[email protected]
“If we want to know
the times in which our
ancestors lived, we have to
try to understand
the challenges, oppression,
and the temptations
they were faced with.”
www.memoryofnations.eu
www.pametnaroda.cz
(From the recollections of Václav
Havel published at the Memory
of Nations website)
What is Memory of Nations?
Memory of Nations is an international platform bringing together a number of projects from
all around the world that deal with mapping the recollections of historic witnesses. It is a webbased archive where those who find it useful may gather recollections and memories of
witnesses in digitized audio and video format (like recordings, photographs, etc.). The idea for
the project was born in 2008 in the Czech Republic.
Post Bellum is a non-for profit organization, pre-dominantly made up of journalists and historians, who, since 2001, have been collecting the memories of those
who witnes-ses first-hand the period of Nazism and Communism. Their collection
“The Stories of the 20th Century” is the most extensive documentary project in
the Czech Republic.
Why was Memory of Nations created?
The history of Europe has many common chapters, be it World War II or the Communist
era. The people who lived through these times may have differing views on the same historic
events. Their experiences may be different, they may bear each other out or complement one
another. One of the aims of Memory of Nations is to give those who are searching for more
through and more heterogeneous insights the opportunity to look at history from various
angles. All interviews published at Memory of Nations are available in the original language,
and the most important excerpts have been translated into English.
Czech Radio is a Czech public media institution which has a vast archive of
audio recordings and equipment.
The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes is an institution dealing
with the documentation, research and analysis of non-democratic regimes of the
20th century.
Besides these three, dozens of other institutions and individuals from the Czech Republic, as well as
abroad, have joined the creation of the Memory of Nations collection.
“There are still people living among us who remember the war, who witnessed the repressions of
totalitarian regimes, who had to overcome immense hardship, and risk their lives so that we can
live in peace and democracy today. Some tell the story of their fall and suffering. We want these
stories to be remembered. Memory of Nations is like a mirror that makes you ask yourself: ‘How
would I act in similar circumstances?”
Mikuláš Kroupa, director of Post Bellum and head of the team of Memory of Nations
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The closest team Memory of Nations
TIP
Besides recording the memories of witnesses and publishing them at Memory of Nations, we’re
also running other projects aimed at the promotion of our work. Want to know more about what
we do? Take a look e. g. at page 12.
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What is
Memory of Nations?
Filming eyewitness Miluška Havlůjová
How do we record witnesses?
The collection of Memory of Nations contains more than 3000 recordings of the
memories of war veterans, former concentration-camp inmates, political prisoners,
dissidents, and, also, “common people” who became witnesses of significant events of the
20th century. On the other hand, we also have confessions of witnesses from the “other side”:
Communist functionaries, agents and informers of the secret state police like the KGB or NKVD,
members of the security apparatus, etc.
Memory of Nations contains audio and video recordings of the interviews with
witnesses. A new feature of the recordings is the Eye Direct technology, which enables us to
keep direct eye contact with the witness without him or her having to look into the camera
objective.
Who we are
and what we do?
Who we are and what we do?
Photos of witnesses
Photos of witnesses
The more recollections we store in the Memory of Nations archive, the more varied
and clear this mosaic will become.
History can be studied from a multitude of perspectives. We want the scope
of stories available at Memory of Nations to be as broad as possible, in order to provide for
comparisons. By comparing the story of a political prisoner and a prosecutor of the Communist
era, you may surprisingly find that judgment on people’s lives will not be as easy as you’d expect
it to be at first look.
We don’t want to disturb the witness by the technology employed. We ask less
and listen more to what the witness has to say. We also sit with the individual several
times. This person usually talks about his or her youth, parents, growing up, moments
of important decisions or great disappointments, weakness, defiance, battles
won, and battles lost. The sittings produce many hours of recordings. We also digitize
photographs and original documents, and then we complete the recording with text.
Everything that’s related to the story of the witness is stored in the archive.
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Want to know who’s publishing and what is published on the Memory of Nations website? You’ll
find the answer on page 8.
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How does Memory of Nations work?
What are our outcomes?
If, for example, you’re looking for the Battle of Stalingrad, you’ll go to WWII, Eastern front,
Dukla, and you’ll be presented with a list of relevant battles.
If you’re interested in the recollections of survivors of the Holocaust or political prisoners,
you’ll find them in the relevant categories. Every event and every category has a brief description
and boasts dozens or even hundreds of stories. You may also use the full-text search.
Memory of Nations in numbers as of November 1, 2013
- No. of published witnesses: 1.837
- No. of witnesses stored in the database: 3.588
- No. of partner projects involved: 34
- No. of registered users: 3.732
We offer our partners methodological as well as technical support and assistance. Partners
may freely use our database and the editing program which enables the effective processing
of recordings, the organization of time, and the presentation of structured data from Memory
of Nations on their own web site through RSS channels. For archiving content, we use the most
up-to-date technologies guaranteed by the Czech Radio.
The regular user versus the researcher The Memory of Nations
portal distinguishes between regular internet users and so-called
researchers. You can become a researcher by filling put a form in which you
give basic information about yourself,
just like in a physical archive.
