A Hebraist from the UWB Faculty of Arts to Present His Research in New York

The little-known story of Leo Herrmann and his rescue of thousands of Czechoslovak Jews in the early days of the Nazi occupation will be introduced to a U.S. audience by Zbyněk Tarant of the UWB. He was invited to deliver his lecture on 20 November, at the Bohemian National Hall in New York.

Research in the field of Jewish studies at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen has received significant international recognition. Hebraist Zbyněk Tarant of the Department of Middle Eastern and African Studies at the Faculty of Arts has been invited to speak at a prestigious annual lecture in New York. The event is organised by the Jewish Museum in Prague, together with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York and the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews.

On November 20, at the Czech National Building in New York, Tarant will present the results of his research on the so-called Czechoslovak Transfer, an extraordinary rescue program negotiated and organized between 1938 and 1940 by Leo Herrmann, a native of Lanškroun. The scope and significance of his efforts and rescue plan are comparable to the famous story of Sir Nicholas Winton.

Leo Herrmann was a lawyer, diplomat, journalist and film producer — and for many years the secretary general of the Zionist fundraising agency Keren Ha-Yesod. He maintained close contacts with Jan Masaryk and with Jewish peace activists associated with Brit Shalom / Tahalluf as-Salām, a group advocating the inclusion of Palestinian Arabs in the Zionist project. In 1934–1935 Herrmann produced the first Zionist sound film, directed by Juda Leman. The film was extremely well received and 90 years ago — in 1935 — it was screened at New York’s Astor Theatre in the presence of prominent figures including Albert Einstein.

Following the Munich Agreement and the dramatic deterioration of the position of Jews in Czechoslovakia, Herrmann used all his contacts and experience to create a plan that would allow endangered people to emigrate to Mandatory Palestine. The programme, known as the Czechoslovak Transfer, used part of a British loan and a donation provided after Munich. Thanks to his fundraising abilities and crisis-management skills, Herrmann succeeded in securing the rescue of more than 2,500 Czechoslovak Jews — including notable figures such as Max Brod, Felix Weltsch and David Paul Meretz.

“When Brod and others recalled in their memoirs their escape from Czechoslovakia on the night of the Nazi invasion on March 15, 1939, it was Herrmann who, from London, made their last-minute departure possible. Without him, the archive of Franz Kafka, which Brod smuggled out of Czechoslovakia, would likely never have been preserved,” explained Zbyněk Tarant.

The Pilsen-based Hebraist sees the opportunity to present this research in the most populous city of the United States not only as an honour, but also as a chance for further inquiry: “Many people with Czechoslovak-Jewish roots still live in New York today, including descendants of Leo Herrmann. They are grateful that someone here has revived their family’s story. Presenting to an audience that often includes direct witnesses offers a unique opportunity to deepen research and to strengthen cooperation with private archives.”

The annual lectures organised by the Jewish Museum in Prague aim to introduce the rich heritage of Czech and Slovak Jews to audiences in Czechia and abroad. According to the institution’s director, Pavla Niklová, they are becoming a new tradition. She considers the exceptionally powerful story of Leo Herrmann an excellent topic: “We are proud to be able to present it to an international audience.”