I have had Czech contacts for a number of years now, during which time I have attempted (unfortunately not very successfully!) to learn the language. I also have a fondness for old books and can occasionally spend several hours in a good second-hand bookshop. Somewhere around 1996 I purchased a book here in London that combined these two interests. The details of it are as follows.

Among the acknowledgements are thanks to "Mr J.G.Mičan, teacher of Czech at Farragut High School" (there is a town of this name in south-west Iowa), and "Mr Jaroslav J. Zmrhal, District Superintendent, Chicago Public Schools". A note by the publishers comments on the lack of an existing textbook to use in the teaching of the language, the decision to entrust the task of writing one "to those who have been for years engaged in writing lessons for their classes, namely the teachers in our high schools", and the difficulty in finding a publisher which led the Czechoslovak National Council to finance it itself.

The things that make the book more interesting, and about which I am particularly curious, are the writing and items contained within it. Although I have no experience in graphology, I think it important to state that I consider all the handwriting to be from one person.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF ALL THE DETAILS INSIDE THE COVER (81KB)

The first digit of the first time for London is not clear, but appears to be a 6 with a 9 written over the top of it.

Ilya Ehremburg
Fall of Paris

"Rada Spojenych Statu pomaha chudym farmařům" [The council (?) of the United States is helping poor farmers]
"Jaroslav poslal pohledni listky bratrancům a sestřenicím" [Jaroslav sent postcards to the (his?) brothers and sisters]
"Stavitel slibil delnikům dobry plat" [The builder promised the workers a good wage]
"Stat Illinois slibil pomoc malemu městu" [The state of Illinois promised help to the small town]

"prove dokazat"
"observe pozorovati"
"observation pozorovani"
"testify svědčiti"
"demonstrate dokázeti" [(?) as in to show/prove/indicate]
"demonstration důkaz" [as in proof/evidence/indication of]
"treat jednati" [as in to behave/act towards. Also jednati=to treat with the enemy?]
"treatment jednáni" [as in behaviour towards/treatment of a person. Also jednáni=negotiation/parley/discussion?]

There is only one other piece of information left to mention. In the same bookshop, and during the same period as I purchased Progressive Czech (perhaps even on the same visit), I saw another book of interest which, to my deep regret, I did not buy. It was an old, paperback (in light blue?) English to Czech military dictionary. I flicked through it, but I don’t remember seeing anything written in it and it did not contain any other items.

B : WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

After a couple of years my curiosity was eating away at me so much that I started to try and find out what it all meant. What follows are the results of my 'research', but it does not cover all areas of the material. I STILL don't know what it ALL means. I am neither a historian nor a detective, so please forgive me if my work is not up to professional standards!

B 1 : THE BOOK

From what I can gather, the Czechoslovak National Council of America was formed in 1918 as an umbrella organisation for all other Czech/Slovak groups, declaring itself to be the American branch of Masaryk’s Czechoslovak National Council. I don’t know how much it had to do with Masaryk when he was based in the US during this year.

A search through files in the Public Record Office (PRO) in London and the Státní Ústřední Archiv (SÚA) in Prague, particularly those sections relating to the Czechoslovak Government in Exile during the war, along with a few mentions in literary sources, has shown that the areas to the north and south of Hyde Park contained clusters of addresses with Czechoslovak connections. See Czechoslovaks in London for more information. Lying a few streets away from the southern edge of the park, close to the back of Buckingham Palace, Wilton Crescent itself contained a number of buildings of interest.

At No.43 were the offices of the Státní rada (State Council), and this was where they held their meetings. This was the closest thing to a Czechoslovak parliament during the war. Correspondence related to No.42 nextdoor indicates that it was used as offices by several high ranking military officers including General Sergej Ingr, Commander-in-Chief of the Czechoslovak armed forces and Minister of War, and General B. Miroslav, originally the commander of the Czechoslovak Brigade but then working at the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defence (MNO) in London. An item of correspondence shows that the Diplomatic Protocol section of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs had an office at No.23. The Slovak National Committee In London had offices at No.7. This group was to the political right and hostile to President Beneš towards the end of the war as they blamed him for the presence of Soviet troops on Czechoslovak soil and the strength that gave to the Czechoslovak communists.

