The Extinction of Mušov from the Perspective of the Former Inhabitants

• Authors: Šuba Josef

Title variants

CS

Zánik Mušova pohledem jeho tehdejších obyvatel

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

In the second half of the 20th century, several dozens of villages ceased to exist as a consequence of water systems built on Bohemian and Moravian rivers. One of them was Mušov in South Moravia, a village which disappeared beneath the water of Nové Mlýny Dams. The preserved sources show vain attempts of local inhabitants to rescue Mušov, which were followed by a process of gradual becoming reconciled to the loss of their homes and by individual struggles to ensure as good conditions for forced displacement as possible. However, four decades have elapsed since Mušov was flooded, and the former residents look to the past in a conciliatory fashion. Although in the 1960s they supported an idea to build a new village and refused to accept the extinction of Mušov, they realize with the passage of time that their then effort was vain from the very beginning. Currently they see the displacement as an opportunity to acquire higher-quality housing for their families, which they might not have reached in the original village. Their lost home is, at least partially, substituted by ties to the community of former Mušov residents, which has survived and which actively keeps passing on memories of Mušov.

Keywords

EN

Forced migrations; oral history; extinct seats; Mušov; Nové Mlýny Dams

• Publisher: The National Institute of Folk Culture
• Journal: Národopisná revue (Journal of Ethnology)
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 53 - 63

Contributors

author

Šuba Josef