The Good Soldier Švejk

	Menger, Václav
	*7.8.1888 Praha - †16.2.1947 Praha
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Obituary

Rudé právo,22.2.1947

Václav Menger was an actor and writer who is arguably best known for his books about Jaroslav Hašek. He could also be considered the first serious "haškolog", because his books about Hašek differed from earlier memoir literature in that they also contained results from his archival research. He was one of the few researchers who knew Hašek personally (the others were Břetislav Hůla and, to some extent, Jan Morávek). His efforts resulted in an extensive 25-part series published in Lidové noviny in 1933–34, soon followed by a two-volume biography.

Early years

Menger was born in 1888 in Prague II, the second youngest of nine siblings, the son of Jan and Josefa, née Heřmannová[e]. During his childhood and youth, the family lived in Lipová ulice; in effect, he grew up in the same neighbourhood as Jaroslav Hašek. The two knew each other from childhood, so Menger is by far the best source that exists for information about Hašek's younger years. Menger noted that his parents lived in the same house as Jaroslav, and that he took part in some of the mischief that young Jaroslav got up to (Lidové noviny, 23 April 1933). After Hašek was expelled from the Gymnasium in Žitná ulice (1897), the two lost touch for many years. The only other pre-war meetings that Menger recorded happened at Montmartre in 1913.

Little is known about Menger's childhood and younger years, apart from the fact that he became an actor, performed at Adria on Václavské náměstí, and when this theatre went bankrupt, he toured the provinces with various theatre groups (Lidové noviny, 27 April 1933).

The First World War

Jan Šípek, Jaroslav Hašek, Václav Menger. Berezne, Ukraine, 29 September 1917 (12 October).

In 1909, Menger would have entered military service according to his age group, but the details are not known, nor has his pre-war service record been studied. After the outbreak of war, he served with k.k. Landwehrinfanterieregiment Nr. 28 as a Gefreiter, was taken prisoner on 7 August 1915 in Lubartów by Lublin (Russian Poland), and joined Československá brigáda on 15 August 1916, thus six weeks later than Hašek[f].

Here he soon became involved in the cultural activities of the Czech volunteers (later known as Legions), organising theatre groups, etc. Menger met Hašek again at Kiev University (the seat of the Czech replacement battalion) in 1916 and, over the next two years, the two were at times in touch. One piece of visual evidence is a photo from 29 September 1917 in which both appear alongside Jan Šípek (1886-1953), a future Czechoslovak general and associate of Prseident Masaryk.

Unlike Hašek, Menger continued to serve in the Legions until he was demobilised in 1920.

Actor, translator and writer

From The Legionnaire's Songbook.

Václav Menger,1929

In the inter-war years, Menger made a living from acting, for instance at Revoluční scéna, the theatre at Václavské náměstí where The Good Soldier Švejk was first performed on 1 November 1921. In addition, he played minor roles in films, was himself a film and stage director, and also a translator of Russian and German literature. Occasionally, he wrote articles for Lidové noviny, Národní osvobození and others. In 1929 he published the The Legionnaire's Songbook[l], a collection of songs and hymns, not always connected to the Legions.

Menger is, however, best known as the author of two books about Hašek, published in 1934 and 1935 (more on that later).

Later years

Menger's funeral

Národní osvobození,23.2.1947

After the Second World War he published revised editions of his two inter-war books about Jaroslav Hašek [c][d]. Before he died, he handed over his material to Břetislav Hůla, who in a sense carried on Menger's research but in a much more methodical manner.

Following Menger's death on 16 February 1947, several newspapers printed reports of his death. In one of the obituaries, it is even revealed that he was a Communist Party member. Menger's body was cremated at Strašnice cemetery on 23 February and one of the people who spoke at the ceremony was his good friend Egon Erwin Kisch, the famous "raging reporter". Former members of the Legions also gave speeches, as did local representatives of the Communist Party[k].

Writing about Hašek

Václav Menger,1934

Although Zdeněk Matěj Kuděj, Franta Sauer, Emil Artur Longen and Ladislav Hájek's memoirs about Hašek pre-dated Menger's, his was the first to cover the entire lifespan of the author of The Good Soldier Švejk, and Menger could thus be classed as his first proper biographer. Menger's books were based on the aforementioned series in Lidové noviny but were "embellished" with additional dialogues, lending them the air of fiction. Indeed, the first volume is explicitly labelled as a novel.

The books were titled Jaroslav Hašek, Prisoner Number 294217[a] (1934) and Jaroslav Hašek at Home[b] (1935). In 1946, the latter was republished as A Human Profile of Jaroslav Hašek[c], now in a somewhat abridged version. In 1948, the first book was also republished, titled Jaroslav Hašek in Captivity[d].