No.2 itself was the location of the 'Ministerstvo vnitra, školský a osvětový odbor' (Ministry of the Interior, Education Department). This whole ministry, including the Department of Education, had originally been located in offices at 62 Prince's Gate, Exhibition Road, SW7. While this building continued to be used until after the war by other parts of  Czechoslovak government ministries, at some time between August and November 1942 (the two closest points of reference in the correspondence I have seen) the Education Department moved to 2 Wilton Crescent. It was reponsible not only for the education of Czechoslovak children in the Czechoslovak schools in this country (and the support of others around the world), but also for the education of students and adults, whether civilians or members of the armed forces. The Director of the Education Department was Václav Patzak, his name being prefixed with the title 'Rada', presumably meaning that he was a member of the State Council.

To help achieve this last aim, in the late summer of 1943 the department set up the 'Československá Vyšší Škola Lidová' (ČVŠL, with an official translation as 'Czechoslovak School for Adult Education') based at the same address, 2 Wilton Crescent. The name written in the front of the book (Czechoslovak HIGH School for Adult Education) is slightly incorrect, including a near literal translation of the word 'Vyšší'. On the 11th August 1943 Patzak wrote a long letter outlining the proposal for the school to a Dr. Schober at the Royal Cancer Hospital, and it was Dr. Bruno Schober who became the Director of the school. The first piece of correspondence I could find that he signed as Director was dated 16th September 1943. Schober may have continued working as a medical doctor as well. There is a piece of correspondence from March 1944 to him at the address "Cancer Research Institute, Fulham Road SW3". Most of the correspondence for the school seems to have been dealt with by a Mrs. H. Mcpherson, sometimes written as Mcphersonová.

One part of the school's programme was to be a series of lectures, and a lecture was the first event held by the school at 5.15pm on Thursday 23rd September 1943 (having been postponed from 15th September) at 2 Wilton Crescent. Invitations were sent out to well known figures in Czechoslovak political and government circles including Dr. Drtina, Dr. Drucker, Dr. Clementis, Dr. Kunoši, Dr. Diamant, Dr. A.Proschazka , Dr. V.Beneš and Dr. F.Taborský. Lectures were later given by such notable persons as V.Clementis, Miloš Sova, Dr. František Langer, T.Florin, Kopecký, Hronek, Klinger and Lastovička.

Language courses were also a major part of the programme, classes being organised in Czech, Slovak and Russian. Not only were these events usually held at locations in London other than 2 Wilton Crescent, but courses were sometimes arranged in other cities and towns where there was a demand. Later, a successful Czech language correspondence course was organised.

Minutes from meetings of the school council in early 1944 show the members to include Profesor Dr. V.Klecanda, posl. Jurnečková, Julius Furth, E. Goldstucker, pí. Hodinová, Václav Patzak and Dr. Schober.

B 3 : THE NAME R.SLÁNSKÝ

B 3 (a) : The Family

Some people reading this may jump at the name 'R.Slánský', so I'll just give a few facts.

The only Slánský I had ever heard of was Rudolf Slánský, a communist 'poslanec' (member of parliament) in pre-war Czechoslovakia. He was on the Czechoslovak government's special list of people to be taken out of the country before the Germans entered Prague in March 1939. The next reference I can find to him is when he was sent from Moscow to join the HQ of the Ukrainian partisans in 1943, then in Slovakia during the Slovak national uprising ('Slovenské narodné povstanie' or SNP) of autumn 1944 which was crushed by the Germans.

After the war Rudolf Slánský became the general secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party ('Komunistická Strana Československa' or KSČ). In 1952 he fell foul of one of the Stalin inspired anti-jewish show trials, being accused among other things of organising and leading a spy ring for the western intelligence services. Several of his co-defendants had been in London during and after the war and were employed at the Czechoslovak Embassy there, although I can find no indication in the official transcript of the trials that Rudolf Slánský was ever there himself, or of what he was doing between March 1939 and joining the partisan HQ in 1943. I assume that he was in Moscow. He was executed at the end of 1952.

I found that Rudolf Slánský had a brother, Richard (so also 'R.Slánský'), who after the war served with the Czechoslovak diplomatic corps in Iran and Poland. Rudolf Slánský had a son, also called Rudolf (therefore a third 'R.Slánský'). After the 'velvet revolution' of 1989, Rudolf   'junior' became the ambassador in Moscow and later to Slovakia in Bratislava. I have no information specifically identifying these two family members and giving their location before, during, or immediately after the war, but I have now found the name Slánský in various forms in literary and archive material.

