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5: CASE STUDY 2: THE CZECH/AUSTRIAN BORDER his wife shows us some pictures from the family album of their first years in the house. “About half of the vehicles used by the army were Russian whilst half were Czech”, he explains. “Our car was Russian” he continues and points to a picture with the family gathered around a car. I cannot tell much about the car as it is mostly hidden behind people posing on and around it, children as well as adults, but it is clear from the people that this was not a car to be ashamed of. “It was important for me as an officer to keep on a good footing with the soldiers. Everything worked much more efficient if there was a friendly atmosphere”. He thinks back and starts laughing a bit to himself “Have you seen all the pools around here” I nod as I have seen the many natural pools in the area and he carries on “sometimes when they were out on their patrols they stopped to have a swim. They thought we didn’t notice”. It all sounds more like a holiday camp then the army. Almost as if he can read my thoughts he flicks in “Of course it was all serious business but I think compared to other jobs in the army, a border guard had a fairly easy time”. He emphasises the fun that was had by the boys and maybe these are the memories he has taken with him. He explains how the place looked very different then when 50 soldiers were staying at the Šafov station as well as several guard dogs. Many of the soldiers were scared of the dogs but of course they were trained to attack. There were even pigs kept in the yard which were used for food. “Now the place is falling apart”. There is no nostalgia or regret within this sentence but merely a statement. I try to put a few more questions forward but he seems to have lost interest. Instead he shows me some photos of the time all taken at the training facilities in Jemnice. “We were not allowed to take any pictures at the actual border or at the stations. No cameras were allowed.” I am allowed to photograph some of his pictures however, and he explains them as I go along. There are pictures of him posing with a small group of soldiers, then one picture with a larger group of soldiers posing in front of a barbed wire fence. Some of the soldiers are holding long poles with double hooks at the end, he explains: “For clearing the fences”. I ask about a picture of a boy in uniform posing with a dog and the wife answers that this was one of the soldiers that were originally from Slovakia. They do not know anything else about him. There are also pictures of the officer and the soldiers being instructed in how to dismantle the fences (Figure 97). “The beginning of the end” he says and laughs. This is also the end to our interview and l understand that although he does not so much mind sharing information 171
AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN about his time as an officer this is a chapter of his life that is over and there are many other things he would rather do with his time that dwell on the past. He accompanies us to the door. As we leave the house one of the geese is splashing around in a bucket of water. I look around and to my eye there is little here that would distinguish this house built by soldiers for army purposes from the other houses in the village. Figure 97: Learning to dismantle of the fences at the Jemnice training facility. Published with kind permission of Tomas. Archive studies In the record office at Brno I search through file after file of official reports, maps, photos and best practice guides. I have been told that the files of the border guards stretch 1 km of archive shelves. I have been given the files of what is thought to be roughly the area I am interested in as the files have not been fully sorted. Many people would consider my attempts to understand this material without speaking the language futile. But just seeing the vast amounts of paperwork produced in order to keep the borders secure says something in itself. The constant need for upgrading, for reporting and to train and support the guardians of the border is almost beyond comprehension. 172
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An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain
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An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain
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Contents Acknowledgements 11 CHAPTE
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The end of a journey 212 Sammanfatt
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AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction Standing on
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1: INTRODUCTION carried out of the
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1: INTRODUCTION they may be… It i
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1: INTRODUCTION where the observer
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1: INTRODUCTION former Iron Curtain
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1: INTRODUCTION criticism from othe
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1: INTRODUCTION itioned somewhere i
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1: INTRODUCTION World War II dividi
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CHAPTER 2 A physical metaphor Concr
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR established
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR The changing
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR the events t
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR As time has
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR highly influ
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR popular idea
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Figure 16: Postcard of the newly op
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402 Kojsko Hum 402 THE OSIM
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Figure 50: Map demonstrating the bo
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Page 121 and 122: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN
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Page 216 and 217: Sammanfattning (Summary in Swedish)
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SAMMANFATTNING Fältstudier av läm
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SAMMANFATTNING som försöker ta si
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SAMMANFATTNING mets dilemma”. Han
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Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations
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33. Sofie Bedford, Islamic activism
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67. Anne Kaun, Civic Experiences an
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Stockholm Studies in Archaeology Se
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29. LINDGREN, Christina. 2004. Män
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The Iron Curtain was seen as the di
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