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AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN
bunkers was modelled on the French Maginot Line. It was especially
Czechoslovakia’s northern border towards Germany, between the towns of
Ostrava and Nachod, where the heaviest defence was built but also the
western border towards Germany and Austria was included in the defence
line (Kaufmann 1999:240). In the study area 17 bunkers were installed at
strategic positions, such as by the crossing over the border river Dyji (Thaya
in German), in order to halt any attacks (Figure 55).
In 1938 the French, Italians and British signed the Sudetenland areas
over to the Germans in the Münich Agreements, forcing Czechoslovakia to
hand these territories over to the Nazis (Shepherd 2000:15). Even though
the majority of the Sudeten Germans were socialist and ready to fight
against the Nazis they were sacrificed in hope that this would avoid another
war. On the 29 th of September 1938 the Sudeten German areas were handed
over to become German nationals (Zimmermann 1938:16–18). This deal
also meant the majority of the Czechoslovakian defence line now came to
lie within German-Austrian territory causing the Czechoslovak state to
become completely unprotected against Hitler’s troops.
With the Czechoslovakian state in a vulnerable situation Slovakia’s
demands of autonomy had to be met and on the 6 th of October 1938 a
second Czecho-Slovak Republic was declared. This was not to last long,
however, with pressure from Germany mounting, giving Slovakia the ultimatum
of declaring itself an independent state, with Germany’s support, or
being taken over by Hungary. On the 14 th of March 1939 Slovakia declared
themselves independent from the Czechs and with that became a Nazi
puppet state. It was then easy for the Germans to occupy the Czech lands
and making it the ‘Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia’, a part of the Nazi
Reich (Innes 2001:14). During German occupation many of the Jewish
populations were deported to concentration camps. When I visit the town
of Šafov, just on the edge of the study area, the old Jewish graveyard
demonstrates the large Jewish community that once thrived here.
A new political order
After World War II the allies, who wanted to restore the Czechs and
Slovaks as they had been before the war, created a third Czechoslovakia.
Through round-table discussions in Moscow, representatives from the
Soviet Union and Britain discussed the future of the new state. As the Czech
communist party had created strong ties with the Red Army during their
strong presence in the country during 1944–45 they found themselves in a
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