Here we gradually add selected collection items from our depository with a short story.
Rukavice z poslední cesty
Pracovní rukavice pocházejí z pozůstalosti plzeňského rodáka Jiřího Světlíka (1924–2022). Ten se vyučil tiskařem a ještě za první republiky se stal skautem. V době německé okupace byl nuceně nasazen v Říši, odkud se často – ač to bylo přísně zakázané – vracel domů za rodiči. V létě 1944 byly jeho cesty domů odhaleny a Jiří Světlík byl zatčen a obviněn, mimo jiné z napomáhání nepříteli a z velezrady. Mladému Jiřímu Světlíkovi tak hrozil i trest smrti. Jiří Světlík byl držen v mnichovské věznici Stadelheim a čekal na soudní řízení. To však bylo několikrát odloženo (například z důvodu vyhoření mnichovského justičního paláce po spojeneckém náletu).
Jeden ze Světlíkových spoluvězňů – Jaroslav Knížka – byl odsouzen k trestu smrti za železniční sabotáž a čekal na vykonání rozsudku. Před odchodem na popravu v lednu 1945 věnoval Jiřímu Světlíkovi své pracovní rukavice. Jiří Světlík je po osvobození (v květnu 1945) dovezl do vlasti a celý život je pietně uchovával. Na počátku roku 2025 tento pár rukavic věnovala Světlíkova dcera Muzeu paměti XX. století.
Palcové pracovní rukavice vyrobila mnichovská firma Sporthaus Schuster. Jsou vyrobeny z pevného plátna a opatřeny podšívkou. Pro lepší upevnění na ruce jsou opatřeny přezkou a stahovacím páskem.
Bez zajímavosti není ani fakt, že Jiří Světlík na počátku 50. let spolu s dalšími pomáhal vězněným v lágrech v okolí Horního Slavkova. V roce 1952 byla tato činnost prozrazena a Jiří Světlík byl jako údajný vedoucí protistátní spiklenecké skupiny odsouzen na 20 let za vlastizradu a vyzvědačství. Vězněn byl na mnoha místech, například v jáchymovských lágrech a ve Valdicích. Z vězení byl propuštěn v roce 1962. Po pádu komunistického režimu byl plně rehabilitován.
Brož SdP
Sudetoněmecká strana – Sudetendeutsche Partei (SdP) – vznikla na jaře 1934 přejmenováním ze Sudetoněmecké vlastenecké fornty (Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront) po její – ani ne roční – existenci. Strana byla na oko loajální k Československé republice a prosazovala zájmy německé menšiny. Ve skutečnosti se její aktivity řídily Německou říší a v roce 1938 vedly k ozbrojenému povstání v československém pohraničí. Strana samotná byla financovaná z Říše a disponovala i masivní členskou základnou. Její součástí bylo 1,3 milionu českých Němců. V roce 1935 získala při parlamentních volbách i největší procento odevzdaných hlasů ze všech kandidujících stran (paradoxně ale nezískala nejvíce mandátů). Sudetoněmecká strana na podzim 1938 završila svou činnost, když byla začleněna do německé NSDAP.
Stranická brož je vyrobená niklovaného kovu, zapíná se integrovaným mosazným zavíracím špendlíkem a ve střední části nese červeně smaltovaný štít se znakem SdP. Byla vyráběna v rozmezí let 1934–1938 a bylo možné ji nosit například na klopě saka, jeho kapse, či na kravatě.
Do sbírek Muzea paměti XX. století byla brož získaná nákupem v roce 2024.
Marble slabs and iron cross from Wenceslas Square in Prague
The memorial dedicated to the memory of Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc, which for thirty years was located just a few metres from the St.Wenceslas Monument, had to give way to the ongoing construction of the tram line and the long-planned revitalisation of Wenceslas Square. Two marble slabs were part of the place of remembrance. On the first of them are engraved portraits of two "living torches", Jan Palach and Zajíc. Supposedly, these were a gift from citizens from the Wenceslas Square area in 1994. The second plaque, which commemorates the victims of communist totalitarianism, comes from the Association of Former Political Prisoners. The plaques were complemented by an iron cross. The two marble slabs and the iron cross were handed over on 1 October 2024 by EUROVIA CZ, a. s., the company carrying out the work on the square, to the Museum of Memory of the XXth Century. The handover of the second plaque to the Museum was also approved by the Association of Former Political Prisoners. The objects will be temporarily deposited in the temporary headquarters of the MPXX at Opletalova 929/22. From about the summer of 2025, they will be part of the new MPXX headquarters in the House of the Passengers in Hradčany, where they will be given a dignified location and the public will have the opportunity to stop by and pay their respects to our heroes.
