Prague Revisited
1944-1992: A Personal Journey
by B. and P. von zur Muehlen
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About the Book
This book of photographs by two married photographers, one an immigrant from Germany and the other an American of Jewish descent, describes four extended visits to Prague, two during the last years of Communist rule and two following the Velvet Revolution that freed the people of Czechoslovakia from the yoke of Communism. The book begins with the story of one of the authors, who, as a five-year old, had spent the last nine months of World War II living in Prague, a city his mother had chosen while her husband was away at the Russian front, eventually to be killed in action in late 1944. The young boy’s idyllic-seeming life is set against the background of brutal Nazi occupation, when most of Prague’s Jewish population was deported to Terezin and from there to Auschwitz. The chapter ends with an account of the family’s escape from Prague on a military hospital train just days before Soviet forces stormed the city. The couple’s first two visits in 1985 and 1988 found Prague to be beautiful but melancholic, untouched by Western progress and with streets nearly empty of people—a paradise for any photographer. Haunting images of the remains of Jewish culture, including the Old Jewish Cemetery and a few synagogues, highlight the book. In 1990 and 1992, visual ironies became apparent, as Prague was coming back to life and Western modernity was pressing against a city struggling to maintain its ancient charm. This book is unique in that it spans the sweep of history from Nazi terror in World War II followed by Communist dictatorship to eventual liberalization. The photographs are accompanied by a text describing the photographers’ occasionally bizarre experiences.
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Features & Details
- Primary Category: Arts & Photography Books
- Additional Categories Fine Art Photography, Travel
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Project Option: Large Format Landscape, 13×11 in, 33×28 cm
# of Pages: 238 - Publish Date: Apr 02, 2021
- Language English
- Keywords World War II, Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague
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