Thesis (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2006. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100).

The town Aš, its whole region, used to be the place permanently inhabited by people of German origin, as all the historical documents report. After the end of the world war two, people of German origin were forced to leave their homes which were built and handed over throughout the centuries and therefore became the prominent bearers of Aš region tradition. This long lasting continuity of inhabitation by these people was unnaturally intrerrupted and many places and settlements lost their memories. The new residents had to build the relationship to their new homes from the beginning. The aim of this thesis is to describe the places of memory which are, owing to nationalistic and religious character of the region, entirely tied to German history, and by means of their analysis find out how the newcomers' relationship to their new homes developed. The focus will be taken on the time period after 1945 and, especially, time period after 1989 when, on account of easing political situation, the new and old memory places could be viewed more objectively than before.

This diploma thesis is focused on changes of perception of selected municipalities, which were affected by extermination action during the existence of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Unlike Lidice and Ležáky, however, they are not so well-known today. For comparison, I chose five Moravian villages and settlements, of which Zákřov and Javoříčko lay in the Olomouc, Ploština, Prlov and Vařákovy paseky were in the area of Wallachia. The introductory part is devoted to the theory of memory, focusing on collective memory and memory space with inspiration from sociology and history authors. Namely Maurice Halbwachs, Pierre Nora, Jan Assmann and Miroslav Hroch in Czechia. This is followed by a chronological summary of historical developments in individual localities, from their origin, through their destruction to development after World War II. The main passage of this work is an overview of professional, non-fiction and, rarely, fictional literary sources and media sources that have created memory of these places since the end of World War II to the present day. These sources show a political and social shift between periods of time, including propaganda based on the omission of some information or the fabrication of ideologically burdened theories. It also includes a final comparison of...