formedin1949andstillactivetoday,2millionofthem
liveinwesternGermany,withhalfofthatnumberin
Bayern
(Bavaria).800,000endedupineasternGermany,140,000
inAustria,24,000furtheroverseas,and240,000diedin
the
processofexile.
WhatIcouldnotignoreinmyinvestigationofthe
Johancaseisthehistoryofthe200,000Germanswhodid
not
leavetheCzechlandsafterthewar.Liketheirexiled
countrymenmentionedabove,theirpropertywasseizedand
they
weresubjectedtowitheringdiscriminationafterthewar,
yettheystillchosetoliveinCzechoslovakia.My
primarygoal
intheCzechRepublicwastotracetherootsofthismost
mysteriousofmenFranzBonaparta,andtofindthetruth
ofthe
rumorthatJohan'sfatherwasinfact,German.
IwillstartwiththeghastlyincidentthatJohanis
thoughttohavecommittedfirstafterheadingtothe
Czech
Republic.