The Low-Beer family founded a textile producing company in Brněnec more than 200 years ago. The factory was confiscated after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany in 1938 and in 1944 Oskar Schindler took it over. What happened next was the basis for Schindler's Ark, the historical novel by Thomas Keneally, which Steven Spielberg turned into the award-winning film Schindler's List.
The ruins of the factory are being turned into a museum and The Friends of Czech Heritage are excited to be playing a small role in this with our working party which is at Brněnec this week. In only three days a huge amount of rubble has been cleared in preparation for the installation of a museum. Part-way through the week the group had a well-earned break in Brno, visiting Villa Stiassni and Villa Tugendhat, followed by a tour of historic areas of the city.
The photo above shows the area in the former warehouse before work started and afterwards, on the left, when the group celebrated its success. Our thanks to Daniel Low-Beer and Milan Šudoma for making the arrangements and to our band of five volunteers for their hard work.
Top image © D. Low-Beer; others © D. Chick