This year, at a conference on the twentieth anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic and Israel, Interim Prime Minister Jan Fisher affirmed the Czech government’s continued support for the small state. In his speech, Fischer said the Czechs share a “joint cultural legacy” with Israel and that both countries have “influenced each other for centuries.” This statement reflects a general sentiment of goodwill that the Czech people have towards Israel. While there are a multitude of reasons that help us understand the complexity of both the political and cultural relationship between the Czech Republic and Israel, according to some, this shared legacy is nothing more than a socially accepted and perpetuated myth.
Groups, individuals, and even countries all have a tendency to idealize the past and in this sense “remold” their history. In sociological theory, collective identity is said to be fluid; it often emerges from a retelling of history or struggle that results in a memory not equivalent to established historical fact. In her paper, “Transformations between History and Memory,” published in the 2008 special issue of Social Research: An International Quarterly, Aleida Assmann explains that “the term ‘myth’ is used to distinguish between the object of historical knowledge on the one hand and collectively remembered events on the other.” She continues, “The manifestations of political and cultural memory… are grounded on the more durable carriers of external symbols and representations and can be re-embodied and transmitted from one generation to another. The relation between ‘history’ and ‘memory’ has itself a history that has evolved over time, passing through [stages].” Historic memory and collective remembering and forgetting change over time and influence future generations. In this way, socially accepted myths constitute history, and nations are predisposed to use these myths to establish relations with other states.
Jan Fingerland, a distinguished journalist who specializes in Czech-Israel affairs, feels that the Czech state has embraced this tendency: “For example, [Czechs possess] a very idealized perception of the First Republic.” He explained, in the minds of many Czechs, their First Republic was the only “true” democracy in Europe between the years of 1918 and 1938. Regardless of the verity of this belief, as a collective whole, Czechs cling to it. This propensity to “idealize” the past is imperative to understand when studying the Czech relationship to Israel: “No other country has such an emotional connection, ” said Fingerland. While this can be partly explained by their shared cultural past, the idealization of the Czech state, and the Israeli state as well, is another contributing, and compelling, factor. The connection between these two countries is not based on tangibility, but more on a mythologized perception of their common pasts.
As mentioned, Masaryk was extremely vocal in his support of both the Jewish community in Czechoslovakia and the Zionist movement. He even selected the land of Israel (before it actually received its independence) as his first international trip at the end of World War I. He fervently believed in recognizing the political, cultural, and legal liberties of the Jewish people, not only within Czechoslovakia, but in all parts of the world.
“Masaryk set up a moral standard,” said Tomáš Kraus, the executive director of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Prague. Kraus believes that Masaryk’s ethical stance towards equality manifested in his treatment of the Jews. The Federation of Jewish Communities is an organization that united ten individual Jewish communities in the region in order to provide support for them both domestically and abroad. Kraus is one of the most prominent members of the Jewish community in the Czech Republic, and since 1990has worked to re-build the entire foundation of Czech Jewish communities through various programs and initiatives. Kraus is a Professor of Judaic Studies at New York University in Prague, as well as at other academic institutions. He cites Masaryk’s “moral authority” as an important development for the relations between the two countries. Under Masaryk’s leadership, and before Israel became an independent nation, numerous Zionist conferences were held in Czechoslovakia.
However, the historical development of the Czechs’ relationship with Israel was not solely dependent on the actions and beliefs of Masaryk. Prior to World War II, there had been a Jewish population in the Czech lands for over 1,000 years. Czech society did not always welcome this Jewish community and prior to the nineteenth century, Jews were ostracized and forced to live in designated ghettos. With the Toleration Edict of 1781, however, this did change and the Jewish community began a “full integration into society,” explained Kraus; they lived equally amongst the Czechs, attending the same schools, having similar jobs in stature, and bridging the any social gaps that may have existed between the two.
“Jews were integrated into society and never perceived as foreigners, strangers, or outsiders,” echoed Fingerland. In fact, according to Kraus, many Czech citizens viewed the Nazi deportation of the Jews from Czech lands as a direct assault on the entire society. “It was a great loss for the people,” he explained. Kraus believes that all people in Czechoslovakia empathized with the Jews because during the war, no one was exempt from the risk of similar persecution.
