Export of Hungarian Iron Ores from Spiš, Gemer and Boršod Counties to Ironworks in Austrian Silesia and North-Eastern Moravia (1856–1914)
Lukáš Patera
The presented study deals with the business of Austrian mining companies in the Spiš-Gemer mining area and today’s North Hungarian Boršod County from the middle of the 19th century to the outbreak of World War I. These areas served Austrian and Prussian entrepreneurs as an important source of iron ore, which they shipped to their ironworks outside Hungary after extraction. The massive export of iron ores caused considerable resentment in Hungarian economic circles, but the Hungarian government was unable to adequately intervene against it. In the second part of the study, the ore base of the three most important ironworks in Austrian Silesia and North Moravia is presented, namely Třinec Ironworks, Vítkovice Ironworks and Žofinská huť (Sophia Foundry).
Russian Refugees after Civil War (1920–1922). Personal Experience and Disillusion as a Basis of Collective Trauma?
Zbyněk Vydra
The study focuses on refugees from Russia during and after the Civil War (1920–1922) and their perspectives on traumatic life events. In some respects, Russian refugees met the definitional criteria of Displaced Persons, although the term itself is associated primarily with 1945 and after. Russian refugees, civilians and soldiers were evacuated with international help from the Black Sea area (Odessa, Crimea, Novorossiisk) and temporarily interned in refugee camps in and around Istanbul and Lemnos island in the Aegean Sea. For many refugees, their camp stay became a significant traumatic experience, combined with the trauma of losing their homeland, shaping their view of the past and the future. States and governments responsible for managing refugee camps have often come under fire for their approach to refugees. The Russians also felt intense disillusionment with the “disinterest” of Europe. The core of the study is the analysis of the personal experiences of refugees based on sources of a personal nature (unpublished and published). The view “from below” allows us to expand our perception of the problem of war refugees in a historical-anthropological direction and to supplement the official and technical level of the problem in an appropriate way (the approach of governments and non-governmental organisations, the management system of refugee camps, etc.).
Ota Demel: Example of Career of Gendarmerie Commissioned Officer in interwar Silesia
Ivana Kolářová
The article focuses on life and professional activities of Ota (Otto) Demel, Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak gendarmerie officer and one of pioneers of interwar Czechoslovak criminology. The text focuses on Demels
service in Těšín (Teschen) region during Czechoslovak-Polish border conflict in the area following the Great
War and during the subsequent era of consolidation. The then methods of fighting both organised and petty crime are illustrated on the case of Demel. The study also describes complicated ties between service conditions and personal life of interwar gendarmes. Research is based mainly on agenda of Ministry of Interior and Commander-in-Chief of Gendarmerie, located in National Archive in Prague.
Criticism of the Cult of Personality after 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the Šumperk Region and its Consequences in the Period of 1956–1958
Dimitris Atanasiadis
The presented study provides interesting insight into criticism of the cult of personality of J. V. Stalin from the perspective of regional party leaders in the Šumperk district. The criticism of Stalin’s personality cult that arose from the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in February 1956 left an indelible mark in the history of communism and had a major impact on political development in Eastern bloc countries, including
Czechoslovakia. The aim of the article is to map criticism of the cult of personality at regional level, using the example of the Šumperk district, focusing on the views of Šumperk communists on developments in the criticism of Stalin and the ways they tried to deal with the situation. In addition to attempts to change political practices, many officials also sought to come to terms with their political past. Particular attention was also focused on the general public. In this case, the communists closely monitored the mood of the Šumperk population and tried to keep the public as calm as possible, as directed by the highest echelons. The situation in neighbouring Poland and Hungary was used as a deterrent by communist propaganda. The reconsolidation of communist positions in 1957 ultimately lead to a purge of the state apparatus at the beginning of 1958, which also affected the Šumperk district. Dozens of Šumperk officials and members of the Communist Party were removed from office, retired or moved to less prominent positions.
Ondřej HANIČÁK – Markéta HANIČAKOVÁ – Jiří ŠÍL, Paměti dvou generací opavské rodiny Čeledových (Jiří Knapík)
Jiří KNAPÍK a kol., Cesta do hlubin duše opavského študáka. Mladá kultura Opavy ve „Studentském časopise“ 1922–1938 (Texty, karikatury, vzpomínky) (Martin Pelc)
