My Century And My Many Lives, by Frank Munk
Memoirs, 1993
Postscript, 1994
Frank Munk, my grandfather, wrote this autobiography to record his memories
from 1901 onwards. This history and its postscript are available on our family website in his
memory as they tell a complete story of the 20th century. These memoirs may be referenced as
long as proper attribution is made; our family retains ownership and copyright. We have one
request: if you reference this material in any way, please send us email at
feedback@theragens.com and a copy of the paper, if possible, as we would
like to know when this material is of interest and we are curious as to how it is being used.
We'd like to hear from you.
© Copyright 1993, 1994, The Munk/Ragen Families
PRESENT AT THE
CREATION
CHAPTER 4
The day was October
28, 1918 -- the day that Czechoslovakia was created out of the rubble of what had been
for hundreds of years Austria-Hungary, the day that the Central Powers accepted
President Wilson's 14 points. The main point was self-determination. The Czech
people rose spontaneously on that day and our lives changed, never again to be
the same.
I learned about it
when I came home from school about noon. The next thing I saw were a group of
Sokols in their Garibaldi-red shirts running through town and shouting "We are
free." The Sokol was a patriotic-gymnastic society which had at once taken over
the maintenance of public order from the police. On the same day we students
organized a Student Guard to reinforce the Sokols. There was not much time to
lose: next to our school (and to the 14th century cathedral of Saint Barbara)
were the barracks of the Austrian army, formerly a 17th century Jesuit
monastery. As was the custom under Austria, soldiers were always kept away from
their place of origin. At the time, there was stationed in Kutná Hora a regiment
of Magyars from Hungary. The Guard was ordered to circle the barracks. I ought
to mention that we all were given some pre-military training during the war--had
it gone on my class would have been called up.
We expected the
worst, but it did not happen. The Hungarian garrison was coming out properly
scared, with their hands behind their heads--one man at a time. There must have
been about 2,000 of them. It was a great experience for a 17-year old, as you
can imagine.
My streetside
service came to an abrupt end when I was called to the Sokol headquarters, soon
joined by returning Czech officers, to serve as telephone operator. The reason
was that I was able to speak German. I talked frequently to the Austrian
Ministry of War in Vienna to arrange the transport of the garrison to their
native Hungary and in a few days it happened. The last assignment of the Student
Guards was to accompany the regiment on its way to the railway station to the
applause of the populace. That was the end of my first and only military duty.
But it was the
beginning of a marvelous time in my life. The nineteen twenties in
Czechoslovakia, as the republic was named, was very exciting. It was unusually
creative, utterly optimistic, constructive to the utmost and--above
all--successful. During the twenty years that followed, from 1918 till 1938, it
was stable, democratic, tolerant to minorities and reasonably
prosperous -- certainly the most successful of the succession states of
Austria-Hungary. It ultimately remained the only democracy in that part of the
world, until it succumbed to Hitler and his Nazis.
I had one more
experience which may have shaped my destiny. Shortly after Independence Day
there was held a celebratory meeting in the courtyard of Vlassky Dvur, the 13th
century castle of the Kings of Bohemia. It was originally built to accommodate
the experts who came from Florence, Italy, to teach the Czechs how to mint
money, Kutná Hora being one of the largest sources of silver in all of medieval
Europe. That is where the name, meaning Italian Court, comes from. I was chosen
by the students to be their speaker, for reasons unknown to me. As I spoke from
the balcony to the assembled population, something came over me: I found it easy
to arouse their enthusiasm--something I never suspected. If I can occasionally
still open my mouth in public today -- that's where it started.
Unfortunately the
happy period in the life of Czechoslovakia gave way to a time of troubles, first
in the so-called Second Republic, shorn of the so-called Sudetens, then under
the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. This was followed, after a brief
interval, by 40 years of communist domination, during which Czechoslovakia was
invaded by the Soviet Union. Seventy four years have passed since that day in
October 1918. Czechoslovakia is now on the verge of dissolution and everything
points to its division into two separate state entities. I am one of those who,
after a visit to Prague in the summer of 1992, believe the divorce had better
come fast, before the quarrelling gets even more aggressive.
Having been present
at the birth of Czechoslovakia, I now expect to witness the funeral. Even worse,
a country that was born with great expectations and greater promises will
disappear from the scene with barely a squeak.
The
books listed below provide additional background on this period of history to
help illustrate this portion of my grandfather's memoirs.
