A Thematic Website with Authentic Documents Recalls the Seventieth Anniversary of the Liberation of Brno
The Moravian Regional Library has prepared a thematic website that commemorates the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Brno. At osvobozenebrno.mzk.cz there is online access to authentic digital versions of all four newspapers published in the city during the period of dramatic events in May 1945. In addition, the digitalized documents are accompanied by short texts to show them in the contemporary context. The event is a part of the Year of Reconciliation programme, which under the patronage of the Brno City Hall reminds the groundbreaking events of the year 1945.
Although Brno was liberated already on 26 April, the regular publication of newspapers was not renewed until 8 May. The city, damaged by liberation fights and previous air raids, had first of all to restore food supplies and provide housing for those residents who had lost their homes. In the northern city districts, fighting kept going on for several days, and cooperation between civil and military administrations was not working in an ideal manner. Hence, restoring the issuance of dailies stood on the sideline, while newspaper publishing was partially substituted with posters. Similarly as during the First Republic, the majority of new dailies were closely related to political parties. In the case of Brno, all four newspapers were issued by political parties – Rovnost, Slovo národa, Národní obroda and Čin (i.e. Equality, Word of the Nation, National Resurgence and Act). The links with politics, however, were not in any way perceived negatively; in fact, during the period of the so-called Third Republic (1945-1948) a whole third of the adult population of Brno accounted for the membership of the four allowed parties.
The Moravian Regional Library made available a complete block of newspapers from the first week following the beginning of daily press publishing. The reported events are documenting the gradual restoration of life in the city, whose liberation is symbolically completed by the visit of President Beneš. The newspapers' thematic range was relatively broad – from small articles on cinema programmes to international news reports. What they had in common was not only the joy of liberation and their resolute determination to rebuild the republic on more socially equitable foundations, but also generalized blaming of the German-speaking population for the National Socialist dictatorship. Newspaper texts are supplemented by selected period documents, which partly come from the funds of the Brno City Archive.
"Looking into the papers seventy years on not only attracts you with small articles that vividly portray the life of Brno shortly after the fighting had finished, but also often expressive language, choice of literary clichés, or the frequent use of historical analogies," commented the launching of this website the library director Mr. Tomáš Kubíček. "I believe that the contact with period materials will convey at least partly the atmosphere of the time to the web visitors, and draw their attention to a large set of digitalized documents that the library offers not only concerning this particular topic," added Mr. Kubíček.