Fingerland feels that it was not just the shared threat of harassment that enjoined the two cultures, but also, the perceived paralleled struggle to achieve independence and cultural recognition. According to Fingerland, even after Czechoslovakia was established as a sovereign nation, it still struggled to reach a higher stature within the European political scene. Current Israeli Ambassador, Yaakov Levy, agrees with this sentiment, explaining that the Czechs identify with the Jews and Israeli state because they “appreciate a small country that is willing to stand up [for their independence and beliefs].”
Israel was (and still is) a small country trying to assert both its national and political independence amidst super powers in the Middle East. Czechoslovakia was a small country trying to assert its political clout amidst a continent consumed by Nazi takeovers and communist regimes. When the Zionist movement began gaining momentum and Israel was en route to becoming a nation, the Czechoslovakia collective embraced this perceived political and cultural similarity, which resulted in governmental cooperation.
In 1947 and 1948, Czechoslovakia supplied Israel with machine guns, rifles, and airplanes despite the United Nations mandated embargo on the sale of weapons to both Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. Czechoslovakia was also one of the first countries to recognize Israel as a nation in 1948. Both the military and political support from the Czechs played an important role in Israel’s success in securing its independence. Relations between the countries diminished in the 1950s when Joseph Stalin and the communist party started to wield control in Central and Eastern Europe. According to Fingerland, the Communist Party was heavily anti-Semitic which resulted in the complete deterioration of diplomatic ties with Israel in 1967. Despite this “freeze” period of amicable relations, he says Czechoslovak dissident movements looked to Israel as somewhat of a paragon for political victory.
Fingerland explained that there are three expressions that Czechs associate with Israel. They are “the only democracy,” “a small country surrounded by enemies,” and “we must not betray them.” These three phrases – as understood by a collective memory – express a widely held Czech attitude that Israel is very similar to Czechoslovakia because of their history and political positions.
Czechoslovakia lost its independence to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis through the Munich Pact of 1938. Many Czechs resent this part of their history because they neither fought back nor defended themselves, explained Fingerland. In contrast, in 1948 Israel took up arms to gain their independence, despite being surrounded by countries that did not support their establishment. For the past century, Israel has continued to fight back and resist succumbing to their political rivals. Unlike much of Europe and the world for that matter, the Czech state views Israel’s actions as defensive, not combative, continued Fingerland. In this way, Israel is seen as a country that stood up to the “big guy” – something the Czechoslovak state wished it could or would have done in 1938. Today, as Israel still struggles to assert its power, Fingerland says the Czech state feels a duty “to not betray them,” because of the similar situation Czechoslovakia was once in. This illustrates the cultural and political link the Czech Republic has with Israel because of the perceived similarities of a common struggle and past. But how much of this “link” is actually based on real likeness and how much is based on a collective myth?
After the Velvet Revolution in 1990, the newly elected president Vacláv Havel chose Israel as his first international visit and named re-establishing diplomatic ties with Israel as one of his presidential priorities. He succeeded in this task, and since this time relations with Israel have remained amiable, and the Czech government has taken a much more pro-Israeli stance than the majority of European countries. Fingerland described the Czech Republic “as the most pro-Israeli country in Europe.” And yet, there seems to be very little discernible evidence as to why the Czech state would take such a strong favorable position towards the Jewish state. But as Assmann described, collective national memory creates new histories which often “enhance emotions of empathy and identification.”
The precedent set by Masaryk during his presidency, and the historic cultural link between the two countries are believed by many to be the binding connections within this relationship. However, this historical link is an idea that has been mythologized by Czechs and has helped them bolster not only their reasons for positive relations with Israel, but the image of their own past. The Czech Republic and Israel may share some similarities, but their relationship seems to be based more on an idealized sense of loyalty than actual events. Of course, there may be no escaping the tendency to re-shape the past in order to create a more acceptable collective memory. In the end, we must simply be aware that memory has the power to transform history.
Marissa Miller has studied media, culture and political science in both the United States and the Czech Republic. She is currently assisting with Mr. Charles Rudnick’s state senate campaign in Newton, Massachusetts.