SOU OBÉ ĚJINY - Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV - Akademie věd ČR

520 Soudobé dějiny XVI / 2–3
The author puts the Talich case into the broader context of the post-war settling
of scores with real or imagined henchmen and sympathizers of the German
forces of occupation. He considers the character of the people forming the moral
judgements, by examining their attitudes towards Communism and its desired
dictatorship of the proletariat and class struggle. Particularly Nejedlý, who
repeatedly criticized Talich publicly after the war, and did not try to understand
the motives behind his behaviour in the Protectorate, showed very little courage
when standing face to face with Stalinist repression. On the whole, however, it is
fair to say that the politicians involved (including President Edvard Beneš) showed
considerable restraint in the Talich case, and made it possible to investigate
his war-time behaviour thoroughly according to the law. The author rejects as
simplistic the conclusions that clearly place the blame on Talich or other artists
working in the Protectorate or, on the contrary, present these people as blameless
victims of attacks by their enemies. Every life story is individual, the author argues,
each episode must be judged in its historical context. Respect for Talich’s art and
talent will not diminish, if we concede that during the Second World War he had to
make compromises resulting from Nazi pressure, his own doubts, or simply fatigue
and having grown accustomed to the reality of Protectorate life.
Political Games with the ‘Unfinished Revolution’: Settling Accounts
with Communism during and after the Civic Forum, 1989–92
Jiří Suk
This article discusses the birth and early dynamics of Czech post-Communist
anti-Communism. It is based on the recognition that during the political takeover
in November and December 1989 the policy of radical discontinuity remained
a marginal, practically invisible and inaudible phenomenon in the mostly restful
period of civil unrest. In the generally shared atmosphere of ‘national understanding’,
which led to the historic compromise between the old, Socialist régime and the new,
democratic régime, there was no room for a policy of radically settling scores with
the Communist Party and the past. It was all the more surprising, therefore, when
demands along these lines (the relinquishing of Party property, the outlawing of the
Party, the punishment of criminal and treasonous politicians) appeared as if out
of nowhere as early as the beginning of 1990, and then intensified. Memory was
awakened and its numerous previously buried levels now emerged in public life. The
incursion of the dark, unrecognized, and unprocessed past into the artificial reality
of historic compromise caused frustration with ethics in the ranks of the nascent
political élite. It was but a small step from the political prisoners’ awakened memories
of crimes committed by the recently defeated régime to the now current problems
with the ‘nomenclature brotherhoods’ and ‘Communist mafias’ in the provinces and
in businesses throughout the country. Calls for a thorough settling of scores were
heard with increasing frequency from Civic Forum (Občanské fórum), the victorious