Playing tourist in Prague is delightful. It is a beautiful city with diverse, yet harmonious architectural styles, and a complicated history. Neither the Russians nor the Germans, to give them credit, destroyed the city when they invaded, though both did their best to subjugate a proud and talented people.
I was particularly affected by the story of Alfons Mucha, who people of a certain age probably remember for the poster he designed for JOB rolling papers. In the '60s and early '70s, somebody you knew would have had one on their wall as a semi-subversive comment on smoking reefer. Even so, you'd think that it would be a stretch to consider art that decorative to be dangerous enough to warrant arrest by the Nazis.
However, Mucha was extremely proud of his heritage both as a Czech and as a Slav. He did a series of large scale paintings, the Slav Epic, that he donated to the city of Prague in 1928. He also designed both banknotes and postage stamps for the new country, when it gained independence. A little more than a decade later, when the Nazis invaded, Mucha was one of the first people to be interred for "questioning." Though he was later released, he had developed pneumonia in prison, and shortly after died.
How does this relate to Kos and Kossaks? When I read diaries like this recommended diary, it becomes clear that certain people, obviously scholars, are distrusted by our current government. When I read this diary, also recommended, it seems clear that even our most high profile Democrats won't stand up for our rights under the Constitution to voice our concerns. Suddenly a tragic personal outcome such as Mucha had, does not seem impossible. Kos makes light of thethreats he receives, and I admire his courage, but courage and love of one's country does not make you immune from repression.