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Russian TV enters the minefield of the Sudetenland controversy

30. 9. 2010 / Jan Čulík

Russian English-language news channel "Russia Today", which can be watched all over the world through cable and satellite, has broadcast this September 29th an impressive half-hour document about September 1938, the Munich Agreement, the attitude and acts of Czechs and Sudeten Germans. The channel presented the issue in an impartial and well-detailed way both irreconcilable views of the historical context around the Munich Agreement, emphasizing that both sides, Czechs and Sudeten Germans, behaved brutally and like beasts towards the other side, during different periods of their common history. It also showed some concrete cases, in the Šumava region, where Czechs now live in houses that originally belonged to Germans -- and they have no intention at all of returning anything back to the original owners. The film is by no means on the side of Czechs, it is strictly impartial, although the viewer has a bit of an impression that the authors have a slight tendency to sympathize more with the Sudeten Germans

Views and comments by Czech, German and Russian historians are included; the Czechs speak Czech, the Germans speak fluent English and sometimes even Russian. You can watch the programme HERE The documentary's conclusion is: "Impetuous and insensitive decisions made by politicians can ruin lives. That is a lesson even for our current days." The film was made by the Russian Novosti News Agency.

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