KRNOV - The story of one of the seventy fates of the Krnov synagogue

Our search and inquisitive work began in 2004. At first, the work was very difficult. We would have liked to choose and track down the fate of a former pupil of our school, since we knew it has already been there before the war - it was known as the "Chlapecká a měšťanská škola" at the time, meaning "Municipal boys' school". We believed we would certainly find photos, a class register or other documents that would make our work easier. Soon, however, we were disappointed…
No documents, no records and no photographs of our school whatsoever were stored in the Bruntál Regional Archive or the school. We knew that we had to start searching again, for other personal stories.
We visited witnesses in our city and retirement homes; we talked to elderly people and contacted the "Krnovská Synagoga" ("The Krnov Synagogue") association. All of a sudden, we had material for stories of three different people. In groups, we sorted the material, revealing increasing amounts of information. One of the stories was of the Langshur family. Mr. Langshur was a respected professor of Krnov High School. We found out that his son Hugo survived and presently lives in Canada under the transcription of his name, Langshur.
The story of Hugo, who his parents sent to his relatives in England in 1938 when he was 16 out of fear for his life, was most intriguing to us. We got hold of Hugo's e-mail addresses and we soon discovered that he was very helpful and willing to share his story, as well as provide photographs and other helpful documents.

Project authors:
Markéta Procházková, Lucie Grohmanová, Petr Vávra, Josef Zapletal, Radim Šnirch, David Němec, Robin Peška, Veronika Bernardová, Jiří Meca, Veronika Skorčíková

Supervising teacher:
Mgr. Hana Janáková

The story of a happy, talented boy living in the very town we live in now until the war, began to unravel before our eyes. His father was a professor at Krnov High School, his mother a housewife who looked after him. With the coming of 1938, everything changed. Young Hugo had to part with his parents and move to England to stay with his relatives there. At the time, he had no idea he would never see his parents again. Hugo sent us his memoirs, photographs of him and his parents as well as photographs of his friends and of his first love, with the memory of their first kiss. He answered our questions and readily talked about his memories, despite the fact that it must have been very difficult for him. The Jewish Museum in Prague also provided us with information about his parents: we discovered the transport numbers they were given on their deportation to Baranowicze, Belarus, in 1942. During the journey, they were run out of the trains and were all shot and dumped into mass graves. We were shocked by the letters Hugo lent us. They were the last letters from his mother and father, addressed to him, their son, on the eve of the transport and delivered by a family friend. They had already known they would never meet their son again. An unexpected pleasant surprise awaited us during the work. Gathering, assembling and sorting all the memories and materials, we found out from a stamp on one of Hugo's report cards that before he was transferred to high school as a talented student, he attended our school for four years (which was referred to Chlapecká a měšťanská škola at the time, meaning "Municipal boys' school"). Our initial endeavour was fulfilled, then - we brought to light the story of one of our school's pupils. We had but one more wish: to meet Hugo personally. Although the distance between Krnov and Quebec, Canada is immense and Mr. Langshur is 84 years old, he accepted our invitation. He arrived in the Czech Republic on May 13, 2006 with his two sons and we prepared him a warm welcome. The panel was unveiled in his presence. It was a very emotional meeting we will never forget - it was recorded by the Ostrava TV and can be viewed on our website.

Questions:
- the Krnov group found no records at the Municipal Boys' School - what were their options for further investigation?
- What do you think led Hugo's parents to the decision to send him to England
- What makes Hugo's story unique?


Herbert Hugo Langshur

Herbert Hugo Langshur was born in Krnov on December 15, 1921. He was the only son of his parents and spent a happy childhood in the Nízký Jeseník region. Between 1927 and 1932 he attended an elementary boys' school at Dvořák's Circus (Dvořákův okruh, Hasnerring), the building of which is now used by our elementary school.
In May 1938, his parents sent him to London, where his mother's sister, aunt Wanda, lived with her family. In London, he acquired a technical diploma. In the following years, he fought in the British army against the Nazis and for the freedom of Europe. He didn't leave the Army until 1948. Later, he worked at a factory that produced aircraft engines. In 1951, he moved to Canada and found employment in his field of expertise, in Pratt and Whitney, a large American company, in Montreal. He now lives in Saint-Lambert, a town in the Québec province.
Mr. Langshur is in his second marriage and has three sons from his first marriage. Two of them are alive - Alexander Thomson Langshur (born 1961), who lives in Boston and has two sons of his own, and Eric Lawrence Langshur (born 1963), who lives in Chicago and has three children (two sons and a daughter).

Memories from Herbert Hugo Langshur's letters, Canada:

"My mother, Erna Kohn, was born on February 3, 1890 in Krnov (Jägerndorf) in Silesia. My father, Dr. Sigmund Langschur, was born on June 8, 1884 in Poběžovice (Ronsperg) in western Bohemia. He came to Krnov as a young man and became a teacher at a local German high school. He wished joined the army, but after a short period of time in service, he was sent back to teaching. He taught German literature, French and English as well as private Latin lessons. We lived in Krnov at Upper Square no. 30 (Horní náměstí, Oberring) right across the city's prominent café. From our windows, I might as well have been looking over the card players' shoulders. I was born on December 15, 1921. In May 1938, my parents sent me to London to live with our relatives - my mother's oldest sister, who had moved there with her husband around 1900. For my father, a respected teacher who enjoyed a very good reputation throughout the town, it was unimaginable that something might happen to his wife or himself. He was also unwilling to leave his pension to "those villains" and his pride prevented him from accepting help from my mother's family. When my parents finally made up their minds to leave, it was too late. They left Krnov after the Munich Agreement and found shelter with Theodor and Paula Briess in Olomouc. They were my mother's relatives and they suffered a similar fate later on. In July 1942, my parents were forced from Olomouc to Terezín, and a few days after their arrival there, they were deported to the Baranowicze extermination camp."

