Tzv. kyselinová aféra a konfinace plzeňských Židů v dubnu a květnu 1939
The ‘Acid Affair’ and the confining of Pilsen Jews in April and May 1939

Author(s): Karel Řeháček
Subject(s): Jewish studies, Ethnohistory, Recent History (1900 till today), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), History of the Holocaust
Published by: Židovské Muzeum v Praze
Keywords: Pilsen; Jews; 1939; "acid affair"; Czechoslovakia;
Summary/Abstract: Practically since time immemorial, the practice of confining people has served as an official restriction on the right to freedom of movement and residence, in effect as a ‘milder’ form of imprisonment. It has been used primarily by dictatorships, but also by democratic regimes at times of crisis. The practice was carried out, for example, in Czechoslovakia, especially in the last period of its inter-war existence from the autumn of 1938 and extensively after the establishment of the Protectorate. Its purpose was to eliminate dissenting adversaries, to intimidate the Protectorate population, and to punish visible opponents and members of the incipient anti-fascist resistance movement. One such protest action that occurred in Pilsen in April 1939 became known as the ‘Acid Affair’ (so named because of the throwing of acid on Nazi German uniforms, signs and posters), the consequences of which are analyzed in this paper. Based on a study of archival sources, the paper shows that it has been possible not only to reconstruct the circumstances behind this incident of local resistance, but also to obtain interesting information about the not-so-positive attitudes of the Protectorate authorities towards people of Jewish descent. The Pilsen incident points to a number of significant facts. Firstly, it was the first major anti-Jewish demonstration to have been officially held in Pilsen. Secondly, the Protectorate – i.e. Czech – security authorities actively contributed to the confining of the local Jewish population. And thirdly, it could have served both as a warning to the Jews of Pilsen and the surrounding area, and as a guide on how to act in the following months. The period of relative safety that Jews had experienced in the former Czechoslovakia was now definitely over.

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