The researcher is then granted
access to the complete recordings
and further additional material and
he may also join discussions on-line
(researchs room).
Memory of Nations is accessible in
13 language mutations:
Photo of the witness of John Pecka
How does
Memory of Nations work?
Here at Memory of Nations, we pay attention to every detail of even the most subtle
recollection of a witness. We store it in our archive and make it accessible to people who’re
professionally or personally interested in modern history. Our internet archive contains a vast
amount of material. The user may search the archive for recordings of witnesses, biographies,
photographs, diaries, archival material, etc., either by choosing the particular historic event he’s
interested in (like a battle, for instance) or by browsing the witnesses’ categories.
Photo of the witness Ota Mádr
Every recording of an interview with a witness includes a reference to its author who sets
the usage rights for the content himself. The witnesses sign a letter of consent whereby they
agree with the archiving and a possible publication of the material.
More informations on www.memoryofnations.eu
Reasons for storing the recordings in the Memory of Nations database: Memory
of Nations is an on-going project that involves dozens of institutions and individuals from all
around the world. Everybody who works with witnesses, records their stories, and wants to
share his collection of stories with others may join us.
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The story isn’t over for us by recording the interview. Take a look at page 14 to learn about what we do
with the material acquired.
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What you can find in the Memory of Nations Archive?
The Stories of the 20th Century
“Freedom is not for free.
No one can guarantee you
that there will be no next
idiot who’ll dupe the people
again.”
Army General Tomáš Sedláček fought at the
Western as well as the Eastern front lines in WWII.
In the 1950‘s, the war hero became one of the
political prisoners and was subjected to cruel
torture. Among other things, he was prevented
from sleeping for 9 days and nights. He had to
continuously walk back and forth in his solitary
confinement. His story was recorded and is among
the Stories of the 20th Century, the greatest
documentary project of Memory of Nations.
Boy Scout Century
“Life is a game and
Scouting gives rules to that
game.”
After the Junák had been banned during
WWII, František Wretzl, by his Scout name
“Baron”, and his Scout troop became involved in
various illegal resistance activities. A stool pigeon,
however, gave him away to the Gestapo, and that
was the beginning of Mr. Wretzl’s journey through
prisons and camps in Theresienstadt, Flossenbürg
and Legenfeld. At the end of the war, he ran away
from a death march and took part in the Prague
Uprising of 1945.
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The liberation of Western Bohemia
by the American Army
“My husband told me:
I’ll come back alive in ten
years if things go well.”
Ida Milotová spent the happiest moments in her
life at the end of the war when the American liberators
came to Plzeň. Her story and many others are covered by the project The Liberation of Western Bohemia
by the American Army, that is supported by the U.S.
Embassy in Prague.
Iron Curtain Stories
“When the gunfight broke out,
I was in a pretty bad state. So
I told myself that I’d thus go to
Bavaria.”
Post Bellum (Czech Republic), University of Mainz (Germany), Post Bellum SK (Slovakia), Institute for the History of the
1956 Hungarian Revolution (Hungary), Istrian Historical Society
(Croatia), Sighet Memorial (Romania), Centre Karta (Poland).
After the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in
1948, František Zahrádka became an agent, smug-gling people across the border. The route he had to
walk - as well as many other places connected to the
destinies of people whose lives were influenced by
the Iron Curtain - is depicted on a map that’s available
via the application Memory of Nations Mobile.
Georgian and Armenian
Testimonies, Chechen Memories
In his youth, the Slovak doctor Silvester
Krčméry became involved in the resistance against the war-time Slovak state and subsequent„We will rehabilitate Georgian
ly he fought against Communism for almost his
Army, we should be the first
entire life. In Communist times, he managed to
who enters to Georgia and
organize a complex underground resistance movesave the country from
ment of the Church which was peacefully but persiRussians and Germans“
stently undermining the authority of the Communist
regime. The story of his life and many others were
Studio Re (Georgia), Institute for Policy Studies (Geor- recorded by our colleagues from the Slovak Nation´s
gia), Analytical Centre for Globalization and Regional Coope- Memory Institute.
ration (Armenia), Regional Social Fund for Family (Russia).
Tariel Kutetaladze used to be a soldier of the
Red Army who was captured by the Germans while
fighting in the Baltic region. After having returned
to the Soviet Union, he was sent to a Gulag, in
Vorkuta, for 10 years. The Memory of Nations
database contains the stories of dozens of people
from the Caucasus who also found themselves in
the Gulag for various reasons.
Memory of Nations in the USA
The newly created branch of Memory of Nations
in the USA aims principally at Czech emigrants and
war veterans.
Witnesses of the Oppression Period
“Although you have
the power, we have the
truth.”
Testimonies from Western Ukraine
„We were dropped down, and then
were taken into a boat and transported
by sea into taiga. It seemed like we
would never get out of there.“
Western Ukrainian Historical Research Centre, The Church
History Institute of the Ukrainian Catholic University Museum – Archive of Plast Movement, and the story of Mrs.
