Location

• Na Hradě 5, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic
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Languages

• Czech
• English

Website

• http://exil.upol.cz/

Name of collection

• Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies Collections

Provenance and cultural activities

• The Centre for Czechoslovak Exile Studies was established as a research and documentation centre at the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, at the Palacký University in Olomouc. The initiative to study Czech-Slovak exile came from students who visited the United States in 1992, where they made contact with their countrymen.

  Since its foundation, the centre has been building an extensive archive of Czechoslovak exile. The archives stored in the centre cover the period between 1948 and 1990. Most of the papers were delivered in the form of donations where, for example, exile organisations or compatriots donated materials directly. In the case of donations made particularly from people, these were most often passed down as heirlooms. In some cases, archive materials have been recruited through research journeys abroad.

  The materials often have a character that is determined by the nature of their agents' activities. Often, the level of both personal and work or research materials is intertwined. Materials show that the activities and the running of some exile organisations have been closely linked to the actions of some individuals. In the event of death, withdrawal from the club or departure, the activities of these clubs were dampened or even ended.

  The first collection that was acquired by the centre was a collection from the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute in Exile (1949-1969), when the materials were handed over in 1994 by Vlastislav Chalupa. This collection is the most precious and the most extensive in its correspondence.

  Obtaining documents that are scattered throughout the world is a difficult matter and there is a real risk that these materials will be irretrievably lost due to the high age of materials. The Archives of the Centre for Czechoslovak Exile Studies are therefore actively seeking to collect and store these materials. Nowadays, after the reconstruction of the Department of History building, the archives are moved back to the department, and from 2018 there has been a systematic inventory put in place.

Description of content

• The collection contains archives that are not yet processed. Materials are divided thematically, often as they came into the archive.

  The largest collection is the Council of Free Czechoslovakia, which was donated to the centre by Mojmír Povolný, who was the last chairman of the organisation. After the separation of Czechoslovakia, it was renamed to the Council of Peace of the Czechs and Slovaks. The fund contains the materials of individual RSC bodies, exile periodicals, publications and correspondence. It is also a valuable source of information on political emigration activities from 1949 to 1983.

  Another collection is the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute in Exile, which was the first collection donated to the centre. It contains extensive correspondence as well as periodicals published by the Institute.

  The collection, The Czechoslovak Union of Christian Workers of Switzerland, was dedicated by the widow of the founder Ladislav Husák. The collection contains extensive correspondence with important personalities of Czechoslovak exile. It also includes materials from the "Czechoslovak Working Group of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland".

  The smaller collection is the Christian Academy in Rome, which contains papers, materials relating to the personality of Cardinal Joseph Aran, brochures and magazines, background information to the Catholic children's camps, photographs, and correspondence.

  The archive of the centre also contains several personal donations, such as that of Doctor Jaromír Netík, A. L. Nehasil, Petr Hrubý (Australia), P. Zenkl, and others. You can also find in the archives, documents relating to the Czechoslovak Social Democracy in Exile (Austria), exile periodicals (newspapers, magazines, collections) amongst others.

  The collections are divided into the following sub-collections: 1) Czechoslovak Foreign Institute in Exile (1949-1969), 2) Christian Academy in Rome (1937-1984), and 3) Council of Free Czechoslovakia (1949-1983). In addition, there is the personal collections donated: 1) Petr Hrubý, 2) Ladislav Husák, 3) Ludwig Kolin, 4) Karel Pecháček, 5) Adolf Procházka, 6) Petr Zenkl, 7) Antonín L. Nehasil, and 8) Jaromír Netík. Other collections are organised regionally: 1) The US Collection (1985-1998), 2) The Collection of Canada (1939-2000), 3) The Collection of the Netherlands (1947-1998), 4) The Collection Switzerland, 5) The Periodicals, and 6) The VHS Collection.

Content

• grey literature (regular archival documents such as brochures, bulletins, leaflets, reports, intelligence files, records, working papers, meeting minutes): unknown quantity
• legal and/or financial documentation: unknown quantity
• manuscripts (ego-documents, diaries, notes, letters, drafts, etc.): unknown quantity
• memorabilia (posters, flyers, stamps, etc.): unknown quantity
• photos: unknown quantity
• publications (books, newspapers, articles, press clippings): unknown quantity

Operator(s)

• Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies

Owner(s)

• Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies

Geographical scope of recent operation

• international

Topics

• censorship
• democratic opposition
• emigration/exile
• human rights movements
• literature and literary criticism
• samizdat and tamizdat

Founder(s)

• Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies

Date of founding

• 1993

Place of founding

• Olomouc Na Hradě 5, Czech Republic
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Creator(s) of content

• Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies

Collector(s)

• Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies

Important events in the history of the collection

• Acquisition of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia Collection

Featured items

• Fund of Council of Free Czechoslovakia

Access type

• all closed to the public

Publications

• Motlíček, T., & Šmeral, J. (2007). Průvodce po fondech a sbírkách Centra pro československá́ exilová́ studia při Filozofické́ fakultě̌ Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci. Olomouc: Centrum pro Československá Exilová́ Studia.

  Československý zahraniční ústav v exilu. Dílčí inventář. Korespondence. Olomouce 1997.

  Československý zahraniční ústav v exilu. (1949-1969). Prozatímní inventární seznam. Olomouc 1997.

  Čelovský, B. (2000). Politici bez moci: První́ leta exilové́ Rady svobodného Československa. Šenov u Ostravy: Tilia.

  Trapl, M., & Univerzita Palackého. (1996). Exil po únoru 1948: Počátky politické́ organizovanosti a činnosti poúnorové́ emigrace a vznik Rady svobodného Československa. Olomouc: Moneta-FM.

  Zenkl, P., Kouřil, M., & Trapl, M. (1998). Mozaika vzpomínek. Olomouc: Centrum pro československá́ exilová́ studia.

Author(s) of this page

• Vrtálková, Anna

References

Motlíček, T., & Šmeral, J. (2007). Průvodce po fondech a sbírkách Centra pro československá́ exilová́ studia při Filozofické́ fakultě̌ Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci. Olomouc: Centrum pro Československá Exilová́ Studia.

Československý zahraniční ústav v exilu. Dílčí inventář. Korespondence. Olomouce 1997.

Československý zahraniční ústav v exilu. (1949-1969). Prozatímní inventární seznam. Olomouc 1997.

Čelovský, B. (2000). Politici bez moci: První́ leta exilové́ Rady svobodného Československa. Šenov u Ostravy: Tilia.

Trapl, M., & Univerzita Palackého. (1996). Exil po únoru 1948: Počátky politické́ organizovanosti a činnosti poúnorové́ emigrace a vznik Rady svobodného Československa. Olomouc: Moneta-FM.

Zenkl, P., Kouřil, M., & Trapl, M. (1998). Mozaika vzpomínek. Olomouc: Centrum pro československá́ exilová́ studia.

Konečný, Karel, interview by Vrtálková, Anna , September 15, 2017. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection