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Forgetting is human. But forgiving? Especially neighbors with whom we share centuries of misunderstanding, linguistic tension, wars, and expulsions? Czech-German relations have gone through dark times, but according to Lucie Tarabová, we’re now at a point where we’re not only looking back—but also forward. We talk to each other. Children on both sides of the border exchange glances, not prejudices. In this interview with the director of the Coordination Center for Czech-German Youth Exchange, we discuss how being a good neighbor sometimes means breaking down walls built by history.

What is the state of Czech-German relations today? Have we been able to forgive each other the wrongs of the past?

Last year, I attended around 20 conferences, and in every one, it was said that Czech-German relations have never been better. Essentially, they are the best they’ve ever been in our shared history. Personally, I see that as a bit of a question mark, because we’re comparing things to a truly tragic past. If we look at World War II and then life behind the Iron Curtain, we can really only talk about Czech-German relations starting from the 1990s. And since then, I would say we’ve genuinely been on the rise.

We lived next to each other as nations for a long time, but even before World War II, it wasn’t always idyllic. The importance of the Czech language diminished over time, and German became increasingly dominant. So what do we know about Czech-German relations from further back in history?

We start talking about Czech-German relations around the 12th century, when the borderlands began to be settled. We lived together on the same land and it worked. Like when two ethnic minorities with different languages, customs, and interests live side by side. The year 1848 probably rings a bell for everyone—there was a push for national emancipation, and I think that was the first stepping stone to what later escalated into World War II. I compare it to the search for identity, like what young people experience today, trying to identify with something. At that time, it was language and the desire for national equality. We saw that throughout Austria-Hungary, which led to early tensions.

We're speaking on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Munich Agreement, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, concentration camps, the Lidice massacre. How did Czechs view these events back then—and how do they see them today? Were these the actions of a radical group, or did we lump all Germans together?

Well, we all tend to generalize—it’s easier to think in boxes. That means, yes, there was generalization, and everything German suddenly became bad for Czechs, and everything Czech was good. But what I find interesting is how today's children see this history. Some themes that are central for us—like the assassination of Heydrich or the burning of Lidice—aren’t really discussed in Germany today. Not because they wouldn’t find them important, but from their perspective, these events don’t stand out within the grand narrative of their national history.

Let’s not focus only on events where Czechs were the victims. Germans suffered too. For example, the expulsion of Germans after the war. How do Germans see this today?

For young people, it’s barely a topic anymore. Even now, in schools or during projects, a student might say “Germany equals Hitler.” But I don't think it’s because the child has any real understanding of what happened—it’s more about the stories that are passed down within families and nations. These are the traumas we still haven’t fully worked through.

Even in Germany—especially in Bavaria and Saxony—the topic of Sudeten Germans still surfaces a bit in families that were expelled. Sometimes we get participants in our projects who say they’re interested in the Czech Republic because their grandmother came from what was then Czechoslovakia. These young people—18 and older—often have never been to the Czech Republic, but they want to visit the place their roots come from.

Relations after the war must have been incredibly difficult for the generations at the time. What were the key moments or events that allowed Czech-German relations to become what many now call the best in our shared history?

The most critical year was 1989. The Iron Curtain fell, the geopolitical situation changed, and Germany was able to start rebuilding ties with its neighbors—specifically Poland and what was then Czechoslovakia. Two treaties were signed back then, where both sides committed to processing historical traumas together and building better neighborly relations. Then in 1997, the Czech-German Declaration was signed. Thanks to it, the Czech-German Future Fund was established, which today finances most of the Czech-German projects. And a year earlier, in 1996, the first Czech-German youth meeting took place in Polička, where, with both presidents present, the Tandem organization was founded.

At the beginning, I said that Tandem started as a kind of peace mission. Can you elaborate on what that means?

The core idea that Germany promotes is that good international relations must also be built through youth cooperation. And to me, that’s a brilliant idea—one other countries should adopt. If you present something as normal from early on, nobody questions it as they grow up, because it’s just their norm.

Germany recently held parliamentary elections. It’s only been a few weeks since the coalition was announced—and Tandem is mentioned in the coalition agreement. How did that happen?

Tandem isn’t mentioned by name, but bilateral organizations supporting international youth cooperation are. The strength of youth organizations joining forces and managing to lobby for this kind of cooperation to be written into a coalition agreement—that’s impressive. I can’t even imagine that happening in the Czech Republic, where we’d ensure youth exchange was seen as essential. Just look at kids from Ústí nad Labem or Karlovy Vary—children who don’t have good social or family backgrounds. For them, school or after-school programs are often their only chance to go abroad.

In our interview for Radio W, we also talked with Lucie Tarabová about the role of German in a globalized world dominated by English, and about the growing popularity of extremist parties among young Germans. Listen to the full interview below (in Czech).