Sudetenland and Labor camps

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5/24/08

The Sudetenland… we have all heard about them, but do we know what they really are?

Writing from beautiful Cesky Krumlov. It is a beautiful, old city that has seen so much. It is very old. The streets are very narrow, there are no elevators and internet access is scarce. Cesky Krumlov is a part of the Sudetenland, one of the parts where there is still an active life today. I learned that its history is more that what was told to me. I had only heard about its pre war history in relation to Hitler, nothing after. Here is its whole relation to twentieth century history.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, Germans and Czechs lived together on this land. The two groups had been living together for quite some time. Generations of families had lived there. Germans, who had gotten used to being treated as superior, suddenly were being treated equally. Czech and German children could attend the same schools and the German superiority was nearly gone. Naturally, the Germans were upset that they no longer enjoyed the privileged life. They started a political party which evolved into an offshoot of the Nazi party later on. When Hitler was first gaining power, his main line was “Germany for the Germans.” He wanted the German nation and state to be the same. He knew about these Germans in the Sudetenland and said that they needed to be a part of Germany. The western powers said in the Munich Agreement he could have it as long as that was his last conquest in Europe. Hitler agreed and the land was handed over to him. All the Czechs living in this land were expelled. It was now a part of Germany and it was only for the Germans.

After the war, the Czechs decided to give Germany a taste of their own medicine. All the Germans were expelled from the Sudetenland. There were Czechs and Germans who had been living there for centuries who had to pick up everything they owned and leave. Of course, both sides had hard feelings for the other side. Those resentments still continue to this day. There is a monument to Edward Benis, the person who proposed and supported the idea that Germans should be moved out of this land, in front of a hotel. There are many Germans who refuse to stay at this hotel while this monument exists.

It was not until today that I knew what the Soviets did to these lands. They decided no one was allowed to live there. This was going to be their buffer zone so they could tell if anyone was escaping. Homes, churches and barns were abandoned and destroyed. We saw a church that was many centuries old that in 1959 was blown up by the Soviets. There was a cemetery near by and most of the tombstones there are either buried or destroyed. There is a memorial to that church on a hill. The hill there was created by the rubble that was left behind. There are skeletons of farms left. No one lives there. It was hard to imagine this green land having homes and a lively hood. Now there are only skeletons of the past, along with a few herds of cows.

Again, I am brought to my question, which is worse, the Nazi or the Soviet? We hear so much about the horror of Hitler’s reign and rightfully so. I was lucky enough to have a 20th century history class in high school or I would know nothing about how awful Stalin was. Stalin had the death of far more people on his hands. Does it matter that they were only his own people and that Hitler’s regime killed those from other countries as well? Why is it that rarely other countries intervene when a nation is killing their own people, but everyone is up in arms when the murder crosses borders? Shouldn’t each command the same amount of outrage? Take what is happening in China and Tibet. China has been noted for having some of the most outrageous human rights abuses known to man. Now that those abuses are spreading to Tibet we are finally taking a stand. If some nation had stepped in before when it was contained to China, we would not have to worry about Tibet as well. The crisis in Sudan started as the Rwandan Genocide, and people fled there. What if a stand was taken in Rwanda? Preventative care is always better than a cure.

Things to remember: How incredibly wonderful Cesky Krumlov is. If you get a chance, definitely visit! Stretch before hiking for 3 hours, always get the Schnitzel, take information gathered another step and it makes more sense, go to bars that have a no soviets allowed sign, dance with the silly Czech ladies, always be the roommate that keeps the keys, and lemonade=sprite.


5/25/08

Labor Camps, Soviet style

Today we stopped at a labor camp. We were not told ahead of time that this was not a Nazi camp, but rather it was a Soviet work camp. It was a place where Nazi prisoners of war were held, then political prisoners and criminals were there (and the criminals enjoyed more rights than their political prisoner counterparts). Later, it was solely a prison. The work done there was uranium mining and the workers there suffered from radiation poisoning because of it. There was a small medical facility there, but the care you received (and the amount you were fed for that matter) was completely dependent upon your efficacy as a worker. Those who were the best workers were fed better and received better care, presumably so that they could continue their good work. In the cells there, there also existed a means for torture. There were beds in many of the rooms, but people in there that were unable to work were made to stay standing even at night and they were not allowed to sleep for days on end. I believe the guide also said that they were not fed while there, or they were at least fed very little. The person lasting the longest somehow survived 30 days without sleep and with minimal food. However, there was an underground bunker that was hidden that was the ultimate punishment. There was no bed, no toilet, it was underground so it often flooded, it was isolated, dark, and the ceiling was so low that you had to crouch. People would have to sleep on the floor which also served as their toilet and often saw the effects of flooding. Usually people were kept there only a few days. The longest time someone was kept there was 21 days over the course of three months. He would starve himself nearly to the point of death, then he would be rushed to the medical facility, restored to health, and the process would begin again. People were not even allowed to die on their own time.

Dieing on your own time; it is a concept I have thought about often while I have been visiting these camps. I do not believe I would have been strong enough, physically or emotionally, to survive having everything taken away from me and becoming a prisoner to horrible people for something that is not criminal. Reading Primo Levi’s book, I was surprised to read that there were a very small number of documented cases of suicides in the camps. I do not know if it is because they were killed first, or the will to live was stronger than the idea of giving up. I thought it was strange that Levi said that the large number of suicides came about after liberation: people realized they had nothing and no one to go to and were struck with guilt at the things they had done in the camps to survive and they refused to live with those things and killed themselves. How horrible to live through one of the most terrible times in history and then you see what life has become and you cannot stand it any more. While I cannot even try to understand what that would be like, it still saddens me that they were free, and still felt trapped. I hope that those who did survive to tell others about their lives and experiences were able to live normal lives afterwards. If not normal, at least peaceful.



Things to remember: when you think something is broken, just hit it really hard and it will work again, Grey’s Anatomy is not as wonderful in Czech however Czech’s version of American Idol is amazing, the promise of internet in every hotel was solely wishful thinking, when you having grievances just call on Kirby, the Czech Republic has the best cookies ever (they are like huge communion wafers with sugar in them… yum…) and carrying 50lbs of luggage up steep hill for 15 minutes on a cobblestone road does not equal a fun time.

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