{"id":43,"date":"2016-08-09T20:44:09","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T20:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/?page_id=43"},"modified":"2026-04-14T16:14:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T16:14:56","slug":"czechoslovakia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/czechoslovakia\/","title":{"rendered":"Czechoslovakia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Martha and Waitstill Sharp traveled to Czechoslovakia in 1939<\/strong> and undertook efforts to relocate families from the Sudetenland. They worked closely with Dr. Franti\u0161ek \u0160makal, the Head of the Red Cross in Czechoslovakia. Dr. \u0160makal and his wife, Iva \u0160makalov\u00e1, fled the Sudetenland themselves, committed to protecting Red Cross funds from German confiscation. Dr. \u0160makal continued to provide relief assistance until captured by the Gestapo in July 1942. He and his wife were murdered at Mauthausen three months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Martha helped the Czechoslovakian government establish a home for refugees at the Lys\u00e1 nad Labem castle outside Prague. Yehuda Bacon, a young boy from the occupied territories who survived two years in Auschwitz, lived at the castle for a short time. In 1946, Martha connected him to the Youth Aliyah organization, and he emigrated to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Czech<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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LISTEN!<\/a> This clip provided by Facing History and Ourselves features Waitstill Sharp describing how he and and his wife, Martha, were asked to begin relief work in Czechoslovakia aiding refugees from Nazi occupation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Exhibited items :<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official visa permitting Martha Sharp to cross Czechoslovakian borders<\/span><\/strong>
\nIssued by Consulate General of Czechoslovakia, New York, 31 January, 1939<\/span>
\nGift of Martha Sharp Joukowsky<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuggested Aims and Policy of the American Committee for Relief in Czechoslovakia.\u201d<\/strong>
\nCommittee record, circa 1938<\/span>
\nList of organizational goals including the placement of an American relief worker abroad. <\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsolidated Disbursement Sheet Other Than Office + Maintenance Costs\u201d<\/strong>
\nAccount sheet kept by Waitstill Sharp, 1939<\/span>
\nBudgetary notes for relief work in Czechoslovakia including expenditures to partner organizations.<\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Franti\u0161ek \u0160makal, M.D., Curriculum Vitae<\/strong>
\nPrepared 5 August, 1939, page 1<\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iva \u0160makalov\u00e1, Curriculum Vitae<\/strong>
\nPrepared 5 August, 1939, page 1<\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castle in Lys\u00e1 nad Labem, Czechoslovakia<\/strong> <\/span>
\nThree photographs taken during a site visit March, 1939<\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yehuda Bacon (b. 1929)<\/strong>
\nPhotograph at Bezalel Arts School, 1947<\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Star of David badge belonging to Yehuda Bacon<\/strong>
\nTextile star with German word <\/span>Jude<\/span><\/i> (Jew), circa 1941<\/span>
\nMartha and Waitstill Sharp Collection<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martha and Waitstill Sharp traveled to Czechoslovakia in 1939 and undertook efforts to relocate families from the Sudetenland. They worked closely with Dr. Franti\u0161ek \u0160makal, the Head of the Red Cross in Czechoslovakia. Dr. \u0160makal and his wife, Iva \u0160makalov\u00e1, fled the Sudetenland themselves, committed to protecting Red Cross funds from German confiscation. Dr. \u0160makal … Czechoslovakia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":101,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-43","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43\/revisions\/709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/sharpswar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}