Brno's Technical Museum to build replica of the Iron Curtain

Brno, Sept 16 (CTK) – The Technical Museum in Brno will build a replica of the Iron Curtain this autumn as part of its long-term interest in the era of divided Europe and in connection with The Iron Curtain 1948-1989 new book and exhibition, curator Roman Reznicek has written in a press release.

“A replica of an electrified, barb-wired physical boundary and a signal wall that were used to isolate the inhabitants of the (communist) CSSR (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic) from the rest of the world and prevent them from emigrating in search of freedom,” Reznicek said.

The museum is preparing the display together with colleagues from the town of Horn in Lower Austria.

As part of the project, an event entitled Life Behind the Iron Curtain has been organised at the Satov border fortifications complex near Znojmo, South Moravia.

“In our planned book, expert scientific studies approach the 7,000-kilometres-long border that divided Europe into two parts from several different perspectives,” museum representative Pavla Stohrova said.

The publication will focus on the foundation of the border guard and the construction of the technical-engineering infrastructure.

“The book contains descriptions of emigration and population resettlement as well as the activities of couriers and intelligence services collaborators. Of course, it also focuses on the victims of the armed border guard and other aspects, like society’s reflections on the Iron Curtain during and after the Cold War,” Stohrova added.

The book will also address the ways schools can teach about the events connected to the Iron Curtain. This catalogue will be available to primary and secondary schools as well as libraries that show interest in it.

bas/dr/hol