Evenings with Reporters: Poland Beyond the Oder, the Czech Sudetenland
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: November 6, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00
What should we know when heading to Baltic beaches or Jizera Mountains cross-country ski trails? A discussion between Polish reporter Zbigniew Rokita and journalist and writer Štěpán Kučera about territories “left behind by the Germans” that were settled by new inhabitants in the wake o f WWII. What role do they play in Polish and Czech historical narratives 80 years later? What is life like today in Gdańsk, Liberec, Wrocław, Jablonec and Opole, and do the locals feel at home there?
Zbigniew Rokita will launch a new Czech translation of his book of reportage Odrzania. A Journey Through the Recovered Territories published by Absynt under the title Odřanie: Novým Polskem od Slezska k moři. In it, he takes readers from Katowice to the Baltic Sea and describes the territories that became part of Poland in 1945 when the country moved 200 kilometres westward. In his book Gablonz/Jablonec Štěpán Kučera captures the transformation of his hometown in the 20th century via the stories of local families and eyewitnesses and quotes from contemporary newspapers and literature, but also through his own experiences.
The talk will be moderated by the translator of Odrzania, Martin Veselka, a Polish Studies specialist and Liberec native and patriot.
In Polish and Czech with simultaneous translation.
Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Polish Institute in Prague.