Mini hockey stick signed by Czechoslovak World Ice Hockey Champions from 1972
Recently, the museum purchased an interesting artefact - a mini hockey stick bearing the signatures of Czechoslovak hockey players from the golden Prague championship in April 1972. There, our national team ended nine years of Soviet domination and won their first gold medals since 1949. Six teams took part in the tournament and played two matches against each other. The highlight for our colours was naturally the matches against the Soviet "Red Machine", and not only in terms of sport. It was an imaginary revenge for the Soviet tanks of August 1968 and their permanent stay, albeit camouflaged with the word temporary. The first sporting battle ended in a 3-3 draw, the second in a sweet 3-2 triumph. In goal shone "Fakir" Jiří Holeček, the winning goal was scored symbolically by Jaroslav Holík, who always had a soft spot for the Soviet occupiers. The roster of the victorious Czechoslovak team was full of legends of our hockey - Jiří Holeček and Vladimír Dzurilla in goal, the team's captain František Pospíšil, "Master of Points" Oldřich Machač or Jiří Bubla in defence, the Holík brothers, Václav Nedomanský, Vladimír Martinec or the then still young Ivan Hlinka in attack.
Passport of Pavel Vošický
Pavel Vošický (11 May 1939-18 July 2022) was an important - but currently little known - graphic designer, musician, political prisoner and exile. He graduated from the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts in Turnov (art blacksmith and locksmith). From 1959 he was imprisoned and in 1960 he was released on presidential amnesty. After his release he completed his military service in the technical battalions. In the 1960s he successfully graduated from the University of Applied Arts (in the studio of Prof. Hoffmeister). Alongside Karel Gott, Pavel Bobek, Eva Pilarová and Yvonne Přenosilová he performed as a singer in the Apollo art ensemble.
In 1969 he emigrated to the USA, where he worked as a graphic designer. He participated, for example, in the election campaign of the future President Jimmy Carter. In 1976 he became a citizen of the United States. During his American exile, he maintained contacts with important Czech artists (Miloš Forman, Ivan Passer, Pavel Landovský and others) and exhibited his work in New York, Prague and Vienna, among other places. Since the 1990s he has lived in the Czech Republic again.
The United States passport, which is in the collections of the Museum of the Memory of the Twentieth Century, was issued to Pavel Vošická after he became a US citizen and travelled on it in the 1970s and 1980s. He used it to travel throughout South America, Asia and Europe - including his native Czechoslovakia.
Od 5. listopadu 2024 do 31. ledna 2025 bude dílo Pavla Vošického připomínat mělnická galerie Za Rohem, kde bude ke zhlédnutí výstava jeho grafik ze sbírek Muzea paměti XX. století. 19. listopadu pak návštěvníky výstavy čeká beseda a čtení z knihy vzpomínek Pavla Vošického historikem a ředitelem Muzea paměti XX. století Petrem Blažkem.
Manuscript of George Orwell's 1984
The manuscript of George Orwell's 1984 became our collection object in June this year on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition "1984: George Orwell and Czechoslovakia". It was donated to the Museum by Quentin Kopp, President of The Orwell Society, who added a personal dedication. The book was published in a limited edition of one thousand copies and is therefore a valuable collector's item. The foreword was written by D. J. Taylor, who has written several books on Orwell's life (the most recent of which is entitled Orwell: The New Life). The photographs of the collection object were taken by Marta Myšková.
Brigadier's card in the movement for a more beautiful Prague
Have you ever been on a temporary job? In a way, they have been preserved to this day, but as voluntary. They are still occasionally used by parents in kindergartens, for example when they need to rake leaves or do other work in the garden. However, today parents do not compete with each other to see who can do the most for a given "enterprise" and are not rewarded for their performance, for example, with "luxury" holidays organised under the auspices of the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement (ROH) in designated recreational facilities in Czechoslovakia.