Marija Mikitka echoes the fate of tens of thousands
of Ukrainian women who in the 1950‘s were deported,
with their families, to Siberia for having refused to
convert from the Greek-Catholic
Faith to the Orthodox Church.
The Memory of Nations database
contains dozens of testimonies
of Ukrainian witnesses and of
people from other parts of the
former Soviet Union.
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Stories of the 20th
Century
Stories of the 20th Century
Memory
Aplikace of
Paměť
Nations
národa
Mobile Application
“We tell the stories that have been forgotten or that were supposed to be forgotten. Czech
history also has its heroes and cowards, dark times, and moments of great deeds.” This is what
the listeners of the Czech Radio hear on air since May 2006. The documentary cycle “The Stories
of the 20th Century” brings to life the memories of the witnesses adapted by journalists. It is one
of the most successful Czech radio programs.
“When I’m looking for
a story that I’ll use,
I’m guided by chance.
The story simply
comes my way. It has
never happened so far
that I didn’t find an
interesting story,”
The mobile application of Memory of Nations, is an interactive guide to the places connected to the events of the 20th century.
It gives you your location and shows you a map with the “places of memory” surrounding
you. Thanks to the application, the places will speak to you. Imagine you’re walking through
a village, underneath a lime tree, there’s an old man sitting. You can either pass him or start
a conversation with him and learn about the history of the place. He will tell you his story and
what happened in the place. This is exactly what the application can do. With the help of the
witnesses, it can tell people the stories of the places on the spot. The application was developed
for the Android and iOS operating systems.
Learn the stories of the places you’re passing every day.
Find Memory of Nations App in your Google Play or App Store!
says Mikuláš
Kroupa, one of the
authors of Stories of
the 20th Century.
The authors Stories of 20th century: Mikuláš Kroupa a Adam Drda
“We come across stories that simply stick in your head; you can’t forget them. These are frequently
stories full of pain and injustice. The only cure we have is to tell these stories to others,”
Map of the stories
adds Adam Drda, the second author of this documentary cycle.
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With the mobile application, you can make a tour along the former Iron Curtain. The project Iron
Curtain Stories is mapping stories connected to the Iron Curtain throughout Europe and publishing
them. You can find the details on page 8.
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Exhibitions
Knihy
At Memory of Nations, we’ve chosen thirteen interesting life stories
and asked thirteen leading Czech and Slovak artists to turn them into a comic.
The resulting comic book was – among other things – awarded as the best Czech
comic book of 2012. It also received the Muriel prize for the best comic at the
Comic festival and the best-short-story award.
Exhibitions / Books
A concentration camp has appeared at the Karlovo náměstí Square in
Prague in May 2012!
The imitation of the concentration camp was to symbolize the 261
Czechoslovaks who were executed in 1942 in Mauthausen by the Nazis as the
retaliation for the assassination of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich. Seventy years after
this incident, the people of Memory of Nations have created this untraditional exhibition
that symbolically tells 70 stories of resistance fighters and their families that helped the
paratroopers, but also of the Nazi criminals. The exhibition attracted almost 48 thousand
visitors in a month and a half. Pupils and students accounted for over 10 thousand visitors.
This exhibition is one of our many successful projects.
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Exhibition Heydrich 70
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Memory of Nations Award
Ceny Paměti národa
Memory of Nations Award
Every year, we give the Memory of Nations Award to people who have demonstrated with their deeds, at some point in their life, that honor, freedom and human
dignity aren’t just empty words.
The laureates are chosen by the members of the Memory of Nations Club, our collaborators, the representatives of our partner institutions, and the researchers registered at Memory of Nations. The ceremony at which the prize is awarded is held on
November 17, as the occasion of this day so significant for Czech history. It is regularly
broadcasted live by the Czech TV and Radio and its original concept is devised by leading Czech and European artists (for example Václav Marhoul, Jan Svěrák, Matěj Forman,
Agnieszka Holland).
Memory of Nations Award 2012
National Theatre, Memory of Nations Award 2012
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The stories of the recipients of the Memory of Nations Award have been covered by the
documentary cycle Stories of the 20th Century. Take a look at page 10!
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Memory of Nations Club
Memory of Nations can carry on its activities mainly thanks to the help of its small donors
and sponsors.
In particular, we’d like to thank the members of the Memory of Nations Club. These
people support our work with small but regular contributions. The contributions are used for
recording further stories of witnesses, educational projects, workshops and seminars with
students and witnesses, the organization of exhibitions and the development of Memory of
Nations. We offer the club members in return the possibility to visit various vernissages, take trips
with us and come to the concerts and other events we organize. We also send them our electronic
newsletter.
We receive further funding from grants and endowments (Europe for Citizens, Visegrad Fund,
Czech-Polish Forum, Czech-German Future Fund, US Embassy Prague, Vodafone Foundation,
etc.) We’d like to thank all of them.
If you want to support us as well, contribute at:
Post Bellum, Na Hřebenkách 82/2909, 150 00 Praha 5
IBAN: CZ 8001000000511707230277
Bank SWIFT (BIC): KOMBCZPPXXX
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