Poster of Be Free! shows the good soldier Švejk killing Hitler-like Germans.
The premiere of drama “Be Free!” may be the most interesting event of whole season, as it shows one of the most controversial moments in the history of the town – the Brno death march.
Three weeks after the end of World War II, 20,000 Germans living in Brno (including old people and children) were expelled to Austria. They marched to the border, but due to bureaucratic problems they had to return back to a concentration camp in Pohořelice.
The death tolls span from 3 people (some Czech sources) to 8,000 (some German sources). English Wikipedia claims that there were about 700 confirmed deaths which included natural causes, diseases (shigellosis) and violent crimes.
Play “Be Free!”, directed by Jiří Honzírek (Feste theatre) premieres in Reduta theatre on November 2 (in Czech language the drama is silent). Its creators claim that they don’t want to judge the event, only show it as it was.
However, Czech news sites are filled with readers’ comments á la “How much did these Germans pay you?” and “Why don’t you rather show what the beasts did to Czechs?” It may take several more generations until we finally understand that we’re capable of purges and genocide just as any other nation.
