Prof. Pavko: "Those who want to go forward must also look backwards,
to find the way."
***
He complied with the "social order" and did not appreciate the actions and members of the Resistance Group of the Mašín brothers. He does not have the moral strength of TGM, to stand up, if necessary, against everyone. He also succumbed in not appreciating Emil Kolben, where the "social order" undoubtedly was. Emil Kolben was born on November 1, just like President Pavel and singer Marta Kubišová (she supported the proposal to honour our great businessman and human being with her signature). It could have been a great "moral triad" connecting generations and centuries. President Pavel did not use it and confirmed that he is not worthy of both personalities. Another great shame and disgrace of the Czech Republic by the country's highest representative in front of the whole world ... Let's hope that the film "BROTHERS" will receive the prestigious OSCAR award!
To quote from Wikipedia, the significant events in Kolben's life were the celebrations of his 70th and 75th birthdays. On the latter occasion, among other things, he said:
"Armed with extensive knowledge and experience in all branches of power electrical engineering, and keeping abreast of the then most modern advances in the manufacture of electrical machinery and equipment, I thought in August 1896 of putting my wealth of knowledge and experience at the service of my Czech homeland. There were only a few small electrical factories in Austria at that time, and then only in the early stages of development. It seemed best to me to set up a modern electrical factory myself in the centre of a large industrial area, in the traditional seat of highly developed engineering: in Prague. This is how the factory was founded, which became the basis of today's largest Czechoslovak electrical engineering enterprise."
On 6 June 1943, at the age of 80, Emil Kolben, his son Hanuš and grandson Jindřich were deported to the Terezín concentration camp. The Protectorate government requested an exception for him, but it was not granted. He died on 3 July 1943 at the age of 80 in Podmokelské barracks. According to the testimony of his grandson, Jindřich, he had with him, apart from a few personal belongings, a briefcase with 180 shares of ČKD stock.
In his speech, the president also talked about the importance of the business sector, but he honoured only one entrepreneur...
It serves to honour the distinction of our RAF members. Incidentally, today marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of Army Gen. Karel Janoušek, the only Czechoslovak Marshal of the British Air Force and Commander-in-Chief of the Czechoslovak component of the British RAF. The media is silent. The great film The Cemetery for Strangers is testament to how we liquidated our RAF members after the war - the younger generation should see that too so they know and the older generation so they don't forget. We were not able to welcome our RAF members home until August 1945, when we waited for the Red Army celebrations to end...
We have many exemplary heroes and personalities in our past and present, but it is mostly the media who get priority. This also speaks volumes about the state of Czech society today.
Emil Kolben has risen to the forefront of building the best electricity generation and transmission technology in the world. Along with 25 other members of his family, he perished in the Holocaust. His grandson, Jindrich, was the only one to survive the horrors of the concentration camps and death marches and still managed to join Svoboda's army, emaciated and with an injured leg, at the end of the war. He emigrated to Germany, where his son is the head of a private women's clinic in Michovo. His wife, Andreé Kolben, who lives in Munich (91 years old), said in a recent interview, "The story of the Kolben family could be used to tell the history of the Czech nation. I remember how my husband and I first returned to Czechoslovakia in 1990 after years of emigration. We stood in Wenceslas Square by the statue of St. Wenceslas and wished the Czech nation to rise again. We had been persecuted by the communist regime for years and we were so excited that everything would flourish again. Instead, we were disappointed to find that corruption was rampant, people were stealing and businesses were closing instead of growing." (From Petr Čech's book And So We Live Here p. 64).
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