Menger put great effort into collecting information about Hašek, something that his extensive file at LA-PNP bears witness to. This, together with the fact that he knew Hašek personally, makes him stand out in the sense that he combined personal knowledge of Hašek with research. His books were even published as a series in a Chicago newspaper in 1936[h].

Menger also contributed to raising awareness of Strana mírného pokroku v mezích zákona. From Alois Hatina he borrowed Hašek's manuscript and allowed parts of it to be published in Rudé právo, but without Hatina's permission[g]. He used the manuscript extensively when writing his books, particularly with regards to Hašek's "apostolical journey" in 1905 to Moravia, Austria, western Hungary and Styria.

Research

From Menger's file at the Museum of Czech Literature. Grete Reiner asking for permission to translate Menger's article series from Lidové noviny about Hašek.

Menger collected a large amount of material about Hašek, and 5 cartons with his material are in the custody of LA-PNP. It contains letters, photos, notes, clippings, etc. The material includes correspondence with Egon Erwin Kisch, Grete Reiner, Franta Sauer, Jiří Červený, Michal Kacha, Václav Kapický, František Wildmann, Emil Špatný, Jarmila Hašková (Hašek's wife), and also the young Richard Hašek (Hašek's son).

A large part of the collection is made up of newspaper clips and also material about Strana mírného pokroku v mezích zákona. However, it seems that little of the material that Menger collected found its way into his books.

Scepticism

Although the two books about Hašek were well received at the time, scholars have later pointed out serious flaws in Menger's narrative. Cecil Parrott noted in his biography of Hašek that Menger was a valuable but unreliable source[g]. While Menger's Jaroslav Hašek at Home[b] includes unique information about Hašek's childhood and youth, it is vague regarding chronology and contains several errors. Jaroslav Hašek, Prisoner Number 294217[a] is even less trustworthy. Written as a novel, it should indeed be treated as such. A much better source for information is the series in Lidové noviny. It contained fewer dialogues and some of the wildest stories were left out, such as a supposed meeting with Mussolini (see paragraph below).

The following paragraphs discuss two of Menger's most propagated claims, "facts" that linger in the public consciousness even into the twenty-first century.

Animals

Muskrats in the Vltava. This April Fool's story appeared in at least two biographies of Hašek (Menger, Parrott), though in a slightly altered form. It was published in Svět zvířat on 1 April 1914 and is therefore unlikely to be the work of Hašek.

© Jindřich Toman

Some of the most widespread of Menger's claims concern Hašek's time as editor of Svět zvířat. Hašek allegedly published an article called Rational Breeding of Werewolves and offered his creations for sale. Menger also stated that Hašek had published an April Fools' joke with a photomontage showing the Vltava below Vyšehrad flooded with muskrats (ondatra) and that people had flocked to the river to watch the exotic animals. In addition, Hašek allegedly transformed the serious magazine Svět zvířat into an entertainment periodical, and that this happened within a few issues[b].

None of these claims stand up to further scrutiny. Still, some of them found their way into biographies about Hašek, for instance by Cecil Parrott and Jan Berwid-Buquoy .

The April Fool's joke is, however, not pulled from thin air. On 1 April 1914, Svět zvířat indeed printed a picture of the Vltava flooded with muskrats, but at the time Hašek did not contribute to the magazine. Nor is it likely that many flocked to the river to watch the animals!

Otherwise, such manipulated photos were quite common as jokes, irrespective of who edited a magazine[j].

For the record, the photomontage shows the muskrats by Národní divadlo, not by Vyšehrad as Menger claimed.

Mussolini

Menger suggests that this book, published in 1913, was inspired by Hašek. Allegedly they met in Trento in 1906. The source of this claim is Hašek himself.

Another myth that Menger propagated was a story about Mussolini and Hašek meeting in Trento in 1906 when Hašek allegedly did his military service there[b]. It is, however, notable that Menger removed this passage when the original book from 1935 was republished after World War II [c]. Whether this removal was because Menger did not want to soil Hašek's name with the by now untouchable dictator, or that he had discovered there was no substance to the story, remains unknown.

Hašek did not do any military service until 1915 and, in any case, Mussolini did not visit Trento in 1906. Significantly, Menger adds that this was a story that Hašek set in motion himself! Still, this has not stopped the "Mussolini legend" from resurfacing, for example in the film Toulavé house (Vít Olmer, 2013).

Accumulating legends

Česká literatura,1.1958

In 1958, the literary historian Miloslav Nosek (1925-1962) remarked that Menger in his biographies put on paper whatever he had heard about Hašek and even guessed when he lacked information[m]. Detracting even more from Menger's trustworthiness is the suspicion that the notorious hoaxer Hašek himself was the originator of many of these stories. Here the Mussolini story is a good example, but in this case Menger at least informs readers about the provenance of the myth!

