If you lived as I did, several years under Nazi totalitarianism, and ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

From the Chairman (continued from page 2) About Prague, it continues to exude medieval history and charm wherever you look. Dinner at the Opera Gardens Café was fabulous. The thirty dollar cab ride to get there from Hradčany’s beautiful Schwarzenburg Palace of Art and Lobkowitz Palace was a downer! Mass at the Cathedral Tyn in Old Town surrounded by the Christmas adornment on First Advent Sunday was indescribable. Jan took us through the Bohemian Highlands, how beautiful, where we stopped in Přibram, where he first lived and taught English, to eat a delicious lunch at Restaurace Svejk. We celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary on December 1, 2008 feting twenty friends to dinner in a charming village café in Hlohovec (one mile inside the Czech Republic from the Austrian border). The řizky Vidensky was pork steaks filled with ham and cheese, a delightful šopsky salad of cucumber, olives, tomatoes and a delectable sheep cheese, Hlohovec’s specialty potato salad, great rolls, cake and appropriate wines and much conversation. Like Gene Dietch, I speak bad Czech fluently! The next morning at 4:00 a.m. we left from an elegantly decorated Vienna airport to arrive in Amsterdam at 8:30 a.m. to a virtual Christmas wonderland of decoration, including an illuminated airplane suspended from the ceiling. As always, it was good to get home to family, the Museum and friends. We enjoyed more sunshine from the airport to our home than we had seen the three weeks in Europe! But it was a great trip. Wherever we go we continue to promote, delicately of course, our state, our country, and certainly our international city. Keep in mind you are a citizen of the world when you know your roots, from where you came, who you are, and how you fit in with our entire world’s other people and cultures. We owe it to our children and they owe it to theirs to know how we can all manage to live together. The economy is not! We have all been impacted, this year especially. Lunch meeting in Prague with Gene and Zdenka Deitch Andrea White, center, and attendees at her “We’re All Neighbors” Luncheon Jarek Slichta, Hunter and Goose That too will pass; we must have faith and do what we can to help it. Spend wisely. I can’t imagine anyone not being honored, adult or child, to have a contribution sent in their honor, i.e. to the museum. Fundraising these past two years has been more difficult than ever. We can only express deep gratitude for your gifts to the CCMH which is an asset to the city, to the state, to our USA, and to international relations. Houston Endowment has made a grant, for which we are so grateful, to begin phase one of the build out of our third floor so needed for our library, exhibit space, venue and more storage/ office space. Any additional help for this very necessary project would be appreciated. And we are grateful to all of you for your caring, your volunteer hours and gifts of any size. The first of November seemed to come to Houston earlier this year 2008. It was very much welcome however after the usual overly warm summer and an especially depressing and damaging bout contending with Hurricane Ike on September 11th and the many more weeks to follow. Many suffered more than we at the CCMH and while we were The Dervays and Rosenes at the AFoCR Gala T h e N e w s o f T h e C z e c h C e n t e r 10 grateful it wasn’t more, yet it was not easy, but Life does go on. The city’s longest running festival, the Fall Slavic Saints Cyril and Methodius Festival was an enjoyable and needed respite psychologically. Immediately thereafter besides daily museum operations, we became engaged in an important fundraiser. The American Friends of the Czech Republic (AFoCR), a Washington, DC based 501[c][3] organization is joint venturing with the City of Prague to return a bronze monument of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to commemorate his assistance to Tomas Masaryk, first president of the First Republic, in promoting a Czechoslovak democratic government in 1918. (The statue had been destroyed by the Nazis in 1938.) On the tenth of November I enjoyed greatly another birthday at the office and in fact we commandeered any staff and volunteers we could to celebrate and I made a great decision to begin a Rosene Legacy Fund for some good Czech Center purpose – believe me, there are many great purposes – and general admission to the party was a one dollar ($1.00) contribution instead of the usual flowers, chocolates or other possible beautiful gifts. I had $5.00 and thought what a great beginning, which I would invest “safely” while trying to enhance that collection. Actually I think it would be great if others would start meaningful funds like that. It was really easy! On November 12th we had a great group Alzbetka, Jarek’s granddaughter for viewing and talk in Brno Gallery followed by an authentic Slavic luncheon in Prague Hall with Champagne, music by our maestro Board member Robert Dvorak, and many of the group after touring shopped in Prague International Gifts. These very interesting and interested guests were from all over the country from the west to the east coast and in between associated with the AFoCR and in the City to attend the evening’s Gala. We were honored to meet these gracious people who came from afar to see us. We took the opportunity (James Ermis, Vice Chair and President was also attending) to present Gail Naughton, Executive Director of the tragically flooded National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library of Cedar Rapids, Iowa a gift check towards eventual restoration of this great institution. The evening’s AFoCR fundraising Gala at the J.W.Marriott Bill and Effie Rosene’s little car in the snow and ice in Hlohovec, CR Galleria benefiting its mission was indeed a grand one, such as the city has not seen before beginning with Mayor White, President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush, (Czech President Vaclav Klaus on video), former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, numerous ambassadors, multiple Honorary and Consul Generals, state and city political personages, Czech organization leaders, a substantial segment of Houston’s society and philanthropic movers and shakers and the great number of officials and friends of the AFoCR. You surely read it in the Houston Chronicle’s Shelby Hodge column! We know Galas, having administered some fifteen and numerous kinds of events and have attended others. This one was awesome! Two Great American Heroes and our “local” friends Captains Eugene Cernan and James Lovell (both of Czech and Slovak heritage) were awarded a Civil Society Vision Award for their work in space exploration on this evening. (continued on page 11)
From the Chairman (continued from page 10) Many members of the CCMH attended to help this great cause. If you were not fortunate to attend this beautiful gathering you can still be a real documented participant by sending a contribution to Phil Kasik AFoCR Monument Fund, 4410 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. #391, Washington, DC 20016. I understand next year’s reinstallation and dedication of this monument in Prague that so long stood at the Wilsonovi Train Station will be incredibly special as well! Here in south Moravia, the wine country, we arrived two days after that Gala to a really cold winter. The Grape Harvest had just ended rather late, the pressing still going on. The gatherers celebrated with an annual feast. The harvest was an especially good one. The young wines were all ready to taste and exquisitely delicious they are! You may not know this but since in the European Union, the Czech Moravian wines are major gold medal winners in the International Wine Competition in Paris and elsewhere. (They have always been winners in regional competitions.) Bohemia Sekt of Stary Plzen is, of course, a major producer and receives their grapes/ wines from this region. The French, you know, look forward to their young Beaujolais on November 20th. These are occasions of great celebrations of joy and national pride. The Czech do theirs on Svaty Martinsky Day (St. Martin’s Holiday) on November 11th with the same celebrations, joy, national pride. I have it from my dear wine maker friend Jarek Slichta, he swears this is true, that Beaujolais actually originated right here in Moravia. A vintner whose wife’s name was Bozena was told at the Harvest’s young wine debut “Bože – let!” That means “Bozeno – pour” (the Stan and Reinette Marek, with Harry and Cora Sue Mach(shown below) co-underwriters of AFoCR pre Gala reception at the Czech Center Jerrydene & Rudolf Kovar Beatrice Mladenka-Fowler & Jesse Fowler CCMH Gala 2008 Attendees James & Danna Ermis Gala 2008 Honorees wine). And that is from an authentic source! We had no idea cold could be so Cold. Not like we know cold in Houston in the early morning of an occasional “Norther.” This cold is constant. But people still go to work, do