Jaroslav Hájek, the brother of Hana Krausová, participated in such a true communist brigade in the kindergarten in 1955.In June, she brought us many interesting documents telling about the life milestones not only of herself, but also of her brother and other relatives. These documents included a Brigádník ID card in the movement for a more beautiful Prague. The brigades of the time were elaborate and were intended to rouse the people of communist Czechoslovakia to increased socialist work initiative. Although originally a military concept of a fighting group, the very idea of a Socialist Labor Brigade came from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, where in 1958 the first labor collective competing for the title of Brigade of Communist Labor was formed. In the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, brigade competitions gradually developed from the early 1960s onwards, their task being to increase the building enthusiasm and spirit that had gradually waned since 1948. The brigades carried out tasks in socialist construction, in the intensification of the national economy, in the development of science, technology, and the quality and efficiency of work, further consolidated socialist production relations, and generally raised the cultural level of the workers. The aim was to seek even more effective forms and methods of work for society. We can still learn from the Brigade Card in the Movement for a More Beautiful Prague that Jaroslav Hájek completed another brigade in 1964, organised by the District National Committee.
Conscription Association Blouse - battledress
The Conscription Union was founded in October 1945 and merged under itself the Union of Czechoslovak Officers, the Union of National Rifle Guards, the Union of Czechoslovak Staff Sergeants and the Union of Czechoslovak Reservists. It brought together over half a million members and, under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defence, took over all conscription training and conscription-sport activities in the republic.
The members of the Conscription Association wore mainly old uniforms of the Czechoslovak, British and German armies, marked on their collars with circular badges with the letters "SB". A modified battledress of Czechoslovak origin from our collections bears the same. This one, apart from the union badges, is also fitted with Czechoslovak military buttons.
The Conscription Union was not long-lived. Just before the communist putsch in February 1948, the main leaders of the Union were arrested, and the facilities and arms depots were occupied by members of the SNB emergency regiments and the People's Militia. All activities of the Union were stopped and in May of the following year the Conscription Union was formally dissolved.
Commemorative plaque with slate
A unique object is now among our exhibits. It happened on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition entitled 1984: George Orwell and Czechoslovakia. It is a commemorative slate plaque from the roof of the house where this writer wrote his world-famous novel 1984. It is also the place where his son Richard Blair, patron of The Orwell Society, spent his childhood. The Society has been cherishing this stone since June 2014, when the roofing was being replaced in the village of Barnhill, where Orwell House stands. At that time, the stone was donated to them by the Fletcher family, the same family that rented the house to Orwell in the 1940s. The isolated Barnhill Farm, where Orwell wrote the novel 1984, is on the remote Scottish island of Jura. You can still rent the house today and the living conditions are much the same as they were then. It is still only accessible by boat. And the atmosphere there can awaken the creative spirit in you too. But is it possible to overcome Orwell's unforgettable, terrifying vision of the future of mankind? The house on the memorial plaque was created by British illustrator Mark Mc Laughlin, who specialises in watercolour and oil paintings.
Shrapnel from a beer bottle found near the Mariánská labour camp
A shard from a beer bottle was found near the garden wall lining the former Mariánská camp complex. It is a part of a bottle from the beginning of the 20th century from the brewery in Horšovský Týn. The full name on the glass reads: "BÜRGERL. RAUEREI B. TEINITZ EIGENTUM DER BRAUEREI'.
There were a number of labour camps in the Jáchymov region, among the more unknown ones were Rovnost, Svornost and Bratrství. In contrast, the Mariánská camp, which was located on the site of a former Baroque monastery called Mariasorg, has been unjustly omitted. The Capuchins, who started building a monastery on Mariánská in 1755, remained there until the end of World War II. The German religious were forcibly displaced from the monastery, as were the local German civilian population. The remaining brothers carried out their spiritual ministry not only in the monastery but also in the surrounding villages until September 1949. Camp Marian I was intended for the internment of juveniles between the ages of 18 and 21 (maximum age 25) and had a capacity of around 800 convicts. The code name of the penal camp at Mariánská was the letter "B".
Camp Mariánská served first as a prisoner of war camp and then as a penal labour camp. In addition to miners, criminal prisoners (a variable group including, for example, murderers convicted of violent crimes or petty crime and sexual offences) and retributive prisoners (sentenced after World War II by the Extraordinary People's Courts and, in the most serious cases, by the National Court under the small and large retributive decrees), people who disagreed with the ruling regime of the time served there. Among them, for example, were the heroes of the Western Resistance, i.e. airmen and soldiers, but also Catholic priests and intellectuals (teachers, doctors, philosophers, etc.) They all mined the radioactive uranium ore that the Soviet Union needed to produce the nuclear bomb. One of the infamous guards at Mariánská was František Paleček, who, after graduating from the seven-week SNB school in January 1950, was assigned there as a member of the security and commander of the guard in the SNB Jeřáb unit. The commanders of the camp were also, for example, Staff Sergeant Procházka of the Prison Guard Association, members of the National Security Corps Dvořák, Bilanský, Vašíček, Rezek, Cibulka, Bedrych and Dobruský.
