Greeks in the Czech Republic
Encyclopedia
There is a small community of Greeks in the Czech Republic. Roughly 12,000 Greek citizens who fled from
the 1946-1949 Greek Civil War
were admitted to Czechoslovakia
; they consisted of people of both Greek and Macedonian
ethnicity, as well as other ethnic groups.
(KKE) living in exile in Bucharest
, Romania
. Though they initially expected that they would soon return to Greece, due to the development of the political situation they could predict no definite end to their stay in Czechoslovakia. As a result, many eventually naturalised as Czechoslovak citizens and generally assimilated, often intermarrying with local Czechs or the small but significant minority of Sudeten Germans allowed to remain in Czechoslovakia following its liberation from Nazi German occupation. In many cases, these Greek refugees were resettled in houses which had formerly been owned by Sudeten Germans
and were left unoccuppied following the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
. Most were concentrated in or around the towns of Brno (Brunn), Ostrava, Opava, and Krnov (the German Jegendorff) in southern Silesia, where Greek farming expertise helped revive agricultural production on lands formely worked by ethnic Germans. About 5,200 of the migrants consisted of unaccompanied children. The migrants were ethnically heterogeneous, consisting not just of Greeks (mainly Greek Macedonians and Pontic Greeks) and Slav-Macedonians, but Aromanians, Sephardi Jews
, and a few Turkish speaking Asia Minor Greeks.
Beginning in 1975, shortly after the overthrow of the Colonels' dictatorship and a programme of political liberalisation in Greece
which led to the legalisation of the KKE, several thousand young Greeks, including those born in Czechoslovakia, emigrated to Greece. Older Greeks followed them some years later, after an arrangement was made between the Greek and Czechoslovak governments for them to receive their pensions in Greece. By 1991, there were just 3,443 people in Czechoslovakia who declared Greek ethnicity; almost all of those were in the Czech portion of the country, with just 65 in the Slovak portion. However, many of those who did emigrate to (mainly northern) Greece continued to retain strong links with the Czech Republic, with a few even using their dual Greek-Czech national identitities and contacts to help establish trade links between the two countries, or in some cases even deciding to return to the Czech Republic following its accession to the EU and pursuing successful careers there instead of in a Greece beset by economic and employment difficulties.
; however in orphanages which housed unaccompanied child migrants, it was not uncommon for ethnic Greek children to become receptively bilingual in the Slavo-Macedonian language spoken by their playmates. In later years, locally-born members of the community showed increasing language shift
towards Czech
, and tended to have a somewhat weaker command of Greek. However, this may also have been a natural consequence of several factors, including: intermarriage with Czechs and Sudeten Germans, the communist Czechoslovak education system's emphasis on Russian as a second language at the expense of providing for minority-language education, and even the fact many ethnic Greek Macedonians residing in Czechoslovakia were actually of Pontic Greek descent and so somewhat more comfortable with the Pontic Greek dialect rather than the Standard (Demotic) Greek used by the majority of Greek speakers. (Pontic Greek is an archaic Greek dialect (originally spoken by ethnic Greeks from northeastern Turkey and the Russian Caucasus) considered by some to be the closest living relative to Classical Greek but whose vocabulary and pronunciation diverge quite significantly in places from Modern Greek as a result of later exposure to Russian, Georgian, and Turkish linguistic influence.) Although a poor command of Modern Greek was previously often evident among the grandchildren of Greek refugees born in the 1980s and later, those from families who returned to Greece from the mid-70s have now been fully re-assimilated into Greek society and the Modern Greek education system. In fact, their multi-lingual background has enabled ethnic Greeks from Czechoslovakia (and elsewhere in the former Soviet Bloc) to develop and exploit a marked facility in foreign language learning and communication.
Refugees of the Greek Civil War
Political refugees of the Greek Civil War were members or sympathisers of the defeated communist forces who fled Greece during or in the aftermath of the Civil War of 1946–1949. The collapse of the Democratic Army of Greece and the evacuation of the Communist Party of Greece to Tashkent in 1949...
the 1946-1949 Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
were admitted to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
; they consisted of people of both Greek and Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
ethnicity, as well as other ethnic groups.