Memories of Trude

"[...] Trude was intelligent, charming, beautiful. She was a year or two older. An adolescent boy such as myself couldn't but admire her breasts. I courted her for a while, but Trude discouraged me without hurting my pride unnecessarily..."

Memories of Edith Schmerler

"I can't tell you what she was like because my interest in her was purely passionate. Not romantic, passionate. Once, during a birthday celebration of Grete Fried, we played an adolescent game and we started kissing in one of the dark corridors. It was the first time I tasted the sweetness of kissing. The kiss was utterly innocent but it was enough for me to encounter a thrill hitherto unknown. Edith, however, was far more experienced than myself, which I didn't realise until later, and she preferred Leo Schwarz. This was my first defeat in courting women."

The last letters Hugo's parents sent him before being deported to Terezín:

My darling,
It has been months since we've had direct news from you. We are sure this is not your fault, although our longing for such news is also natural. You must have had your reasons not to have made use of the Red Cross1. This year, we have sent you a message almost every month and hoped that at least one has reached you. Despite the fact that we have received none from you, we are convinced your thoughts are always with us. Your father wrote you a long letter early this morning and my heart is overwhelming with the same spirit as his. When you left our home, I thought I would never survive the horrible moment and in a week, I felt it has been a month since you left. ... you, my dear boy, are on a way up and we are on the way down: should it happen that we do not prevail in this challenge, do not be too downtrodden. Look forward and live, holding your loving parents in your lasting memories.
I kiss you wholeheartedly,
Your forever loving Mother
Olomouc, July 1, 1942

My dear Herbi,
These lines, full of love and farewells, we write in the eve of our mandatory departure - the exodus from our exile, which has become a sort of second home to us, and which conjures hundreds of horrible thoughts shared by thousands of unfortunate peers, lies before us as a place of impenetrable blur and terrifying insecurity. We are entrusting these lines to a very good friend, whose family has proven to be a voice of counsel and rock-hard reliability in these times of ever growing gloom. At any time, you may turn to this family should you want detailed news of your parents' last months in this place. Be forever grateful to them for being an icon of human goodness to us.
The life of an individual has become as fragile as ever - thousands have fallen victim without being able to see their children again. Should that be our fate too, dear Herbi, be sure that we will bless our child till our last breath; to our good boy, our dear son.
Blessing you and earnestly pleading for your future life, we kiss you and thank you for endless moments of joy, which we remember from times past, from home.
Please thank all of our other family members and send them our best regards, as their help has also helped you grow up, hopefully for a good career.
God Bless You,
Your loving father


1) It was possible to send short messages in German through the Red Cross. Many families exchanged messages with their children in England this way.

Mr. Langshur entrusted the letters to his son Erik as a memory of grandparents he never had a chance to meet.


Krnov

Krnov gained municipal status in mid-thirteenth century. The first mention of any Jewish cleric in Krnov is from 1386, from which we assume there was a functioning Jewish community. In 1535, Jews were accused of scheming to kill all Christians and evicted from the Krnov earldom and before the end of the century even from Krnov itself. Individual Jewish families are known to serve the Krnov lords even in the 17th and 18th centuries. A numerous Sephardic community was granted permission to establish an official presence in 1625 - this was however probably never carried out. The first Jewish tenant settled in Krnov after 1764. In 1848, there were 5 Jewish families is Krnov and a Jewish religious society was established in 1853, which became an independent Jewish Community in 1877. In 1890, Jews formed 4 percent of the local population (numbering 570 persons). The Jewish community decreased since the close of the 19th century and ceased to exist in 1938. Once the Sudetenlands were occupied by Germany in October 1938, all the Krnov Jews left the town and it was one of the first Sudetenland town to be proclaimed "judenfrei" - "Jew-free". The Krnov synagogue was one of very few in the Sudetenlands that weren't destroyed during the Night of Broken Glass, thanks to the municipal council. The councillors had Jewish symbols removed from the synagogue and it served as a marketplace till the end of the war. The Krnow Jewish community was renewed after the war, although most of the members were newcomers. Only very few original Krnov Jews returned after the war. Later, the community was transformed into a synagogue choir and waned once again in 1957. An apartment was used for religious service and the synagogue served as a warehouse and later the municipal archive. After the floods in 1997, the archive was dissolved. Thanks to the Krnov Synagogue Association, the synagogue is now gradually being renewed and it is now a cultural venue. The Jewish cemetery dates back to 1873 and served till 1968 - a planned demolition was stalled in 1989.

The memorial to Krnov and Bruntál Shoah victims: The "70 seats - 70 fates" project

As a memory of the Krnov Holocaust victims, we organised a collection for the reconstruction of a bench in the Krnov synagogue for Edith, the first love of Hugo Langshur, and placed the names of other victims from Krnov on the panel. In 2004, the Krnovská Synagoga Association bought antique oakwood benches from the Olšany u Prostějova Roman-Catholic parish. These were those of the benches formerly installed in the Olomouc synagogue that survived to the present day. They were removed from the synagogue shortly before its demolition in 1939. Seven rows with a total of 49 seats were placed in the synagogue of Krnov, Silesia; three rows, 21 seats, were given to the synagogue in Loštice, northern Moravia. A plaque with the name of one of the Shoa victims will be placed on each of the 49 seats. The Nazis, however, in fact murdered at least 200 Jewish inhabitants of the Krnov region. Anyone can support the purchase and reconstruction of the benches as well as the establishment of the memorial of a specific person.