CHIBOW Researcher Opens International Travelling Exhibition on Czech-German Children

CHIBOW researcher Michal Korhel has opened an exhibition called, “Děti nepřítele? – Kinder des Feindes?“ (Children of the Enemy). Which presents pictures from CHIBOW born of Czech-German relationships and highlights the discrimination they have faced throughout their lives.

The two nationalities had cohabited peacefully for centuries until the atrocities of the Second World War and its aftermath. The exhibition opens a forgotten chapter of Czech-German post-war history and asks about the hardships these children had to face. Were they the children of the enemy or the future of the Czech nation? Furthermore, the exhibition shows how the definition of the enemy changed in socialist Czechoslovakia and discusses the fate of other marginalized and disadvantaged population groups. The fact that the topic of the exhibition is still relevant 30 years after the fall of socialism confronts the viewer with the question: have we learned from the past?

This impressive exhibition presents the results of Michal Korhel’s research on Czech-German children to a wider audience beyond academia. Currently it is hosted by the Municipal Museum of Ústí nad Labem until January 26 and will subsequently be shown in other venues in Czech Republic and Germany.