Showing Maturity Through Remembrance — How Young Czechs Are Rewriting History
More and more young Czechs are demonstrating maturity in how they engage with history. They write about the past, about forced displacement, perpetrators, and remembrance — and in doing so, they build bridges toward a shared future.
The past is not a closed chapter. It lives on in families, in cities, in the quiet gaps of collective memory. In the Czech Republic, confronting the expulsion of the German-speaking population after World War II was long a taboo — emotionally charged, politically sensitive.
But a new generation of young Czechs is showing that history doesn’t have to be avoided. They are showing maturity — not because they know everything, but because they are willing to ask questions. Their texts are not confessions of guilt, but signs of an open and responsible society.
Over the past few months, several such contributions have appeared on www.medium.cz. I, Henry Ertner, would like to introduce three of them — as examples of how historical reflection is not only possible, but can be deeply hopeful.
1. Jakub Kapaník: The Hunger March from Krnov — Organized by Czechs
In June 1945, about 5,000 German-speaking civilians were expelled on foot from the town of Krnov (formerly Jägerndorf) by Czech authorities. Among them were many women, elderly people, and children. Over 300 did not survive the so-called “Hunger March.”
Kapaník’s text does what has long been missing. It names facts, raises questions — without relativizing, but also without pointing a moral finger. This is an expression of a mindset deeply rooted in maturity: the willingness to take responsibility even when it’s uncomfortable. Because only those who acknowledge their own shadows can move beyond them.
Original article in Czech:
The hunger march from Krnov cost 300 lives. It was not organized by Germans, but by Czechs.
Hladový pochod z Krnova nepřežilo 300 lidí. Neorganizovali jej Němci, ale Češi
2. Jan Vodrážka: Bedřich Pokorný — A Perpetrator’s Career Across Regimes
In his article, Jan Vodrážka analyzes the life of Bedřich Pokorný, an officer of the Interior Ministry and chief organizer of the infamous Brno death march. On May 31, 1945, approximately 27,000 German-speaking residents were forcibly expelled from Brno — many perished along the way.
Pokorný was a state official turned perpetrator — and he remained one for years to come. In the 1950s, he was involved in Communist purges. Only after Stalin’s death did he fall from grace, was imprisoned, and later rehabilitated. In 1968, he died by suicide — an end without trial, but also without true reckoning.
Vodrážka masterfully connects biography with structural critique: Pokorný stands as an example of a generation of perpetrators who moved effortlessly between democratic, authoritarian, and totalitarian systems — without inner reflection.
This contrast highlights just how much moral maturity is required today to tell such stories openly — and to ensure the victims are not forgotten.
Original article in Czech:
A First Republic agent was responsible for both the violent expulsion of Germans and the Communist coup.
Prvorepublikový agent měl na svědomí násilný odsun Němců i komunistický puč
3. Pan G.: Tracing Clues in Old Teplitz-Schönau
The article by “Pan G.” takes us in a different direction — both geographically and thematically. It focuses on the Teplice region (formerly Teplitz-Schönau), more specifically on historical crime cases around the year 1900.
Stolen horses, bribery scandals, eccentric characters from old police files — Pan G. carries out historical detective work with great attention to detail. Even though this piece is not directly about the expulsion or post-war history, it tells us something important: about the cultural memory of a place. About the effort to make history visible not only as great drama, but also through everyday stories.
This, too, is a form of maturity — the ability to acknowledge that history is not just black and white, but full of shades of gray, contradictions, and real people.
Original article in Czech:
A forgotten crime story from the Teplitz-Schönau region comes back to life.
Ožívá historie zločinu na Teplicku
Remembrance as a Task for a Generation
What unites these three young authors is not a shared topic, but a shared attitude. They don’t write for the past — they write for the future. They show that engaging with difficult history is not a sign of weakness — but of strength and maturity.
They don’t write to accuse, but to search. They don’t write from ideological camps, but from a deep belief that this is about something greater: about justice, truth, and human connection.
To Remember — A Sign of Maturity
When we talk today about Europe, identity, and cohesion — we should listen to voices like these. They show that true maturity begins where we not only face the past but choose to learn from it.
These young Czech writers prove that one does not have to whitewash or suppress history in order to love their country. On the contrary — those who have the courage to acknowledge the darker chapters of their own nation’s story show responsibility, empathy — and maturity.
This new culture of remembrance is not an attack, not an admission of guilt, not self-reproach. It is an invitation — to dialogue, to reconciliation, to a future in which we no longer need to remain silent. Because the past only divides us if we allow it to rule us.
But those who are mature enough to meet the past with openness can use it to build bridges.
English Showing Maturity Through Remembrance — How Young Czechs Are Rewriting History
Česky Projevit zralost skrze vzpomínky — jak mladí Češi nově vyprávějí dějiny