B 3 (b) : Poland

In the 1930's Czechoslovakia had become a refuge for opponents to the Nazis in Germany. Many fled to the 'Sudetenland' - areas of Czechoslovakia adjoining Germany and Austria where the population was more than 50% ethnically German. However, with the Munich Agreement of September 1938 these areas were annexed by Germany, causing these refugees to flee to the interior (now forming 'New Czecho-Slovakia'), along with those inhabtants of the 'Sudetenland' who feared persecution for political or racial reasons.

There were many responses in Britain to this refugee crisis, from the raising of funds for distribution to the refugees to the formation of voluntary aid committees across the country. One of these was the 'British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia' (BCRC), which after July 1939 this became the quasi-governmental 'Czech Refugee Trust Fund' (CRTF). The BCRC had their own volunteer representatives to Prague, and not only did they distribute funds to the refugees in need within 'New Czecho-Slovakia', but they also organised the transport of them to Britain. Some individuals and groups went overland through Germany and via Holland, but most were sent via Poland and the port of Gdynia.

After the German invasion of the northern part of 'New Czecho-Slovakia' on March 15th 1939, the 'Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia' was formed. Slovakia became a separate state, with what is often described as a puppet fascist government. The steady flow of refugees (political, racial and economic) leaving via Poland then became a flood, with the border crossing usually being made illegally. After negotiating the border, most of the refugees concentrated in the cities of Katowice and Krakow. To help organise the onward movement of these refugees the BCRC sent personnel to these cities to open offices. The chief representative of the organisation was Miss Clare Hollingworth, who based her operation in the British Consulate at Katowice with the address 'Ulica 3 Maja, 33'. The representative in Krakow was Mr Hermann Field, and there was also an office in Warsaw. This route of escape continued to be used right up until the German invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939.

B 3 (b) (i) : Robert Černý

Many of those who fled the 'Protectorate' were military personnel who wished to resist the Germans. They mostly made their way to France where, after the outbreak of war, Czechoslovak units were formed (Some later came to Britain after the fall of France). One of those who left was Robert Černý, a former officer in the Czechoslovak Army and politcally a follower of President Beneš.

The files of the CRTF contain two letters sent from him while in Katowice to J. Henderson Stewart M.P. at the House of Commons. The first, dated 19th June 1939, thanks Henderson Stewart for his letter (so presumably there had been some previous correspondence) and that from the "Secretary of State" about the formation of a Foreign Legion in Britain. It also mentions that he fled from the 'Protectorate' because the Gestapo had issued an arrest warant for him and his father, so that he had received the letter from Henderson Stewart indirectly via his mother in Plzeň.

The second, dated 3rd July 1939, contains a description of the Political Refugee organisation in Katowice and a complaint that Miss Hollingworth was working too closely with the Communists there, who acted against refugees of any political belief other than Communist. The letter includes the following text.

Click here to see (in English) the letter from Černý : Page 1 (92KB) ; Page 2 (91KB) ; Page 3 (88KB) ; Page 4 (79KB)
All from PRO - HO 294/55 (Crown Copyright Reserved)

A couple of points need clarification. Miss Hollingworth was not the British Consul in Katowice, just the chief representative of the BCRC/CRTF in Poland working from the building of the British Consulate in Katowice. The BCRC/CRTF arranged the onward travel of refugees, but officially only for limited numbers of those that fell into certain specific catagories. Before a refugee could register they had to pass an interview where it was judged if the organisation MIGHT be 'interested' in them. Being permitted to register did NOT absolutely guarantee that they would be accepted and onward travel arranged for them.

However, being registered did offer benefits in terms of maintenance and perhaps more importantly protection from the police. Those refugees who had crossed the border illegally did not have valid documents for being in Poland and could be arrested by the police, possibly facing the prospect of deportation back to the 'Protectorate', perhaps into the arms of the waiting Gestapo. There was an unofficial agreement between the BCRC/CRTF and the local Polish police that those illegal refugees who could show that they were registered with the organisation, and therefore had the possibility of having onward transport and the required documents arranged for them, would not be arrested. On several occasions when they had been, they were released immediately upon request of the BCRC/CRTF.

In the section of "Komunisté v československém pozemním vojsku na zapadě" by Josef Reiner dealing with events in Poland there are two short passages of particular interest.

