Bedřich Jenšovský a Archiv Země české
Bedřich Jenšovský and the Czech Lands Archives

Summary/Abstract: A prominent figure in Bohemian archival science, PhDr Bedřich Jenšovský (24 September 1889 – 12 February 1942) was an archivist, Director of the Czech Lands Archives, teacher, secretary, and also briefly Director of the State School for Archivists. He was admitted to the Czech Lands Archives on 1 October 1908 as a copier of archival documents and remained faithful to the institution until his violent death. The volume of his work was enormous; over time, he participated in the archives’ organisational issues as well as leadership. In 1916 he was appointed the head of the archives branch in Bredovská Street, frequently deputised the director at meetings during the construction of the new building, and organised the moving of the archives between 1930 and 1933. His appointment as the Czech Lands Archives head administrator on 1 July 1933, immediately after the retirement of his predecessor J.B. Novák, and as director on 1 January 1934 marked the pinnacle of his career.Jenšovský was the first director to work at full capacity, along with his team, in the new archives building in Belcredi Street (today M. Horákové 5/133) in Prague 6. He was at his prime with creative and professional interests exceeding the scope of ordinary archival work; he was devoted to archival education and ranked among the best connoisseurs of printed Bohemica in Roman archives. He was present at the beginning of the stand-alone Czechoslovak Historical Institute in Rome and, in some periods, was one of its chief representatives. Moreover, he was a member of other professional organisations. The arduous years of the German occupation entailed very difficult work conditions for the Czech Lands Archives’ employees, including enforced German administration, forced extradition of archival materials, and irrecoverable personal losses. B. Jenšovský was one of the six employees who died because of the violent Nazi regime during 1939–1945. The Gestapo arrested him at the archives on 8 October 1941 as part of the ‘Sokol Action’, launched against the Sokol Movement representatives, and he died on 12 February 1942 in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

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