THIS UNKNOWN FAR AWAY COUNTRY

[Music] [Applause] e [Applause] [Applause] [Music] you'll remember when Americans picked up their newspapers one morning and read the incredible news of a fatal quarrel between Germany and Slovakia an unknown and Far Away country to us then that was December 1938 World War II was shaping up as the War years progressed I made up my mind that one day I would visit Czechoslovakia birthplace of my ancestors I kept that promise to myself soon after the war this is the movie I brought home with me [Music] it seemed hardly any time at all before we were winging over Prague they call it the golden city the city of a 100 spires and I was anxious to begin exploring it a few minutes later we were dipping down onto the big Airfield at rosinia about 5 miles from the center of [Music] Prague most of the other passengers were businessmen but I was just anticipating the pleasures of looking [Music] around I was glad the Customs officer spoke English I learned later that in the Prague night school it's the favorite language to [Music] study the next morning I was up bright and early I wanted just to walk through the streets look around and get to know the atmosphere of Prague my first encounter with authority was in the middle of the street The Authority was a policeman who cautioned me about jaywalking he could have given me a fine but since I was a foreigner he let me off with a friendly warning I got on a trolley to begin my sightseeing [Music] tour first the National Theater it was opened in 1881 and then burned down after the first performance it was rebuilt completely with funds raised by popular subscription that's why it's a national theater in a special sort of way I soon found that Prague is a tourist Paradise this is one of the world's most famous Old Stone Bridges you have to cross it to get to the castle if these statues of saints could speak they'd tell Strange Tales of invading and liberating armies Crossing and recrossing the bridge during the past 600 years up on the hill is the president's Castle the grounds contain two Cathedrals one is a sort of chech Westminster ABY Roman emperors are buried here and Czech Kings including good King W's loss at the main gate of the castle stands a soldier whose uniform reminded me of the British soldiers I met during the [Music] war looking down from the embattlement I had a wonderful view of prague's Gothic Baro and Roco architecture I tried my hand at map Reading typical tourist I guess Maps guide books and [Music] all the houses are so old they seem to lean on one another's shoulders as they climb the hill towards the castle back down in the center of Prague I was surrounded by modern buildings it seemed like a different [Music] world [Music] I had a few minutes to spare while waiting for a check friend so I took the opportunity to do a little window shopping a fascinating Pastime for a foreigner in a strange country I made a metal note of the fashion accessories for sale thought it might be interesting to friends back home costume jewelry is lovely in Czechoslovakia and so inexpensive I saw a beautiful pearl necklace for just a few dollars it had easily cost about $50 on [Music] Avenue and here you see my friend arriving only 15 minutes late not bad for a chick or any young lady we set forth exploring and worked up quite an appetite during the rounds of churches and palaces Dasha that's my cck friend chose an excellent restaurant high above the city it was very gay dining outdoors and with an orchestra for dancing [Music] [Applause] too we ran into a group of das's friends imagine my surprise to discover Johnny an old College Chum of mine here on an educational tour of Europe ah that Tech Pilsner beer there's nothing like it we all made a fine afternoon of it Dasha her friends Johnny and [Music] I next day I got on a train to the scota works to see the manufacturer of Railway items there was a terrific amount of Destruction during the war but the loss of Rolling Stock has already been made good but still more is needed to catch up with a big increase in industry and agriculture life is in a hurry for the Czechs after 6 years of going slow for the Germans they're now working in building at top speed so they can overtake and pass the pre-war standard of living one expression of speed is the new locomotives they're building at scota which can do more than 100 [Music] mph I traveled in a train pulled by one of these new locomotives when I went down to the tatra auto plant in Moravia [Music] the tatra has an 8 cylinder aircooled engine which is fitted in the rear of the car the checks have put a lot of their feeling for Speed and streamlining into the new tatra a beauty isn't it but for the time being I had to be content with walking I wanted to see more of Czech manufacturing so I went up to godv valof the home of the Czech shoe industry 30 years ago it was just a little country town then Tomas baa the founder of these factories studied mass production methods in America the conveyor belt was introduced to the people of this region Yan Bacha took over after his brother's death and the conveyor belt went faster political thought was controlled by Bach's own Motion Pictures and newspapers trade unions were suppressed when the Germans occupied the country they found a willing collaborator in Yan Bacha he put boots on the German Army but one day the Nazis had to run for it and baa got the boot the original name zen so closely connected with the unpopular baa was changed in 1948 to godal off after the president of the country the workers homes are near the Factory The Happy children you see here live in one of the most modern cities in the world It seems impossible to believe that we are still in