Although it should be realised that the letter from Černý may have the bias of coming from a seemingly very bitter political opponent, it would appear that this Richard Slánský, a leading communist, had certain connections and influence with the BCRC/CRTF.

B 3 (b) (ii) : Vojta Beneš

Vojta Beneš, brother of President Beneš and a senator, escaped from the occupied  'Protectorate' in June 1939 via Poland and England to the United States. In his book, 'Bojovali jsme za svobodu' (We Fought for Freedom) published in Prague after the war he includes a recounting of the story of his journey. He arrived in Krakow on June 11th, and while at the Czechoslovak conuslate there on June 17th received a phone call from a person in Katowice identifying himself as "Slánský", who he took to be the "former editor of the Prague newspaper 'Rudé Právo'" [Red Justice] - the communist newspaper, "and one of the foremost communist journalists in Czechoslovakia".

This Slánský was with a party which included the prominent communist politicians Mikulíček and Hodinová (the same Hodinová who was later on the school council of the ČsVŠL) and was organising a group to travel to England on the Polish ship 'Jan Sobieski', shortly to leave Gdynia. He invited Beneš to go "s námi" [with us], saying that he had a ticket for Beneš and his wife if only he would come to Katowice. He asked "Tady je hlavni sekretář britského výboru pro uprchlíky z Československa. Přijedete ?" [The chief secretary of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia is here. Are you coming?].

Beneš had never met Slánský in person and knew nothing of the Committee. At that point he did not want to take anything from strangers, so he did not go to Katowice, but bought his own railway ticket to Gdynia, travelling there on the 18th/19th June with a group of Czechoslovak volunteers (some Czechoslovaks went by ship at this time to join the French Foreign Legion). He also paid for his own ticket aboard the 'Jan Sobieski' from the little money that he had. He does mention meeting up with the almost 70 year old Mikulíček (an old friend) on the ship, enjoying the time spent with him, and also meeting Konečný and senator Pfeifrová, but does not say if Slánský or Hodinová were aboard the same ship. However, he does mention communists disembarking at Dover and waving to the soldiers who remained on board (presumably to complete their journey to France).

After disembarking, Beneš was greeted by a young Czech man who knew who he was, knew that he had no money, gave him a ticket to London and conveyed greetings from the friends Beneš had in London. Beneš states that this young man introduced himself as the "český sekretář anglického výboru pro uprchlíky z Československa" [Czech secretary of the English (!) Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia] (the BCRC), and that he was also a communist. On his arrival in London Beneš was met by "V.Pacák", most likely the same Václav Patzak who later became the Director of the Education Department.

Click here to read (in Czech) the passage from: 'BOJOVALI JSME ZA SVOBODU'

B 3 (c) : Britain

B 3 (c) (i) : BCRC/CRTF Case List

Refugees reaching Britain were interviewed by the BCRC/CRTF and registered sometime between a few days to a few weeks after their arrival.. Each single refugee or head of family was assigned a case number. Each member of a family other than the head (unless a baby) was assigned a letter under the case number to refer to the individual. Females are often not given the feminine ending for their surnames in the list. The case numbers from 1 to 8434 represent those refugees reaching Britain between the annexation of the 'Sudetenland' in September 1938 and the start of the Second World War in September 1939. Numbers from 9000 upwards represent post-war refugee cases.

In the numerical index of cases there is an entry at 7320 for a Richard Slánský, born in 1904. At 7320a is an entry for a Waltraut Slánský (a woman's first name but with the masculine version of the surname), born 1902. Presumably this was his wife or possibly sister. The fact that the second entry was typed in the list rather than written in later indicates that the woman arrived at the same time, rather than marrying him later and being added to the list. Both are shown as having returned to Czechoslovakia (ČSR) on 11th October 1945. Having looked through all the entries in the index of pre-war refugees, these are the only two with the surname Slánský.

Click here to see the BCRC/CRTF Case List entry for Slánský (133KB)

There are several other interesting entries on the same page as the Slánskýs. Leading communist Václav Nosek is at 7329 (alone) while Bohuslav Laštovička is at 7327 (with a family member, Marie, at 7327a). At 7316 is Josef Koerbel (or Körbel), with his wife Anna (7316a) and baby "Madlena". This child is better known as Madeleine Albright, the American politician.

