Читать книгу The Vesels: The Fate of a Czechoslovak Family in 20th Century Central Europe (1918–1989) - Josette Baer - Страница 7

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Acknowledgements

This biography is the first academic study by a non-Slovak author that investigates the role of the Vesel family, especially the twin brothers Mirko and Milan Vesel, who were officers of the Czechoslovak (1918–1938) and Slovak (1938–1945) armies, respectively. The Vesel brothers were involved in the organization of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), and they can be considered not only pars pro toto for the entire Vesel family, since all members were Czechoslovaks in the truest sense of Masaryk’s Republic, but also for those Slovak citizens critical of the Clerical-Fascist Tiso regime. Pater familias Ján Vesel and his wife Kornélia brought up their eleven children in the Czechoslovak spirit: loyalty to democracy, the Republic and the ideals of hard work, education and care for those who were less fortunate than themselves. The Vesels were not nationalists, let alone chauvinists; they did not promote hatred or discrimination but strove for education and a better future for all Slovaks and Czechs in Masaryk’s democracy.

I am no military historian, thus this study is focused on Slovak politics prior to and during WWII, and, of course, the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), which is still under-researched by Western historians. The material I found in Slovak and Czech archives is available to the English reader for the first time.

In this volume, I have tried to convey to the reader how the Slovak state (1939–1945) changed the lives of its citizens for the worse. I have made every effort to probe the Vesel brothers’ thoughts and activities with a rational and fair approach.

My thanks: I am greatly indebted to my colleagues and friends for their interest in my research and willingness to discuss specific issues with me. In alphabetical order: Jozef Banáš, Mária Banášová, Jasmin Dall’Agnola, Maroš Hertel, Lukas Joos, Vlasta Jaksicsová, Ivan Kamenec, Dušan Kováč, Slavomír Michálek, Miroslav Michela, and Jaroslava Roguľová.

I would like to thank Ludvík Nábělek for his foreword and the material from his family archive that he allowed me to use for this study. The Banská Bystrica radio station Slobodný Visieláč kindly invited me for interviews, in 2014 and 2019, to commemorate the SNP.

The ladies at the SNK Martin were, as always, professional, friendly, swift and uncomplicated: Ľudmila Šimková, Karin Šišmišová, and everybody else who helped me with the material – thank you. My thanks go also to Jitka Bílková, and Veronika Chroma, at the Archives of the State Security Forces at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ABS ÚSTRČR) in Prague, and Mrs Vadajková and Mr Mikle of the Archive of the National Memory Institute (AÚPN) in Bratislava.

The ladies at the housing office of the Slovak Academy of Sciences SAV have made my annual research stays since 2008 such a joyful and uncomplicated matter: Mária, Božena and Ľubica, thank you. Valerie Lange at ibidem publishers is an exceptionally patient, effective and supportive editor. I thank Peter Thomas Hill for proofreading my manuscript.

This study could not have been written without the expertise of Ludvík Nábělek, head of the Banská Bystrica Psychiatric Clinic, grandson of Elena Nábělková and nephew once removed of Mirko and Milan Vesel. Ludvík supported this study with documents and photos from his family archive. Back in 2014, he and his lovely wife Alena, a doctor of neurology, showed me the cabin in Donovaly, where the twins Mirko and Milan, Ludvík Nábělek, Ludvík’s grandfather, and Vavro Šrobár wrote the call to arms, the famous Vyhláška, which launched the SNP.

Ivan Kamenec is probably one of the best historians of 20th-century Central European history – and a kind colleague. He has always made time to answer my questions, and I am honoured that he agreed to speak to me about the historiography of the SNP, a most important part of this study.

Needless to say, any errors and shortcomings in this volume are my own.

Josette Baer

Zurich, Bratislava and Prague, August 2019