Published on 9 September 2016
Throughout the existence of the association, between 1946 and 1951, lectures and cultural events in a wider sense made up the greatest part of its activities and formed one of its three areas of competence. The other two were scientific work and the establishment of close ties with organizations of a similar character.
Naturally, the tragic experience of the horrors of World War II and Nazism made a mark on the way of thinking of the population of the liberated republic. In the spirit of learning from the past and the dissemination of the greatest possible amount of information about the dangers that ideologies hostile to democracy presented, a number of organizations and associations were founded after the war, taking extensive and diverse actions in this area. Some of them were active politically, some mostly tried to help resistance members and their families and to ensure a dignified place in society for them, while others opted for “education” – meaning relentless activities in the field of “the critical and scientific refutation of Fascism and related ideologies and the cultural and ideological struggle against these”. One of these organizations, whose activities were mostly cultural and social, was the Czech Anti-Fascist Association.
The Czech Anti-Fascist Association was founded by Erik Kolár, the director and screenwriter, an important representative of Czech theatre, on the basis of Act No. 134/1867 Coll., on the freedom of association. However, the activities of mostly cultural figures could already be observed in the second half of 1945, when the Preparatory Committee for the Czech Anti-Fascist Association began to be active. At the time of the official foundation of the association and the approval of its statutes by the Ministry of the Interior in May 1946, its activities in organizing numerous debates and lectures were extensive. Lectures and cultural events in a wider sense made up the greatest part of the organization’s activities and formed one of its three areas of competence. The other two were scientific work and the establishment of close ties with organizations of a similar character. According to historical sources, their popular lectures were organized irregularly in the famous Berger café in Vodičkova street in Prague. The members of the Preparatory committee had contacts with cultural and scientific figures and politicians from home and abroad. Thus, from the spring of 1946, the attendants of lectures in the café could, for example, hear lectures by the writer Jan Drda on the subject of ongoing events in Nuremberg, take part in discussions with foreign journalists present in Prague on the occasion of the trial of K. H. Frank, and witness appearances by former Spanish diplomat Pablo Ascari on the situation in Franco's Spain.5 Throughout its existence, the association managed to organize interesting debates with noted guests.
The official existence of the association began with the approval of its statutes by the Ministry of the Interior on 17 May 1946. The statutes, divided into twelve paragraphs, were changed again in a relatively short time by another notice of the Ministry on 13 September of the same year, in connection with the need to be able to accept as members legal persons, too (as collective members - § 4). Other changes concerned § 9, namely the competencies and the number of board members and the decision-making process.
The idea of the founders of the association was that the Czech Anti-Fascist Association would not be a “mass organization”, but selective. According to the Statutes, its members were to participate actively in the establishment of institutions for the study of Fascism and totalitarianism, the organization of popular and expert lectures, the publication of periodicals and non-periodic publications, the establishment of libraries and other documentary centres, the organization of “cultural promotion” (exhibitions, theatrical shows), and the establishment of contacts with similar organizations both at home and abroad. The membership base did not form a single entity, but was divided on the basis of a particular key. The statutes distinguished between full, contributing, corresponding, founding and honorary members. Any citizen over eighteen years of age could become a full member after submitting an application and having it approved by the committee. Corresponding members were selected by the association’s committee. The special status of founding member could be granted (somewhat illogically) to anyone who submitted a membership application, was accepted by the committee and then paid a one-off contribution of 100 Czechoslovak crowns. Honorary members were elected by the general assembly. Honorary and corresponding members did not pay a membership fee, while full members paid 100 crowns and contributing members paid 40 crowns.
By the aforementioned amendments of statues from September 1946, a sixth category of members was introduced, which was collective members. These were legal entities which could become members of the organization and participate in its running. According to the last annual report from March, the Czech Anti-Fascist Association had 179 individual members (full, contributing and honorary) and 17 founding and collective members. Those two categories represented institutions and societies which could afford to pay the higher membership fee of 1,000 crowns and more. Collective members - in current terminology we could say “VIP” members - were very important for the association and enjoyed certain advantages. The status of collective member was given to institutions and organizations such as the Czechoslovak Sokol organization, the Association of National Revolution, the Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague Central World Council (which participated in the organization and financing of the aforementioned lectures), the Association of the friends of the USSR in Czechoslovakia and the Mánes Association of Fine Artists. According to archival documents, Mánes was of special importance to the association. The association's organization of lectures, which made up the largest part of its activities, went hand in hand with visual promotion and advertising. The promotion commission of the Czech Anti-Fascist Association in particular saw great potential in the cooperation with Mánes. The Mánes committee found the offer of the association very attractive, and the leadership of both organizations simply “fine-tuned” the issue of financing. The representatives of Mánes pointed out the uneasy economic situation after the war and did not like the association's suggestion that artists should do small commissions (visual promotional material for exhibitions, posters, badges) for free. Based on the agreement of both organizations, in October 1946 Mánes joined the Czech Anti-Fascist Association and reasonable payments were set for the arts and crafts services of Mánes members.
The organization was represented by three administration bodies – the general assembly, the committee and the presidium. The committee decided on the admission and exclusion of members and about financial and management issues. The general assembly was called by the committee in writing once a year. It elected the presidium, which had seven members (chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer, rapporteur) and was supplemented by 10 alternative members. The presidium represented the organization externally. Four chairmen alternated in leading the association (including the poet František Halas), but their practical influence on the functioning of the organization is rather uncertain. A much greater impact can be attributed to the long-time executive Dr. Jiří Smrčka, who served in this post during the entire existence of the association and signed all its documents.
Scientific research and publishing were important parts of the association’s activities. The organization created commissions which dealt with particular tasks. These were the scientific, lecturing, publishing, promotion, financial, foreign and exhibition commissions. Scientific research into Fascism was to be “apolitical" and "non-partisan”; however, the members of the presidium were all the representatives of parties associated in the National Front. According to the regulation of 11 September 1946, an Institute for the study of Fascism was founded, consisting of three departments. Its creation and in particular its fundraising for its activities was difficult, and to ensure greater economic efficiency the institute collaborated with the Institute for International Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The institute’s task was to study the historical roots of public life in Czechoslovakia, to map the material damage caused by the occupation and the effects of Fascism on the psychology of the Czech population, and to participate in education. The organization boasted a library which right from the start contained 6,000 volumes and which was continuously expanding. It also received literature and magazines from abroad. Special emphasis was put on monitoring the situation in Germany, divided into two occupation zones. From Germany the library received the periodicals Die Weltbühne and Sonntag, among other publications. Nevertheless, the association’s presidium complained about the lack of literature from the West – paradoxically, this was recorded in the last report from March 1950, when Czechoslovakia was already ruled by a fully pro-Soviet regime. The Czech Anti-Fascist Association was also active in publishing. Despite having existed only for a short while, their attempts to publish important political works are worth recording. To name some, let's mention the memoirs of the former Austrian Chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, Requiem in red and white, from 1947, which were published in collaboration with the Aventinum publishing house.
The Czechoslovak Anti-Fascist Association (the organization used this name until September 1950) was dissolved by a resolution of the general assembly of 4 October 1951. The main reason can be found in the wider political and social changes which came to Czechoslovakia after 25. 2. 1948. “Victorious February” was clearly reflected in the composition and membership of the association. “By the time of the general assembly, 24 individual members were crossed off the membership lists, of which 8 were crossed off after the February cleansing [...], 10 of them for not paying membership fees.” The call for greater integration of Anti-Fascist associations and unions was requested by the communist regime.