Menger's two books about Hašek are valuable sources of information, but they should be treated with caution. To conclude, Cecil Parrott summarises Menger's contribution to haškology adequately:

A valuable, if often unreliable, source is the actor and author Václav Menger, who claimed to have known Hašek from his childhood and was later with him in the Czech Legion. He was for a time the custodian of most of Hašek's and Jarmila's papers and published two biographical books about him, Jaroslav Hašek, Prisoner No. 294217[a] (1934) and Jaroslav Hašek at Home[b] (1935), which was issued in a revised version in 1946 under the title The Human Profile of Jaroslav Hašek[c] (1935). Both books were based on a series of articles he had published in the People's Newspaper in 1933. Menger planned to write a third book — Jaroslav Hašek, the Commissar, but failed to do so. His two books are indispensable sources of information for the earlier part of Hašek's life. Cecil Parrott, 1978. “The Bad Bohemian", P: 16

Credit: LA-PNP, Jaroslav Šerák, Cecil Parrott, Jindřich Toman

Literature

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• Menger Václav, Československá obec legionářská [f]
• Pobytové přihlášky pražského policejního ředitelství, NAČR,1851 - 1914 [e]
• Photomontage as Visual Mystification: Jaroslav Hašek and The World of Animals, Jindřich Toman,22.4.2023 [j]
• Verlustliste Nr. 298, Kriegsministerium,22.10.1915
• Václav Menger, LA-PNP,1999

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• Legionářský zpěvník, Václav Menger,1929 [l]
• Jaroslav Hašek, zajatec číslo 294217, Václav Menger,1934 [a]
• Jaroslav Hašek doma, Václav Menger,1935 [b]
• Lidský profil Jaroslava Haška, Václav Menger,1946 [c]
• Jaroslav Hašek v zajetí, Václav Menger,1948 [d]

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• The Bad Bohemian, Cecil Parrott,1978 [g]
• Václav Menger, Lexikon české literatury,2002

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• Výpravu na Kampu, Národní osvobozeníVáclav Menger,30.7.1925
• O jednom ruském člověku, Národní osvobozeníVáclav Menger,9.8.1925

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• Literatura, Československý legionář,4.12.1934
• Nová kniha o Jaroslavu Haškovi, Rudé právoF.U.,16.11.1935
• Václav Menger: Jaroslav Hašek doma, Čechoslovák,5.9.1935
• Úraz Václava Mengra, Národní osvobození,3.10.1935
• Jaroslav Hašek doma, Duch časúVáclav Menger,5.4.1936 [h]
• Václav Menger mrtev, Obrana lidu,18.2.1947
• Za životopiscem Haškovým, Rudé právoKarel Konrád,22.2.1947
• Pohřeb bratra Václava Mengra, Národní osvobození,23.2.1947 [k]
• Rozloučení s Václavem Mengerem, Rudé právo,23.2.1947
• Spisy Jaroslava Haška, PráceVáclav Kaplický,13.3.1947 [i]
• Literárněhistorické příspěvky v regionalistických publikacích, Česká literaturaMiloslav Nosek,1.1958 [m]
• Dvě vzpomínky, Prácecha.,15.2.1972

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• Dětství Jaroslava Matěje Františka Haška, Lidové noviny,23.4.1933
• Jaroslav Hašek před vojnou a po vojně, Lidové noviny,27.4.1933
• Jaroslav Hašek - komisař bolševiků, Lidové noviny,7.5.1933
• Hašek jde na vojnu, Lidové noviny,27.5.1933
• Dobrý voják Hašek, Lidové noviny,11.6.1933
• Hašek vstupuje do praktického života, Lidové noviny,18.6.1933
• Hašek inteligentním praktikantem, Lidové noviny,2.7.1933
• Hašek si loučí s drogerií, Lidové noviny,9.7.1933
• Hašek policajtem, Lidové noviny,18.7.1933
• Hašek sebevrahem, Lidové noviny,23.7.1933
• Hašek volebním agitátorem, Lidové noviny,3.8.1933
• Hašek přichází do Vídně, Lidové noviny,15.8.1933
• Hašek cestovatel, Lidové noviny,5.9.1933
• Hašek u hraběte Andrassyho, Lidové noviny,17.9.1933
• Jaroslav Hašek v Uhrách, Lidové noviny,22.9.1933
• Hašek cestovatelem, Lidové noviny,1.10.1933
• Hašek s bratří s maďary, Lidové noviny,15.10.1933
• Hašek mezi krajany, Lidové noviny,26.10.1933
• Hašek začíná psát, Lidové noviny,2.11.1933
• Jaroslav Hašek vstupuje do literatury, Lidové noviny,28.11.1933
• Hašek spisovatelem, Lidové noviny,10.12.1933
• Hašek loupežníkem, Lidové noviny,17.12.1933
• Na pěti sloupečcích: Hašek na toulkách, Lidové noviny,27.12.1933
• Krevní mstitel, Lidové noviny,29.12.1933
• Hašek na návštěvě, Lidové noviny,14.1.1934