Concerning Slánský's entry in the case list at 7320, and whether he went to Britain at the same time as Hodinová, Mikulíček and Vojta Beneš, there is an entry in the case list at 6449 for an Anežka Spurná-Hodinová (born 1895), with at 6449a Jindřich Spurný (born 1906). This is Anna Hodinová with her husband. At 7126 is Vítěslav Mikuliček (born 1882) accompanied by Marie Mikuliček (born 1895) at 7126a. I have not found an entry for Vojta Beneš, even though he states that he received money from the BCRC/CRTF through Patzak after his arrival in London.

The actual case papers are stored at the Public Records Office in files containing documents for approximately 50 to 70 cases each. Each individual file can only be 'opened' to the public 50 years after the date of the last document in that file. As some of the refugees remained in Britain after the war and continued contact with the CRTF into the 1950's, 1960's, and occasionally into the 1970's, most of these files remain 'closed'. Although the archive catalogue does show the dates of the documents in each file, therefore allowing you to calculate when they will be 'opened', it does not show exactly which case numbers are contained in which file. The only way to approximate this is from the case numbers contained in the few intervening 'open' files.

From a total of 105 files containing case papers of 'old refugees' (pre-war), only 7 of them are currently open (all from January 2001). Unfortunately, all the files containing the case papers for the above people, including Slánský, are still closed. Another 5 files will be 'opened' in January 2002, but all with case numbers below about 6100. The best guess I can make for the 'opening' of the file containing Slánský's case is the year 2012 or 2013! 

B 3 (c) (ii) : Overpayment for teaching

On 5th January 1944, Dr. Bruno Schober (Director of the ČVŠL) sent a letter to "R.Slánský" at 58 Grosvenor Road, N10 (a London address), addressed to "Vážený pane redaktore" [Dear Mr. Editor]. It referred to the fact that the previous day Slánský had been paid L10 instead of L5 by the Accounts department of the Education Department for 10 hours of teaching (five 2 hour lessons) that he had done at 10 shillings per hour. Schober asked Slánský to 'reckon up' with them at the end of January.

Click here to see (in Czech) the letter from Schober to Slánský (44KB)

On the 4th February the secretary of the ČVŠL sent a note to the Accounts department about the receipt of monies from the sale of Czech language text books. The footnotes indicated that included with the note was the sum of money involved and the "Vyučtování redaktora Slánského" [the 'reckoning up' of editor Slánský]. On a separate sheet is a hand-written note from Slánský, dated 2nd February 1944 and signed by him, showing that he had taught another 10 hours Czech in January, and that with the overpayment taken into account no monies were due to him.

Click here to see (in Czech) : The note from the secretary to Accounts (34KB) or The note from Slánský (33KB)

B 3 (c) (iii) : Teaching at the CBFC

The Czechoslovak-British Friendship Club (CBFC), based at 27 Palace Court, London, W2, was one of several institutions set up to provide Czechoslovaks with focal points for cultural activities in London. On 24th April 1944 a letter was sent to the ČVŠL from a Dr. G.Porgesová at the CBFC requesting that a course in Czech be organised under the supervision of the ČVŠL for the 24 members of staff at the CBFC whose native toungue was not Czech. They wanted the course to start only two days later and had apparently already approached a teacher, stating that "Mr. Richard Slánský is willing to take up the teaching (2 hours weekly)".

Click here to see (in Czech) the letter from Porgesová to the ČVŠL (50KB)

The minutes of the ČVŠL school council meeting on 8th May 1944 includes a section (on page 5) about the Czech language courses currently being run by the school. It mentions one in Leamington with 10 students, who had asked that the monthly fee due to the ČVŠL for the classes be reduced from L8 to L3 (which was approved), and another at Stoke on Trent being taught by Mrs, Fantesová, where the monthly fee due was L4. It also mentions a course at Fortis Green, which is where the Czech Refugee Trust Fund had one of their hostels in Fortis Green School, very close to the address for Slánský shown above at 58 Grosvenor Road, N10. The request from the CBFC is also noted, including the fact that Mr. R.Slánský had been suggested as the teacher, to be paid an honorarium by the Education Department from the fund of the ČVŠL.