their shopping, little Alzbetka (Elizabeth) 3 ½ months old goes for a daily long pram outing snow or rain and Annie’s mother Hermina Drobilicova, age 94 goes to daily mass a few blocks away! Art Exhibits currently on view in the Presidents Room at the CCMH include the prominent Czechoslovak American artist Andy Warhol (born 1928 - 1987 to Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from Mikova in the Slovak Republic of the former Czechoslovakia) who challenged the world to see art differently with a collection of his beautiful wellknown pieces and Czech Moravian, Alfons Mucha, father of the Art Nouveau period. Both collections are contributed by Honorary Board Member, Dorothy (Mrs. Allen) Chernosky and daughter Lynn Chernosky Swaffar. You will certainly want to take advantage of the beautiful collectible art bags – Jackie, Marilyn, Bugs, Flowers, Campbell Soup, etc., and collectible Museum quality framed pictures of Mucha’s lovely ladies series, The Seasons, The Arts, etc., as well as no longer published Mucha Art books on sale in Catherine Cabaniss & Ambassador Bill Cabaniss Dr. C. Richard Stasney and Susan Stasney Ed & Sharon Middlebrook with daughter Sarah, Czech Queen and Retta Chandler on right Prague International Gifts Shop. The all volunteer operated shop has never looked more inviting, better stocked, with unique collectibles and giftable heirlooms. Please help the Center by your visit and you will take away much more art and history than you knew before. We exude a peaceful non hassle spirit! You must also try the authentic Czech- Slovak Holiday Christmas (and other celebrations) gingerbread hearts available for sale. T h e N e w s o f T h e C z e c h C e n t e r 11 Dr. Jankovic’s Gift Member Doctor Joseph Jankovic shown below with Effie Rosene and wife Cathy has generously gifted the Czech Center with archival documents worthy of future study. In presenting the documents to the Czech Center to Chairman Rosene he noted “I am pleased to be able to make the donation on behalf of my uncle. I hope that the display will serve as a legacy to his life and to his generosity.” His uncle, Mr. Leon Weiss, CPA, bequeathed the documents to his nephew, Joseph Jankovic, MD in 2008. Mr. Weiss, born in Chust, formerly Czechoslovakia on October 5, 1930, was liberated from Auschwitz at the age of 15 and worked as a messenger in the Nürnberg trials until 1947 when he arrived to the United States. Currently, a CPA in Los Angeles, he purchased the documents from Jacob Zeitlin (Zeitlin & Ver Brugge Booksellers, Los Angeles, California), in 1969. The original documents include: A letter, written in English, from Thomas G. Masaryk (March 7, 1850 - September 14, 1937), the founder and first president of the Republic of Czechoslovakia addressed to Major Baird, dated January 24, 1906; A letter, written in German, from Thomas G. Masaryk, to Mr. Heller, dated September 19, 1906; A letter, written in French, with a drawing of Karl Capek (January 9, 1890 – December 25, 1938), a famous Czech playwright. Capek introduced the term “robot,” which first appeared in his play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) in 1921. Translation: “The only perfection which distinguishes modern civilization is mechanical perfection; the machines are splendid, impeccable, but the life which serves them or is served by them is neither splendid nor brilliant, neither more perfect nor more beautiful.” Ed: Thanks to Dr. Joseph Jankovic for his thoughtful gift and for sharing these documents with us. Dr. Jankovic is a Professor of Neurology, a Distinguished Chair in Movement Disorders and Director, Parkinson’s Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Neurology. Honorary Board Members Mary and Frank Pokluda shown with their Model T at a Rally at the Bush Library in College Station. I am told it gets 41 mpg! Anyone for a ride?
Page 1 and 2: VOL. XIII No. III & IV Museum • L
Page 3 and 4: Bohemian National Hall The five-sto
Page 5 and 6: Joined 2004 October 8, 2008+ Wayne
Page 7 and 8: Bohumil Hrabal (continued) the mill
Page 9: Thomas John Bata - Shoemaker to the
Page 13 and 14: Rescuer Revealed (continued from pa
Page 15 and 16: Pioneers (continued from page 14) T
Page 17 and 18: Letters Head (continued from page 1
Page 19 and 20: Schengen (continued) The Nauenberg
Page 21 and 22: The Creation of Czechoslovakia When
Page 23 and 24: Prague Hall Brno Gallery The Czech

If you lived as I did, several years under Nazi totalitarianism, and ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?