Journalistic Activism: Collaborating Journalism in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and its main Representatives from the Czech Legal Press
| Pages | 39-48 |
|---|---|
| Citation | CEBE, Jan a KONČELÍK, Jakub. Journalistic Activism: Collaborating Journalism in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and its main Representatives from the Czech Legal Press. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia litterarum. Prague: National Museum, 2008, 53(1-4), 39-48. ISSN 0036-5351. Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-historia-litterarum/53-1-4/journalistic-activism-collaborating-journalism-in-the-protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia-and-its-main-representatives-from-the-czech-legal-press |
This text focuses on czech journalists, who collaborated with German occupying forces during the period of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In order to implant their “imperial concept” into the minds of Czech people, the Nazis made use of a traditional tool used by all totalitarian regimes – propaganda. At that time, the press was by far the most important source of information and it was therefore one of the first areas which the Nazi administration took control of after invading Bohemia and Moravia. Immediately following 15 March 1939, the press was tied up with censorship rules and the command of the Czech press was given to Wolfgang Wolfram von Wolmar. However, the Germans alone could not win the confidence of the Czech population and they therefore began to look for allies among Czech journalists. It is quite obvious that the Czech fascists were immediately ready to start collaborating, as they had often been in conflict with the laws of the first republic and ranked lowest in the hierarchy of pre–war journalism. On the other hand, there were many educated people and journalists from the prestigious press who also collaborated with the national socialist forces. Even though most of them were of an average editorial level, it was very surprising for people around them to see them turn to Nazism. It was only the fire–test of Munich and the occupation that revealed the individual moral weaknesses which – together with strong ambitions and careerism – caused their downfall. The Germans gradually created a group of journalists who were ready to stand up for the “imperial concept” and through whom the occupying forces were able to cause mental chaos among the Czech people and undermine their resistance. Focusing on these journalists we are trying to explain who constituted this group of the “faithful” and how the group developed.
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