Click here to see (in Czech) the minutes of the ČVŠL school council (118KB)

A return letter was sent from Schobel at the ČVŠL to the CBFC on 12th May 1944, replying to the letter of 24th April and an earlier one of the 20th April. In this Schobel thanked the CBFC for the receipt of money as a fee for the Czech language course running in Leamington, for the months of January, February and March. He also notified agreement that the fee for the course should be lowered. These points relate to the contents of the earlier letter of 20th April. Schobel then agreed that Mr. R.Slánský should teach the employees of the CBFC under the supervision of the ČVŠL. A later undated note from the Organisation Secretary of the CBFC to the ČVŠL, while requesting that a course be organised for 20 persons in the Birmingham branch of the CBFC, also noted that their employees already studying Czech on the course of Mr. R.Slánský wished the classes to be twice weekly, rather than once a week as they had been up to that point.

Click here to see (in Czech) : The letter from Schobel to the CBFC (44KB) or The note from the Organisation Secretary to the ČVŠL (37KB)

B 3 (c) (iv) : The WEA and Fortis Green

On 3rd October 1944 a letter was sent by Mr. Ernest Green as General Secretary of the Workers Educational Association (WEA - a non-sectarian and non-political alliance of workers' and educational organisations) to Mrs. Mcpherson at the ČVŠL. It started by noting a report in the Times Educational Supplement about the Anglo-Czech Summer School that the WEA had staged, saying that two copies of it were enclosed with the letter and asking that one of them be passed on to Mr. Patzak. The second paragraph consists of the following text.

Click here to see (in English) the letter from Ernest Green (80KB)

The hostel run by the CRTF at Fortis Green, mainly housing single employed people, was in the building of Fortis Green School in Muswell Hill, North London. It opened in June 1940 and closed in March 1945. The address for Slánský at 58 Grosvenor Road, N10 (See section B 3 (c) (ii) above) is approximately 1 km from this hostel, so it would seem that Slánský had some connection with it. A list of persons attending the WEA Summer School contained the names of Mrs. Mcpherson and Mr Patzak. Also included was a "Mrs. T Slánská" (the feminine version of the name Slánský), although unfortunately no other personal details were given.

B 3 (c) (v) : Other mentions of Slánský in correspondence

On 16th October 1944 the secretary of the Řada československých žen [Council of Czechoslovak Women] sent a letter to "Školský odbor Ministerstvo Vnítra, k rukam pana ref. Slánského, 2 Wilton Crescent, SW 1", literally meaning "to the hands of Mr Slánský". I do not know what the "ref." means unless it is an error and should read "red.", as in short for "redakor" meaning "editor".

On 30th November 1944 a letter was sent to Mrs. Mcpherson by Ervin Munk, an army officer at the Czechoslovak Military Court, Czechoslovak Army Depot, Southend-On-Sea. It concerned  Czech language course in Southend taught by kpt. Dr. Aufright. All 14 students were female, the names indicating that they were the English wives of Czechoslovak soldiers. The letter starts as follows.

In a note dated 23rd March 1945 from M. Sova, concerning the abilities of participants on a telecommunications course, Slánský is mentioned again.

B 3 (c) (vi) : Czech language correspondence course

One of the projects organised by the ČVŠL was a correspondence course enabling English wives of Czech servicemen to learn the Czech language. From the start of the course on 21st October 1944 the numbers of students grew steadily from the original 102, until by 7th May 1945 there were 273. A note on the history of the course includes the following text.

Click here to view (in Czech) the note on the history of the correspondence course (86KB)

On 26th July 1945 Slánský wrote a letter to U.E. Goodchild, Welfare Officer, Guardianship branch of the CRTF. Although he addressed it "Dear Sir", Goodchild was a woman, her first name being Ursula. She had originally been advised by a Dr. Kosta of the "Czechoslovak Ministry of Education" to write to the Secretary of the Czechoslovak Institute concerning the need of some Czech children to have tuition in their native language, perhaps by correspondence course, before their imminent return to Czechoslovakia. This letter had obviously been passed on to Slánský, and he replied with details and costs of the course. He also wrote as follows.

Click here to view (in English) a copy of the letter to Goodchild (65KB)
From PRO - HO 294/72 (Crown Copyright Reserved)

The copy on file indicates that he signed the letter as "Principal", presumably of language courses. The legacy of this course could still be seen in the newsletter of the Czechoslovak Institute detailing activities for April 1946. It included the following.

B 3 (c) (X) : Other occurences of the name Slánský

I have found the name Slánský only one other time in relation to the period in question. A radio operator and later pilot that served with 311 Czechoslovak bomber squadron in Britain, and briefly with a special duties squadron. But he was Vladimír!

