And here is an alarming piece of graffiti of recent origin, on a wall near the main square:
Showing posts with label Košice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Košice. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 August 2018
After the Illusion
Yesterday, I went to Košice and basked in nostalgia for the empire that created it. I suppose I ought to have mentioned the sad traces of what came after that I saw in that very pretty town:
Outside the now deserted Synagogue, there was this poignant memorial, explaining that in 1944 the Jewish population of the town was deported.
These are the Synagogue doors, no longer open or used, because the population the doors were made for no longer exist.
And here is an alarming piece of graffiti of recent origin, on a wall near the main square:
One of the many reasons that I admire Franz Joseph of Austria is that his approach to anti-Semitism showed true leadership. As this site says "He was matchless in his friendship to Jews". This site goes into more detail about exactly what he did to make that true. The persistence of anti-Semitism in Europe is shocking, depressing and completely baffling. To tell the truth, it fills me with sadness and rage.
And here is an alarming piece of graffiti of recent origin, on a wall near the main square:
Tuesday, 14 August 2018
Treasures of Austria-Hungary - Košice/Kossa
At the beginning of The World of Yesterday Stefan Zweig conjures up the secure world of his childhood, which he spent in Vienna, a citizen of the pre-war Austro-Hungarian empire. Zweig then proceeds to describe how that sense of security he and his fellow citizens experienced was an illusion:
Despite Zweig's persuasive arguments, plus those of quite recent history, ever since I first started visiting the territories that were formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, it has struck me that, the sense of security its citizens felt, the idea that the civilisation that they were part of was something special - possibly even unique in human history - could surely not have been entirely misguided. Even in the depths of Ceaucescu’s rule, the central square of Timisoara, for example, lifted the heart with its hint that things could be beautiful. Today, visiting Košice, Slovakia’s second town - but little known outside the country - I was again overwhelmed by the loveliness of what Zweig’s so-called World of Yesterday has left behind. Here are the photographs I took of just the first fifteen minutes - I promise this is merely the initial impression, no more than the surface - that I spent in the town - and here are a few, if the link does not work, as sometimes links don't, in my experience:
Despite Zweig's persuasive arguments, plus those of quite recent history, ever since I first started visiting the territories that were formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, it has struck me that, the sense of security its citizens felt, the idea that the civilisation that they were part of was something special - possibly even unique in human history - could surely not have been entirely misguided. Even in the depths of Ceaucescu’s rule, the central square of Timisoara, for example, lifted the heart with its hint that things could be beautiful. Today, visiting Košice, Slovakia’s second town - but little known outside the country - I was again overwhelmed by the loveliness of what Zweig’s so-called World of Yesterday has left behind. Here are the photographs I took of just the first fifteen minutes - I promise this is merely the initial impression, no more than the surface - that I spent in the town - and here are a few, if the link does not work, as sometimes links don't, in my experience:
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