Migration history
The admission of Greeks to Czechoslovakia was facilitated by members of the Communist Party of GreeceCommunist Party of Greece
Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...
(KKE) living in exile in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Though they initially expected that they would soon return to Greece, due to the development of the political situation they could predict no definite end to their stay in Czechoslovakia. As a result, many eventually naturalised as Czechoslovak citizens and generally assimilated, often intermarrying with local Czechs or the small but significant minority of Sudeten Germans allowed to remain in Czechoslovakia following its liberation from Nazi German occupation. In many cases, these Greek refugees were resettled in houses which had formerly been owned by Sudeten Germans
Sudeten Germans
- Importance of Sudeten Germans :Czechoslovakia was inhabited by over 3 million ethnic Germans, comprising about 23 percent of the population of the republic and about 29.5% of Bohemia and Moravia....
and were left unoccuppied following the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
. Most were concentrated in or around the towns of Brno (Brunn), Ostrava, Opava, and Krnov (the German Jegendorff) in southern Silesia, where Greek farming expertise helped revive agricultural production on lands formely worked by ethnic Germans. About 5,200 of the migrants consisted of unaccompanied children. The migrants were ethnically heterogeneous, consisting not just of Greeks (mainly Greek Macedonians and Pontic Greeks) and Slav-Macedonians, but Aromanians, Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
, and a few Turkish speaking Asia Minor Greeks.
Beginning in 1975, shortly after the overthrow of the Colonels' dictatorship and a programme of political liberalisation in Greece
Metapolitefsi
The Metapolitefsi was a period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974 and the democratic period immediately after these elections.The long...
which led to the legalisation of the KKE, several thousand young Greeks, including those born in Czechoslovakia, emigrated to Greece. Older Greeks followed them some years later, after an arrangement was made between the Greek and Czechoslovak governments for them to receive their pensions in Greece. By 1991, there were just 3,443 people in Czechoslovakia who declared Greek ethnicity; almost all of those were in the Czech portion of the country, with just 65 in the Slovak portion. However, many of those who did emigrate to (mainly northern) Greece continued to retain strong links with the Czech Republic, with a few even using their dual Greek-Czech national identitities and contacts to help establish trade links between the two countries, or in some cases even deciding to return to the Czech Republic following its accession to the EU and pursuing successful careers there instead of in a Greece beset by economic and employment difficulties.
Language
In their early days in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ethnic Greek Macedonian and Slav Macedonian migrants used Greek as their natural lingua francaLingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
; however in orphanages which housed unaccompanied child migrants, it was not uncommon for ethnic Greek children to become receptively bilingual in the Slavo-Macedonian language spoken by their playmates. In later years, locally-born members of the community showed increasing language shift
Language shift
Language shift, sometimes referred to as language transfer or language replacement or assimilation, is the progressive process whereby a speech community of a language shifts to speaking another language. The rate of assimilation is the percentage of individuals with a given mother tongue who speak...
towards Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, and tended to have a somewhat weaker command of Greek. However, this may also have been a natural consequence of several factors, including: intermarriage with Czechs and Sudeten Germans, the communist Czechoslovak education system's emphasis on Russian as a second language at the expense of providing for minority-language education, and even the fact many ethnic Greek Macedonians residing in Czechoslovakia were actually of Pontic Greek descent and so somewhat more comfortable with the Pontic Greek dialect rather than the Standard (Demotic) Greek used by the majority of Greek speakers. (Pontic Greek is an archaic Greek dialect (originally spoken by ethnic Greeks from northeastern Turkey and the Russian Caucasus) considered by some to be the closest living relative to Classical Greek but whose vocabulary and pronunciation diverge quite significantly in places from Modern Greek as a result of later exposure to Russian, Georgian, and Turkish linguistic influence.) Although a poor command of Modern Greek was previously often evident among the grandchildren of Greek refugees born in the 1980s and later, those from families who returned to Greece from the mid-70s have now been fully re-assimilated into Greek society and the Modern Greek education system. In fact, their multi-lingual background has enabled ethnic Greeks from Czechoslovakia (and elsewhere in the former Soviet Bloc) to develop and exploit a marked facility in foreign language learning and communication.