Ing. Karel Stein

“If we’re talking about German-Czech relations, an interesting thing is that my grandmother, who was born in the year 1900, used to say that Sudeten Germans distinguished between Old Czechs and New Czechs. But not in the sense as it’s taught at school [vernacular terms for two rival Czech political parties in the later 19th century - trans.]. Old Czechs were those who came before 1918, who came to find work. The mostly married German women, at home they spoke German or a mix of Czech and German. She said that there was absolutely no problem coexisting together before 1918 or in the early days of the First Republic, and that it wasn’t until during the First Republic, when important positions were taken by Czechs and Germans were forced to leave their jobs, that the German inhabitants, who had lived here for centuries, felt to certain extent threatened by the Czechs, some kind of Czechisation, so they were afraid. And this was aggravated by unemployment, that’s how my grandmother explained the rise of nationalistic tensions to me.”

“The interesting this is a lot of people built on Míla Nevrlý’s work, whereas I researched local history at the same time as he did, and to begin with I knew nothing about him. I remember feeling like a total loon because no one else was interested in anything even slightly similar in the Seventies and early Eighties. I felt I was all alone in it. Except when I visited the archive in Děčín, where there were a few people, for example Doctor Helena Smíšková, who took an interest in history and local history. But I felt very lonely in Varnsdorf. Almost like a freak... And now there’s a society established under the museum, clubs, all sorts of activities going on now, I had no idea it could happen. Then when I discovered Míla Nevrlý’s Kniha Jizerských hor [Book of the Jizera Mountains], I reckoned: ‘I’m not completely alone on this world, there is someone else who’s interested in the same thing.’ I was deeply touched by the book, completely enthused; we became good friends with Míla. That was nice.”