Liberec was originally a German-speaking town, originally known as Reichenberg and signs of its German past are everywhere, from the style of buildings, to the prominence of German signs for shops and attractions here. As part of the Sudetenland, it had tried to gain independance after WW1, but became integrated into Czecholslovakia. As a result, it became a hot bed for Pan-German movements and was the birthplace of Konrad Henlein, the Nazi sympathiser and leader of the Sudeten German Party. Signs of this history can still be seen today; the modern library where Lucy and I used the internet is on the site of the old synagogue which was destroyed on Kristallnacht. After the war, due to the Potsdam treaty, the German population of this entire area were forcibly expelled unless they were essential to industry or could prove they were anti-fascist. They were also put on the same rations as Jews during the war and there are dreadful stories of starvation and suffering on the essentially forced marches into Germany. It is still a highly contentious issue and although both the German and Czech Prime Ministers apologised for their treatment in 2005, it is not something which is really referred to.
It is into this complicated history that my family fit into, as they were Sudeten Germans, and our first port of call the following morning was to the village that my grandmother was from. It is now a ski resort high in the Jizera mountains called Bedrichov, but when my gradmother knew it it was called Freidrichswald. It is a short bus ride from Liberec and while we waited for the bus, we had a bit more of an explore around Liberec itself and found a beautiful lake, which at one point must have been for industrial purposes, but it now surrounded by school parties and people sunbathing which was very different to the massively industrial Bohemia that I had imagined.
The bus ride took us to the top of the mountains and dropped us by another little lake. The village was originally a centre for glass blowing, which is what my great grandfather Gustav did. Now there are only the ruins of the old factory and the village is mainly full of pensions used by skiers, even now there was still a bit of snow on the ground. It is very beautiful and peaceful. We popped in to the tiny Tourist Information Centre, to be greeted by a group of policemen, who seemed to be there for a bit of a chat. Armed with a map, we headed up to the church at the top of a hill. The building itself was locked, but we were able to get into the graveyard. We found quite a few graves with the name Hujer on them, but none that were names I was aware were directly related to me. However, we couldn't make all of the names out as they have been badly maintained, so they may well have been there. That, I suppose, is one of the unexpected side effects of a forced expulsion, there is no one to tend the graves.
We sat and had lunch by the church, overlooking the village, before heading back to catch the bus, via Jablonec back to Liberec. I was really glad that we had been, but I didn't really know what to feel. My family were not expelled with the rest of their village because my great grandmother was vital to the industry. However, extended family were and on the rare occaisions that my grandma spoke about her life before coming to England she mentioned the dreadful things which the Russian soldiers did there. In some ways, I think my main feeling is one of sadness; that at the end of what was a horrendous war where the full extent of racial hatred had been seen that it seemed legitmate to force people from their homes purely because they were ethnically German. That by putting Sudeten Germans on the same rations as Jews during the war, or by allowing it to happen, something of the moral cause was lost. Yet I suppose that knowing the history of what came next; communism, the gulags and Sibera it probably isn't much worse than other people suffered. I think that seeing the place were my grandma grew up has helped me to understand her better.The following morning, we headed to Jablonec to the glass and jewellery museum to give a bit of context to the area. This area was and still is a major centre for glass jewellery, particularly beads and glass in general and the clearly loved museum was a great way of seeing this. Afterwards, we went looking for some beads as souvenirs before having a very stodgy lunch of dumplings and bacon. We then headed back to Liberec to get our bags before heading to Dresden.
The train journey to Dresden must be one of the prettiest journies we've done. The local train took us to Decin, where we changed onto a tiny one carriage train to Bad Shandau, through an area known as Bohemian/Saxon Switzerland which is just stunning. After that it was a super efficient German local train to Dresden itself, where we are staying in a really arty, studenty area in a really well set up and loved hostel.
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