The National Theatre under the Protectorate

The exhibition is part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Prague Uprising and the end of the Second World War in Europe. It is devoted to the daily operation of the leading Czech cultural institution during the difficult wartime period. The National Theatre was under the close scrutiny of the Protectorate censorship and the German occupation authorities. Despite all this it was able to function, as a place that remained purely "Czech", relatively unaffected by the occupation namely in the early years of the Protectorate.

The life of the most prominent theatre scene of the country reflects all important events of the Protectorate's political history. Regulation concerning Jews were ordered in the theatre, the signboards switched from the Czech texts about the plays’ cast to a bilingual texts. The initial idea of saving "everything Czech" gradually turned into a delicate struggle between the theatre management and artists with ever tightening requirements of the occupiers. In September 1944, the leading Prague’s stage was closed and most of its employees were “totally deployed” into forced labour. In the end, the National Theatre also played its part in history of the Prague Uprising.

Panels 1–4 

30th September 1938
The Munich Agreement, signed by representatives of Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain, required Czechoslovakia to cede its border areas to Germany. It presented the state in the middle of Europe with a question of whether to submit or openly enter armed conflict without any international support. The state lost 38% of its total area and 36% of its population living in Bohemia and Moravia. The newly created state formation, Czecho-Slovakia (so-called the Second Republic) lasted 166 days.

15th March 1939
German occupation of the rest of Czecho-Slovakia began, and a day later the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was officially established. Formally, it was an autonomous territory under the administration of the “Reich”, with its own administrative bodies. In reality, the Protectorate was governed by the German occupation authorities, headed by the Office of the Reich Protector. 

Panel 5

11th July 1939
By the order of the Reich Protector, the National Theatre was forced to give up the Estates Theatre building (where, for example, Mozart's Don Giovanni was premiered in 1787). The theatre was used for German drama and for various propaganda events of the Nazi leaders. 

Panels 7–8

The drama repertoire in particular was subject to strict supervision by the censorship authorities. First all Jewish authors were banned followed by some Czech and German anti-fascist authors. Next the majority of plays by French and English playwrights were not allowed to be performed. After the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany in June 1941 even Russian authors disappeared.

Panel 9

24th June 1942
Following the assassination of Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi security forces unleashed terror in the Protectorate. Every day the names of executed people were announced over the radio and posted on signposts. The brutality of the occupation regime culminated in the burning of Lidice village (10th June 1942). In the atmosphere of fear, the public was forced to make numerous expressions of loyalty to the Reich. One such gathering took place on 24th June 1942, when actors and other artists gathered in the National Theatre building to pledge allegiance to the Reich.

Panel 12

14th February 1945
Prague became the target of an Allied air raid due to several mistakes. More than 150 tons of bombs were dropped on the city: they hit the city centre, mostly New Town, Vinohrady and Pankrác. The scenery warehouse and the painting shop of the National Theatre in Viničná Street were also hit. The theatre lost more than 30,000 decorations and premises intended for their production and storage.

Panels 14-16

5th – 8th May 1945
The American and Red armies were advancing through the Protectorate, Hitler was dead, the Reich was collapsing, and Prague’s citizens had risen. Czechoslovak and Allied flags were flown on buildings, German signs and other symbols of Nazi power were destroyed. The uprising, coordinated by the military and political resistance leaders, ran into a fundamental problem. There were not enough weapons and ammunition to arm the insurgents and heavy military equipment was also missing. On 6th May, in the early hours of the morning, the order came to erect barricades.

More than 1 500 barricades were erected throughout the capital. Fighting against the German horde flared up in most parts of the city and gradually intensified. From the evening of 6th May, units of the Russian Liberation Army (Vlasovci) joined the fighting on the side of the insurgents and then left Prague the next day for political reasons. On 8th May, at 4 p.m., a German surrender was signed with conditions for their full withdrawal from the city. The following morning, Soviet tanks of the 4th Guard’s Tank Army entered the city.