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5: CASE STUDY 2: THE CZECH/AUSTRIAN BORDER along the river fairly far into the woodlands had a much larger amount of graffiti in it than the structures at the stations. In fact there were few sections of the walls and the ceiling that did not feature writing by soldiers. The writing here also had a much wider spread through time with a lot of much earlier dates. This suggests that the hut in the woodlands were barely visited by higher ranking staff and therefore were considered more of a soldiers’ ´free zone´ where they could get away with a less strict behaviour. It also suggests that writing on the walls was generally not an accepted practice as there is a relatively small amount of writings on the walls in the dormitories, which could easily be inspected by higher ranking staff. The fact that the writing that we do find in the dormitories is of a later date, not too long before the border guard station was closed down in 1991, suggests that there was less importance placed on strict behaviour or that defying the rules had less consequences. Different sources – different stories Three pictures emerge of the border guards: the first of soldiers as defenders and keepers of the socialist ideals, the official line, which becomes clear from paintings, signs, the “propaganda room”, the orderly soldier that polishes his shoes; the second image being of border guards as young lads, the private line. Lads who cannot wait for the end of their two year service, as seen in the graffiti left behind, who have pictures of naked ladies on the wall and who, years later, reminisce about their time together on an online forum. But there is also the more brutal view from other sources, of guards shooting people trying to escape over the border. I cannot help but feel that the different images of the border guards clash in my head. On the one hand you have the brutal stories of border guards dragging people into the Czechoslovakian side of the border in order to arrest them, as well as pictures of those they killed and on the other hand you have the images of young men doing their military service counting down the days until they can go home, trying to entertain themselves best they can until that day comes. The different stories that emerge from the different sources do not match but are all equally valid. Today the area of the Podyji Park is mostly used for recreational purposes and to create a ‘utopia’ for animals and vegetation. The landscape we see today is the result of many different phases of history. Today a lot of emphasis is put on remembering the days of the area as part of Vranov Castle Park. The monuments from this part of the history has been restored, renovated and given a new lease of life. What material that has survived 179
AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN from the militarized phase of the park’s history has been more by accident than by choice. In fact in areas where there are more tourists there has been more of a ‘clean up’ whilst in areas that are less used or where access is prohibited things have survived better, for example soldiers huts. The park’s aim is stated on their website: “The target for a protected land, which is awarded the statute of a national park, is primarily to develop the natural values towards a near-natural state and the protection of biodiversity” (Podyji National Park Website). It is clear that the emphasis for the park is on the nature aspects rather than the history. They are however strongly linked with the last two centuries history having created the park as it is today. In fact, had it not been for the militarised borders here nature would probably not have been left as undisturbed as it was. The only part of the former militarised landscape that has been left alone on purpose is the fence and watchtower at Čižov although this appears to have been done not through an official decision but rather through the initiative of one employee. Through new usages of the park as a recreational area and a protected natural zone the everyday actions of new users, tourists, guides, locals, park rangers, create a new landscape by reusing the old, walking the old Castle Park paths walked by border guards, peeking into World War II bunkers, or resting by the former shooting range. Apart from the material remains that we found in the park itself which tells us of the practical everyday running of the former militarized border we have other sources that sometimes tell a rather different story. The stories may not contradict each other as such but they do show very different aspects of the Iron Curtain, for example between Austria and Czechoslovakia. The physical remains tells us the story of the practical, everyday running of a highly militarized area where the main aim was to stop anyone trying to get through. The memories of former officers and soldiers, both in direct communication and through the Army Forum, tell the story of lads doing their military service, making the best of a time when they would probably have rather been somewhere else. The archival sources in turn also has a different story to tell and here it depends somewhat on what archives one looks at – are we getting the view from the East or the West From the vast information from archives in the Czech Republic and reports produced by the communist regime we see a rather cold representation of people trying to cross and how to avoid this. We have best practice manuals and a large proportion of escape reports, both successful and unsuccessful. These reports included description of the events, photos and maps in order to learn from every escape attempt and tighten up the 180
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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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CHAPTER 5 Case Study 2 The Czech/Au
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Page 216 and 217: Sammanfattning (Summary in Swedish)
Page 218 and 219: SAMMANFATTNING En fysisk metafor I
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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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