Obraz křesťanské Evropy a židovského náboženského společenství v protektorátní propagandě
The portrayal of christian Europe and the Jewish religious community in protectorate propaganda

Author(s): Blanka Soukupová
Subject(s): WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Fascism, Nazism and WW II, History of Antisemitism
Published by: Fórum Kisebbségkutató Intézet
Summary/Abstract: The collaborationist propaganda of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which was a continuation of Second Republic propaganda, attempted to break apart the Czech national political identity. Its cornerstone became a new image of Christian Europe under the leadership of Nazi Germany, a new Europe stripped of all Jewish influences. Jews were accused of starting the war, prolonging it, and causing wartime shortages through their profiteering. Their alleged influence was particularly evident in England, the United States, and the Soviet Union, but it was also strong in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The legal injustice unleashed against the Jewish population was justified with the help of pseudo-religious arguments. Jews were accused of abusing their alleged power through mysterious religious practices and rituals. Their immense influence was also amplified by the First Republic and especially by the „Jew-lover“ Edvard Beneš, the Czechoslovak president-in-exile and one of Adolf Hitler’s main detractors. The image of a Christian Europe, where the Czechs were to assume an inferior position corresponding to their vassal status vis-à-vis Nazi Germany, was reinforced by a re-evaluation of Czech historical tradition. Instead of Hussitism, the militant tradition of the First Republic, the Second Republic emphasized the tradition of St. Wenceslas. However, medieval Prince Wenceslas was primarily praised for having incorporated Bohemia into the German Empire. He then adopted Christianity, the beneficial influence of which was further developed in the Czech lands by Charles IV and later by the Habsburgs. At this time, at the initiative of Sudeten German historian Josef Pfitzner, it was also decided that the Marian Column demolished on 3 November 1918 as a symbol of White Mountain should be returned to Prague.

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