The original prison camp stood on the site of today's Home for Persons with Disabilities. After the new camp was built in 1951, the buildings served as SNB barracks. About three hundred metres from the monastery stood six quarters, an administrative and cultural barrack, a boiler house and a kitchen. Two smaller barracks served as an infirmary and quarantine. Interrogation and disciplinary cells were set up in the cellars of the Church of the Assumption. The Church of St. Francis later served as a warehouse and shooting range. Unlike some of the other uranium camps, Marianska was not established in the immediate vicinity of any uranium shaft. The local prisoners were escorted to the Eva shaft in fours and fives and tied with rope. Later, they farmed at the Adam shaft. From there, on 5 September 1950, a group of prisoners working to establish the Adam pit tried to escape. The monastery buildings fell into disrepair after the abolition of the camp on 1 April 1960, and on 31 May 1965 the whole area, including the two churches, was demolished. Only the perimeter walls of the extensive monastery garden have been preserved.
Oval enamel sign National School
Compulsory school attendance dates back to the late 16th century in Europe. In the historical territory of the Bohemian Kingdom, compulsory school attendance was first imposed in the Principality of Olesnica in Silesia in 1683 and applied to children aged six to nine. The Habsburg monarchy did not introduce universal compulsory schooling (mostly on the Prussian model) until 1774 under Maria Theresa. Even so, she was far from being the last on the European continent.
The Austrian school system has gradually changed and evolved. In the 19th century, a system based on Hasner's Law took hold for a long time. At that time, the common school (five or eight years old) was the first level of the national school and the second level was the burgher school (three years old). This system was practically adopted by the Czechoslovak Republic.
The National School, whose enamel sign is in the collections of the Museum of Memory of the 20th Century, was created after 1948 by renaming the municipal school. The name National School was used only until 1953.
Průkaz člena Pomocké stráže Veřejné bezpečnosti
V 80. letech minulého století byla Pomocná stráž Veřejné bezpečnosti (PS-VB) již několik desetiletí etablovanou organisací, která sdružovala – jak již název napovídá – civilní spolupracovníky Veřejné bezpečnosti. Do řad PS-VB byli přijímáni občané, kteří byli „oddáni socialistickému společenskému a státnímu zřízení a požívají všeobecné vážnosti a důvěry“.
The assistants performed their duty without weapons and always in civilian clothes, visibly marked with armbands and provided with a legitimation. Their tasks were mainly of a policing nature (e.g. preventing illegal activities, stopping and checking vehicles, legitimising persons), but also of an intelligence nature (gathering information for counter-intelligence, movement of diplomatic vehicles).
The collection card belonged to PS-VB member Václav V. and was issued in 1987.
The roots of the PS-VB go back to the early 1950s and it was abolished in 1990.
Sběratelská hokejová karta a podpis hokejové legendy Stanislava Konopáska
Stanislav Konopásek (1923-2008) byl klíčovou postavou československé hokejové reprezentace při cestě za zlatými medailemi z mistrovství světa v Praze v roce 1947, ve Stockholmu v roce 1949 a olympijským stříbrem ze Svatého Mořice roku 1948. Kariéra Stanislava Konopáska i většiny jeho kolegů z reprezentace byla násilně ukončena vládnoucím komunistickým režimem. Ještě nedávno oslavovaní „zlatí hoši“ byli v říjnu 1950 ve vykonstruovaném politickém procesu odsouzeni k mnohaletým trestům odnětí svobody, v případě Stanislava Konopáska se jednalo o dvanáct let.
Hedvábný šátek Vlasty Štěrbové
This silk scarf is the most personal part of the gift donated to our museum by Mr. Zdeněk Klíma. The scarf belonged to his mother Vlasta Štěrbová, who together with her mother Maria became one of the dozens of victims of the provocative action of the State Security "Stone".