B 4 : RADIO FREQUENCIES AND TIMES

These seem to be those for Czech language broadcasts to central Europe by the BBC and Moscow Radio. In "Od porážky k vítězství", Hronek states that in March 1943 the BBC increased the number of their own transmissions to 8 (he does not say from how many), and offered 2 other time slots to the Czechoslovak government for their broadcasts at 6.10am and 20.30hrs. If the first, unclear, digit of the first time for London is a 6, then this gives the 6.10am broadcast mentioned by Hronek.

The 20.30hrs time slot mentioned by him in his text seems to be slightly incorrect. He states that the program broadcast at the time in question was "Hlas svobodné republiky" [The Voice of the Free Republic], but in a copy of the first page of a script for this programme included in his book, which was written and to be read by him on Thursday 14th October 1943, the broadcast time is given as 8.45pm. This corresponds with one of the times in the list written inside "Progressive Czech". Also, this is one of 3 times (1.15pm, 5.45pm, 8.45pm) that I have seen mentioned in relation to messages, using code phrases, broadcast from London to resistance groups within occupied Czechoslovakia (in 'Pátou kartu bere smrt' by Jindřich Marek). All three of these correspond with times written inside "Progressive Czech". These facts would indicate that the 20.30hrs in the text is either an error on Hronek's part, or that the time of this daily broadcast was slightly changed at some point.

Click here to read (in Czech) the text and see the script from 'OD PORÁŽKY K VÍTĚZSTVÍ'

The two time slots (6.10am and 8.45pm) are the only two against which a wavelength ("370 meters") is written in "Progressive Czech", which may indicate that these Czech Government broadcasts were made on a different wavelength to the other Czech language BBC broadcasts from London.

Hronek states that from the time of the Slovak National Uprising (September 1944) until the end of the war, the BBC also gave the Czech Government another time slot at 17.45hrs. This seems to have been a 'transfer' of a time slot that the BBC were already using for Czech language broadcasts (one of the 8 previously mentioned), as on 22nd December 1941, Bohumil Laušman sent a letter (to President Beneš) about the text of a radio programme he had written and read, broadcast on the BBC Czechoslovak Programme at 5.45pm on Saturday 20th December 1941.

Although the number of time slots from London written  into "Progresive Czech" (9) do not exactly agree with the number quoted by Hronek (8 plus 2), the closeness of the numbers involved along with the corresponding times indicate that they are the same broadcasts he is referring to. According to Hronek, the last edition of "Hlas svobodné republiky" broadcast from London was on 11th May 1945.

B 5 : ILJA ERENBURG

Ilja Ehremburg (also spelt Erenburg) was a Russian journalist and writer who lived in Paris for much of the inter-war period. I have obtained a copy of the book 'Fall of Paris', but it's in Czech and fairly impenetrable to me. It seems to be a 'novel' concerning events in Paris before the Germans arrived in 1940. It was published in Prague just after the war, but there are no details given of publication dates in other countries or languages.

Among a list of books published by Czechoslovak organisations in Britain I have found mentioned "Moskevské dopisy" (Moscow letters) by I.Erenburg, published in London by 'Nové Československo' (New Czechoslovakia). I don't know if this was a re-publication of an old work or if it was new and perhaps he was in Britain at some point during the war. Again in "Od porážky k vítězství"(page 183), Hronek comments briefly on the words of famous persons on the event in 1943 of the 25th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia. He also includes the following sentance.

This certainly shows that Erenburg was still alive during the war, although it does not indicate that he was in Britain.

B 6 : OTHER THINGS

If the book had been issued by the school then students may have been instructed to write the name of the teacher, R. Slánský (hence the addition of the formal "Esq"), inside the book, along with the name and address of the school. Or a student may have written this in his own independently obtained textbook. The "465" (in brackets) and "243" (double underlined) could be a book issue number or student enrolment number, and the times 2.15 (pm) and 5.15 (pm) could be those at which lessons were held.

The Jihlava tickets with German text and the dual price in Reich Marks must come from during the existence of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (March 1939 to May 1945), or very soon after, before they could be replaced by ones with Czech text. There was one tram line in Jihlava. It went from the main square of the town northwards to the railway station about 3km away. Services ran throughout the war except for at the very end, when the volume of Russian military traffic passing through the town meant that they were stopped for 10 days in the middle of May 1945. Tram services then continued until replaced by trolley-bus a few years later.

C : HELP!!!

Richard Gaskell