The Kohns were one of many Jewish families who, after 1848, made their home in Brno, a city that was rapidly expanding as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The brickworks founded by Gottlieb Kohn as early as 1850 capitalized on both the growing demand for building materials and its strategic location near the city center, and under the leadership of Gottlieb’s son Max and grandson Pavel, the company G. Kohn und Sohn became one of Brno’s largest brickworks in the 1920s, employing nearly 650 people.
What became of the brickworks after Nazi Germany’s occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and where did Pavel Kohn flee with his wife and three children? Why was he the only one to return to Brno after the war, and where did he die in 1951? How does one of Pavel’s sons, Thomas, recall his childhood in Brno and the dramatic events that led to the family’s departure from their villa in Hlinky in his autobiography? The history of the members of one of Brno’s prominent Jewish families—whose traces are still scattered throughout the city—will be explored in a lecture by religious studies scholar and director of the Library of Stolen Hopes project, Mgr. Kristýna Zubčáková.
The program will be conducted in Czech with English translation.