Central Europe in a country where winter temperatures drop to 20° below zero but this is a Vineyard in Czechoslovakia not in Italy not only grapes but millions of tobacco plants grow up here too in the mountain Villages they still wear the national costumes and though they do have a Sunday Best the costume is for everyday wear not something put on just for the benefit of [Music] tourists the men too have quite a taste for color their embroidered jackets are fine examples of peasant [Music] art [Music] probably most of you have heard of the high tatra some of the peaks in the chain are over 8,000 ft High there are many Health Resorts up [Music] here the luxury hotels used to be the preserves of the very rich lately trade unions have taken over many of them so workers and their families now may spend their holidays here I saw many convalescent homes and sanitariums here [Music] too I went to see the famous TB sanitarium said to be one of the best on the continent it's a huge place and I thought there must be thousands of patients actually there are only 600 there are more on the staff than there are in the bed I took a cable car over the Peaks and was quickly rewarded by seeing a number of wild goats at very close range they're rarely seen so near then I took to my feet and though I was in the midst of ice and snow I got so hot I had to shed most of my [Music] clothes looking past the mountains to the distance Beyond I realized I was almost within sight of another far away unknown country Soviet Russia the Shepherds who lead their sheep in this part of the country could belong to almost any Century at all but this is very much a country of the 20th century and it has suffered deeply from the 20th century Madness of War destruction here was almost greater than in any other part of the Republic the people are rebuilding as fast as they can my strenuous activity on the mountains left my legs aching so much that I began to think of recuperating in one of the Spas I chose one with a formidable name of trena teit here you drink the healthful mineral water and let your extra weight be wound down or even tickled out of you after this you go along for a nice clean Bass the mud is a peaceful application of radioactivity and feels much better than it looks [Music] having rested my limbs I decided to have a look at Bratislava an inland port on the danu it's the capital of Slovakia and the people are as proud of it as the pists are of their City it was my last Port of Call in Slovakia from there I took the Slovak Arrow a motor Express back to Moravia the trip across the Moravian plane was made interesting by an excellent lunch and by a group of young people I met there we struck up an acquaintance there was a mixture of Czech French German and American so conversation was a bit difficult I was a pleased with the friendliness and amiability of the Czech [Music] people I got out at berno the center of a rich agricultural area and yet a highly industrialized town berno is the capital of Moravia there were settlements on this site as far back as Roman times breno has had a stormy history and within its walls Czech German polish tartar Hungarian Prussian and French armies have been encamped as in Prague Gothic Baroque and modern architecture blend in with each other quite [Music] happily if I had been an artist this is the scene I would have liked to paint best of all it's brno's famous Fruit Market very colorful and absolutely check an artist's dream and a very good Market [Music] too it was in the czechoslovak arms works that the light machine gun was made that is known as the brand it was later improved upon in England today the production is geared for peaceful purposes with emphasis on farming equipment so necessary for czechoslovakia's Agricultural Development the Bruno Fortress known as Spielberg is famous in European history it has been the guest house of French Italian and polish revolutionaries the medieval torture chambers still exist and the guide made our blood curdle with his graphic descriptions of how the various instruments worked one thing I noticed puzzled me the presence of telephone cables in Brick and concrete well these details belong to a story which not only the guide knew but also the people all over Czechoslovakia it was the story of the 20th century torturers the Nazis had modernized the torture chambers and improved upon them this is where resistance Fighters were tortured and killed here's a memorial put up for them up on the Rocks was a little chapel where the Nazis buil a new altar for their new God and beside the altar stand grim and Silent reminders of their new [Music] [Music] religion this Barren stretch was once covered by a lovely Village this place was Lady the scene of the Nazis most colossal and treacherous destruction they tried to obliterate every human being every trace of the village the men were shot the women turned into concentration camps the children dispersed all over Germany even the graves were dug up and the remains destroyed seeing this place I began to understand something of how the Czechs feel about the [Music] Germans the Nazis did their work of Destruction thoroughly they never dreamed that one day young people from all over the world would help to rebuild the village of licha let's hope that this is a sign for the future people of the world living and working together building and not destroying there will be much of the international in the new leure a big part of the Reconstruction funds were raised in Britain and [Music] America [Music] Lady Joe was the last place I visited soon after this I was on my way back home below me I saw Prague a golden city capital of a country which is no longer unknown and far away [Music] a