Castle had to apologize to Peroutka's granddaughter for the claims about Hitler

Castle had to apologize to Peroutka’s granddaughter for the claims about Hitler

Posted On: January 2, 2023

The office of the President of the Republic had to apologize to Ferdinand Peroutka’s granddaughter for remarks by Miloš Zeman, who repeatedly identified the journalist as the author of the article “Hitler was a gentleman”. On the other hand, he does not need to apologize for Peroutka’s penned statement “if we cannot sing with the angels, we must howl with the wolves”, or for his consideration of an intellectual fascination with macabre learning. The decision of the Prague City Court today is final.

An apology for libelous statements must be sent by letter to Kaslové Castle within seven days of the judgment becoming final, and it must also be posted on its website within 30 days. The Czech Republic will apologize through the presidential office, not Zeman, who made the statement while in the line of duty and not as a person.

The president made the remarks about Peroutek last January at a conference marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Historians later drew attention to the fact that Peroutka did not write the article and that the author of the wolf quotes was journalist Jan Stránský. The president insisted he read texts about Hitler. Therefore, Peroutka’s granddaughter filed a lawsuit. In the spring, the district court found him completely right, but an appeals panel defended Zeman partially today.

Article not found

Hrad lost the dispute over “Hitler the Gentleman” because he could not find the article and submitted Peroutka’s other texts to court. The president of the senate, Tomáš Novosad, stated that if someone addresses someone as a gentleman, they consider it noble, righteous, and polite. “Nothing like that was given in the article taken as evidence. “Peroutka has nothing like that to attribute to Hitler, and it would be unfair to say that he wrote articles like that or spread something like that about Hitler,” he said.

On the other hand, regarding the statement about wolves, according to Novosad, an apology is out of place, because Peroutka uses statements that are identical in content in several of his articles. Hakim drew attention to the text “New relations with Germany”, in which the journalist wrote, among other things: “We calculated that twice two is four, that having no ally we can rely on our neighbor, we must somehow do politics with him.” .”

The judge called the article entitled “Czech, German and Jewish” directly anti-Semitic, arguing that Peroutka also used outright racist expressions such as “foreign substance” and “intoxication of the Jewish element” or the stereotype that wealthy Jews were destroying Germany. and Austria. “These articles added fuel to the fire shortly after Kristallnacht,” said Novosad.

Various ways of interpretation

The judge concluded that a journalist’s article can be interpreted in different ways, while not only historians but every citizen can form his own opinion based on reality. “You can’t take away anyone’s right to make their own judgment about what happened in history and how they see it,” he said.

Castle lawyer Marek Nespala left the courtroom more satisfied. Kaslová disagrees with the court’s decision and will consider filing an appeal. “My grandfather’s assessment of being anti-Semitic offended me, perhaps it touched me more than President Zeman’s statements,” he told reporters. Earlier in the meeting, he emphasized that half of his family died in Auschwitz.

The text of the apology Castle had to send to journalist Peroutka’s granddaughter
On January 27, 2015, the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. Ing. Miloš Zeman made this statement in a speech on the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz: “One of the greatest Czech journalists, Ferdinand Peroutka, published an article in the prestigious magazine Přítomnost with the headline Hitler was a gentleman.” Furthermore, at a press conference on February 4, 2015, the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. ing. Miloš Zeman stated: “I saw with my own eyes the article by Ferdinand Peroutka, where it was written that Hitler was a gentleman.” Ferdinand Peroutka is not the author of the article entitled Hitler is a Gentleman, or the article entitled Hitler is a Gentleman. The Czech Republic apologizes for this slanderous statement.

The text of the apology Castle had to send to journalist Peroutka’s granddaughter

On January 27, 2015, the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. Ing. Miloš Zeman made this statement in a speech on the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz: “One of the greatest Czech journalists, Ferdinand Peroutka, published an article in the prestigious magazine Přítomnost with the headline Hitler was a gentleman.”

Furthermore, at a press conference on February 4, 2015, the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. ing. Miloš Zeman stated: “I saw with my own eyes the article by Ferdinand Peroutka, where it was written that Hitler was a gentleman.”

Ferdinand Peroutka is not the author of the article entitled Hitler is a Gentleman, or the article entitled Hitler is a Gentleman. The Czech Republic apologizes for this slanderous statement.

