Tomáš Kulka

* 1948

  • "Right after the war, my dad along with Ota Kraus - the father of Jan Kraus - decided that prior to looking for a job, they had to give a testimony. And really, their book The Death Factory was the first written testimony about Auschwitz. I think it was published in January 1946. My father then carried on, wrote another book with Ota Kraus and devoted practically all of his life to the memory of people who were murdered in Auschwitz, as much as to the 1963 Frankfurt trials."

  • "While at a summer job in the kibbutz, we received the news of the Soviet invasion to Czechoslovakia. We didn't want to believe it; we thought it was nonsense. I still have a fresh memory of Bertík waking us up, saying: 'Get up, guys, the Russians are in Prague.' We told him: 'Bertík, you and your radio...' It took us a while. We were after a hike and wanted to sleep. At nine in the morning, we went to have breakfast and saw all the Czechs from the kibbutz sitting by the radio and giving us looks. After a while, we came to believe it was true. It was a shock, of course. Part of the Literary Papers editorial board was in a kibbutz: Petr Pithart, Ivan Hartel, Chudožilov... After the invasion, all Czechoslovaks gathered in the kibbutz Kfar Masaryk, where they published the Literary Papers statement."

  • "Does Israel have a future at the current situation?" - "In my opinion, it doesn't. The occupation can't take forever. Unless there is a two-state solution, and if the Palestinians are given a right to vote, there will be no Jewish state. That argument used by the left from the very beginning, is still valit: either the state won't be Jewish or it won't be democratic." - "The possibility of two states is very distant for many reasons." - "It's not on the table. I wouldn't mind that but the reality is changing. Every once in a while, they build a new settlement at the West Bank - the territory which should be at the core of the talks. This was always Netanyahu's policy; he was never serious about the two-state solution."

  • "You said that even this country went south. What had changed?" - "The whole atmosphere. Just look at who is our president these days?! I couldn't have even imagined such a guy becoming president. And he might even be reelected. Some of the paradoxes are quite laughable. There was a survey in which they asked who would be a better president - whether Zeman or Drahoš. Most people said that Drahoš but then the same people claimed to vote for Zeman. It is awkward. That hatred which he helped stir up - that is new. People hate each other here. That is probably the worst thing; a news sort of hatred had been sewn. Or, in other words, while Havel made an effort to bring the good things in people to surface, Zeman addresses the ugly side of humans. Plus, we have Babiš who will obviously win the election. So, I don't know where all of this is heading."

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Praha, 30.06.2017

    (audio)
    duration: 02:00:03
  • 2

    Praha, 07.07.2017

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    duration: 01:33:53
  • 3

    V Praze , 12.11.2020

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    duration: 53:28
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
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There is a paradox: there is always more terror when peace is being negotiated

Tomáš Kulka, 2017
Tomáš Kulka, 2017
photo: ED

Tomáš Kulka was born on 18 September 1948 to a couple which was brought together by the tragic events of WW II. Ever since the 1950s, the family had lived in Prague. Tomáš was a good student and was admitted to study philosophy and political economy at the Charles University. His studies were interrupted by the 1968 Soviet invasion to Czechoslovakia. That summer, he had a temporary job in a kibbutz in Israel. He then spent four years studying philosophy and economy at the London School of Economics. In 1972, he moved to Israel with his wife Eva whom he met in England. He graduated from philosophy at the University of Jerusalem where he then taught for a number of years. He was also interested in fine arts, did sketching, and after a decade moved to Tel Aviv to teach aesthetics. Ever since his arrival to Israel, he contributed to the Radio Free Europe, hence carrying the legacy of his father Erich Kulka who co-authored the book The Death Factory, mapping the horrors of Auschwitz. After the Velvet Revolution, he returned to Prague every year after settling in permanently in 1996. He worked for the Respekt magazine, published the book Art and Kitsch and lectures a the Charles University. Despite having both Czech and Israeli citizenship, he hadn’t visited the country for the past eleven years. He says he doesn’t want to spoil his nice memories of a country, which has undergone a profound change.