For Mrs. Vlasta Štěrbová, married name Klímová, we rang 5.2.2024 within the project Bells of Memory. Her medallion can be seen on the website of the project Vlasta Štěrbová, married name Klímová - Prague.eu
Vojenský deníček ze sklonku Rakouska-Uherska
"In one corporal shalt thou trust!"
The hand-illustrated and cartoonishly illustrated book with the subtitle Verses and Songs /F. Kotnour/ contains poems, persiflages, drawings, slanderous sayings, military incidents and jokes against the Austrian potentate. It dates from 1909. It was donated to the museum by Marta Myšková.
Hladová koruna
Protikomunistický leták připomínající novou československou jednokorunovou bankovku z období po měnové reformě v roce 1953. Tato krádež za bílého dne, o které věděli jen špičky KSČ, připravila obyvatele Československa o většinu úspor. Hladové koruny dopadaly z balónů na Československo ve stovkách tisíc exemplářů, připomínaly neúspěch poúnorové ekonomické politiky KSČ a vyzývaly obyvatelstvo k odporu vůči sovětské nadvládě. Hladovou korunu věnoval muzeu Radek Schovánek.
Průvodce protektorátní Prahou
Vítězné náměstí jako Platz der Wehrmacht, Vodičkova ulice jako Wasser Gasse, náměstí Míru přejmenované na Reichsplatz… Jedním z exponátů v místnosti věnované v rámci připravované stálé expozice v Domě pážat Staroměstskému náměstí bude také německý průvodce protektorátní Prahou z roku 1941. Jeho součástí je i podrobný plán města. Mapa poslouží i jako dobový pramen, z něhož si lze udělat představu o podobě a jazykových proměnách našeho hlavního města za časů protektorátu.
Psací stroj z Rádia Svobodná Evropa
Muzeum získalo v dubnu 2023 do svých sbírek psací stroj zn. Adler z redakce Rádia Svobodná Evropa v Mnichově. Stroj má kombinovanou česko-německou klávesnici a pochází z pozůstalosti Vladimíra Beneše (1. 4. 1928 – 9. 12. 2021), dlouholetého produkčního i režiséra pořadů československé a české redakce Rádia Svobodná Evropa v Mnichově a rovněž vydavatele exilového Českého slova. Psací stroj včetně stolku, na kterém v redakci stával, a další cenné dobové předměty spojené s RFE daroval muzeu jeho syn Michal Beneš.
Medailonek otce Sergeje Vojcechovského
Muzeum paměti XX. století získalo do připravované stálé expozice stříbrný medailonek z roku 1902 ve tvaru knihy, s osobním věnováním otci generála Sergeje Vojcechovského (1883—1951). Tento původně ruský carský důstojník, legionář, jeden z vůdců antibolševického hnutí na Sibiři, posléze generál čs. armády a účastník protinacistického odboje, byl 11. května 1945 unesen z Prahy příslušníky SMĚRŠ do SSSR. Zemřel 7. dubna 1951 v sibiřském táboře Ozerlag. Unikátní sbírkový předmět zapůjčila rodina generála Vojcechovského.
Morývkovo okno
Dvě okenní křídla z bytu v 1. patře domu v ulici Pod Terebkou v Nuslích (dnes Čiklova 19, 14000 Praha 4), spjatého s odbojovou skupinou „Tří králů“. Z tohoto okna se po lanku antény spustili 13. 5. 1941 štábní kapitán Václav Morávek s četařem Františkem Peltánem, který se skupinou spolupracoval. Morávek přitom přišel o ukazováček na levé ruce, který si o lanko uřízl. Na schodišti jejich útěk kryl Josef Mašín, který byl ale gestapem dopaden a později popraven. Poslední ze „Tří králů“ podplukovník Josef Balabán byl v té době již několik týdnů zatčen a později též popraven. Okno věnoval Muzeu paměti XX. století Karel Polata.
Trička s motivy sovětské invaze 1968
Muzeum získalo do sbírek dvě pánská trika s motivy tanků jako symbolu sovětských invazí, včetně té do Československa v roce 1968. Trička získal dárce Jan Šanda od bývalého pracovníka Československého rozhlasu Bedřicha (Fredericka) Cechla, který žil v letech 1968-2003 v kanadském exilu v Torontu. Na jednom z triček je nápis “ Visit Russia before Russia visits you“, na druhém „Soviet world tour – Coming soon to a country near you“ a seznam zemí, do kterých Sovětský svaz vojensky intervenoval.
Both pieces were most likely produced in the 1980s.