Zeman’s affair with Peroutek has been going on since January 2015
– Disputes around Peroutka’s alleged articles have started last January, when President Miloš Zeman spoke at the Prague Holocaust Forum about intellectual failure in crisis situations such as the rise of Nazism. “One of the greatest Czech journalists, Ferdinand Peroutka published an article in the prestigious Přítomnost magazine with the headline ‘Hitler is a gentleman’,” he said at the time. The same journalist wrote after the Munich Agreement: “If we cannot sing with the angels, we must howl with the wolves,” Zeman said at the time. – Almost instantly, both historians and Association of Ferdinand Peroutka or a journalist’s granddaughter Terezia Kaslova. In particular, they drew attention to the fact that no articles like Peroutka could be found and that the author of the article with quotes about angels and wolves was not Ferdinand Peroutka, but a journalist and publisher. Jan Stránský, who wrote under the pseudonym Petr Bílý. This was later confirmed by Stránský’s son, Martin Jan Stránský, who revue Pródnost currently published. – Critics of Zeman’s claims point out in particular that Peroutka’s alleged fascination with Nazism is meaningless considering the journalist during the Second World War through the Nazi concentration camps. During the First Republic, Peroutka was a member of the informal association of people who met at Karel Čapek’s place, and President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk attended the meetings. He was a democrat and critic of Nazism and communism. – Zeman, however, despite the objections of experts about Peroutko’s work he insisted that he had read the article. His spokesman Jiří Ovčáček devoted nearly half a year to searching for it, who, although he did not find the text by the allotted deadline (until late June 2015), began publishing other Peroutka articles from the Second Republic and early Protectorate on the castle’s website, which he said proved a failure. journalist . However, according to historians, Peroutka’s article cannot be evaluated without knowing the context. – The president also promised during his visit to Mariánské Lázně last April that if the article was not found, he apologizesbut later stated that he would only apologize for not finding the text, not for the statement itself. “I apologize that this article could not be found,” he said at the end of last June in a press conference after visiting Vysočina. “But I can’t apologize for claiming this article exists because I read the article with my own eyes,” Zeman added at the time. Last June, the president promised 100 thousand crowns for anyone who finds the disputed article – Because of Zeman’s statements about Peroutek, journalist Kaslová’s grandson went to court. Last April, he sued the state, and in March this year, the Prague 1 District Court ruled that the Office of the President of the Republic (KPR) he should apologize. Castle appealed the verdict, and Ovčáček said at the time that “it could be expected that the whole case will eventually end up in the Constitutional Court”. – Today, the City High Court ruled that KPR should apologize to Kaslové for the fact that Zeman identified the journalist as the author of the article “Hitler was a gentleman”. On the other hand, he doesn’t need to apologize for Peroutka’s penned statement “if we can’t sing with the angels, we must howl with the wolves”, or for considerations of intellectual fascination with macabre learning. Kaslová disagreed with the court’s decision and said he would consider appealing.

Zeman’s affair with Peroutek has been going on since January 2015

– Disputes around Peroutka’s alleged articles have started last January, when President Miloš Zeman spoke at the Prague Holocaust Forum about intellectual failure in crisis situations such as the rise of Nazism. “One of the greatest Czech journalists, Ferdinand Peroutka published an article in the prestigious Přítomnost magazine with the headline ‘Hitler is a gentleman’,” he said at the time. The same journalist wrote after the Munich Agreement: “If we cannot sing with the angels, we must howl with the wolves,” Zeman said at the time.

– Almost instantly, both historians and Association of Ferdinand Peroutka or a journalist’s granddaughter Terezia Kaslova. In particular, they drew attention to the fact that no articles like Peroutka could be found and that the author of the article with quotes about angels and wolves was not Ferdinand Peroutka, but a journalist and publisher. Jan Stránský, who wrote under the pseudonym Petr Bílý. This was later confirmed by Stránský’s son, Martin Jan Stránský, who revue Pródnost currently published.

– Critics of Zeman’s claims point out in particular that Peroutka’s alleged fascination with Nazism is meaningless considering the journalist during the Second World War through the Nazi concentration camps. During the First Republic, Peroutka was a member of the informal association of people who met at Karel Čapek’s place, and President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk attended the meetings. He was a democrat and critic of Nazism and communism.

– Zeman, however, despite the objections of experts about Peroutko’s work he insisted that he had read the article. His spokesman Jiří Ovčáček devoted nearly half a year to searching for it, who, although he did not find the text by the allotted deadline (until late June 2015), began publishing other Peroutka articles from the Second Republic and early Protectorate on the castle’s website, which he said proved a failure. journalist . However, according to historians, Peroutka’s article cannot be evaluated without knowing the context.

– The president also promised during his visit to Mariánské Lázně last April that if the article was not found, he apologizesbut later stated that he would only apologize for not finding the text, not for the statement itself. “I apologize that this article could not be found,” he said at the end of last June in a press conference after visiting Vysočina. “But I can’t apologize for claiming this article exists because I read the article with my own eyes,” Zeman added at the time. Last June, the president promised 100 thousand crowns for anyone who finds the disputed article

– Because of Zeman’s statements about Peroutek, journalist Kaslová’s grandson went to court. Last April, he sued the state, and in March this year, the Prague 1 District Court ruled that the Office of the President of the Republic (KPR) he should apologize. Castle appealed the verdict, and Ovčáček said at the time that “it could be expected that the whole case will eventually end up in the Constitutional Court”.

– Today, the City High Court ruled that KPR should apologize to Kaslové for the fact that Zeman identified the journalist as the author of the article “Hitler was a gentleman”. On the other hand, he doesn’t need to apologize for Peroutka’s penned statement “if we can’t sing with the angels, we must howl with the wolves”, or for considerations of intellectual fascination with macabre learning. Kaslová disagreed with the court’s decision and said he would consider appealing.