The Good Soldier Švejk

This article seeks to trace a little known episode from Hašek's tumultuous life, occurring in a region the author of The Good Soldier Švejk rarely visited. In Turnov, on 27 October 1912, Hašek caused a scandal by ridiculing the Serbs who at the time were fighting the First Balkan War. This happened in front of an audience that harboured strong sympathies for Serbia, a sympathy that Hašek no doubt shared. Thus, it remains a mystery why he to such a degree chose to shit in his own nest. Was it a clumsy attempt to be funny? Simply an urge to provoke? Was he drunk? Pure mischief and recklessness? It could have been any combination of those factors, but in the end it sums up Jaroslav Hašek. Nothing was holy to him, not even his own convictions. Like a child he rarely considered the consequences of his own actions and time after time he pulled the rug under his own feet.

Hůla's research

Břetislav Hůla reporting to Zdena Ančík.

LA-PNP,24.4.1951

News about this incident first caught my eye when in 2015 I studied the correspondence between Břetislav Hůla and Zdena Ančík, where the former, from 1948 to 1951, described (and handed over) the results of his impressive research, an effort that he has been given scant credit for. Alois Hatina (1886-1940), a former politician and friend of Jaroslav Hašek told Hůla about a scandal that erupted when Hašek held a talk at the Turnov branch of Sokol where he described the low cultural level and poor hygiene of the South Slavs. The incident was confirmed by one Bohuslav Novotný and allegedly resulted in furious report in a local newspaper. According to Hatina Hašek had been hounded off the premises and even beaten[e].

The diligent Břetislav Hůla identified the roots of this story by browsing local newspapers. Hašek was indeed invited to speak at an "evening of Czech humour", arranged by the female section of Sokol on Sunday 27 October 1912. Unfortunately Hůla didn't find the alleged "angry" report on the arrangement.

In biographies

The Sokol building in Turnov, scene of Jaroslav Hašek's 'performance' on 27 October 1912.

In the standard biography on Hašek, Toulavé house (The Wandering Gosling), Radko Pytlík mentions this curious episode. The local chapter of Sokol invited Hašek as a speaker for Strana mírného pokroku v mezích zákona but he didn't delivered what was expected and the audience was not entertained. Worse, he provoked them by making fun of the of Serbs who at the time were fighting the First Balkan War and allegedly he also made derogatory comments about the social and hygienic conditions in the Balkans. In the end he was chased away across the garden restaurant by local Sokol members.

Later Pytlík provided slightly contradictory information about the incident[d] (he relocated it to Náchod) but other biographers seem to have overlooked the incident altogether (Cecil Parrott doesn't mention it). The information that Radko Pytlík provided leans on Břetislav Hůla's research but he also seems to have drawn from other sources.

31. října 1912, v době balkánské války, účinkoval například na akademii ženského odboru Sokola v Turnově jako řečník Strany mírného pokroku. Nesplnil však očekávání, publikum nepobavil. Zesměšňoval však dočasné vítězství Srbů a mluvil o ubohých sociálních a hygienických poměrech na Balkáně. Místními Sokoly byl hnán přes celou zahradní restaurací, dokonce prý inzultován.

Radko Pytlík, 1971, "Toulavé house"

With more information becoming available through digitalisation of historical newspapers it is now possible to describe the episode in more detail and also correct inaccuracies in Pytlík's books and also Hatina's account. Let us therefore try to recreate the events, based on newspaper reports from around the time the incident happened.

An evening of Czech humour

Advert for the evening of Czech humour.

Listy pojizerské,20.10.1912

On 20 October 1912 Listy pojizerské, a local newspaper in Turnov announced that in a week the female section of the Sokol would arrange an "evening of Czech humour". A group of literates were invited and Hašek was presented as the main attraction[a]. He was assigned two timeslots under the headline Causerie dobrodružstvi ze života autorova. Amongst the other participants were Josef Mach and Karel Pelant, both associated with Hašek's Strana mírného pokroku v mezích zákona. The session was to start at 7:30 PM[b].

Young Czech indignation

Krakonoš,10.11.1912

Listy pojizerské doesn't seem to have reported on the event, but the rival newspaper Krakonoš (a regional mouthpiece of Mladočeši) in Jičín did, but only two weeks later[c].

At Sokolovna Hašek had indeed grabbed the headlines but for all the wrong reasons. According to Krakonoš his first stage act fell completely flat, the listeners didn't appreciate his craving for recognition. Still, worse was to come. In the second part he told a story of a Serbian shepherd who became a colonel, making fun of the South Slavs who at the time were fighting the First Balkan War.

This didn't go down well with an audience who sympathised strongly with Serbia. The story caused upheaval in the crowd and many left the hall in disgust. As he started to tell another story he was asked to stop, but reacted by swearing at the audience. This caused further uproar that only stopped when Hašek stepped down from the stage and left the building. Only an intervention by the mayor calmed down the deeply offended audience.

Lebt in Prag ein tschechischer Schriftsteller...

Bohemia,31.10.1912

Krakonoš were however not the first to react. Already on 31 October 1912, four days after the infamous event, Bohemia published their version of the story[f]. It was even more colourful and ironical than the report in Krakonoš. The story was unsigned but written in a style that bears the traces of Egon Erwin Kisch, the famous-to-be "raging reporter" who worked for this newspaper at the time.

From what source Bohemia picked the information is not known but the content suggests that Hašek himself may have had a hand in it. Allegedly the unfortunate speaker was bombarded with food from the buffet, was hounded off the stage, and it could have ended badly had not the organiser dr. Práčník protected him and called the k.k. Landwehr guards! Hašek and Kisch were friends and the story may well have passed from one to the other over a beer or two... The unknown writer in Bohemia also added his own ironic anti-Czech twist, words that are unlikely to hail from Hašek.

More indignation

Krakonoš,24.11.1912

Bohemia's ironic article didn't go unnoticed and was even picked up by a Salzburg newspaper and reproduced word by word[g]. But more significantly Krakonoš again reported on the incident, now obviously triggered by the news in Bohemia. A complete translation was provided and at the end parts of the content was debunked.

Hašek had not been chased by an angry crowd. He had firmly but tactfully been asked to leave the stage and even the building, without any of the drama that Bohemia described. They also berated Hašek for not only having ridiculed the fighting Serbs but also made fun of Turnov. Thus Krakonoš obviously suspected or assumed that Hašek indeed was Bohemia's source[h].

Other variations

In 1923 České slovo provided a note that probably refers to the same event, but with a very different content. The organisers waited in vain for Hašek to arrive, then announced that his talk was cancelled. From the back then a voice was heard: "but I'm after all here, I have been sitting here drinking since the morning!"[i]

Literature

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• Vešer českého humoru, Listy pojizerské,20.10.1912 [a]
• Ženský odbor Sokola v Turnově, Listy pojizerské,20.10.1912 [b]
• Der hinausgeworfene Heldensänger, Bohemia,31.10.1912 [f]
• Der hinausgeworfene Heldensänger, Salzburger Volksblatt,3.11.1912 [g]
• Ženský odbor Sokola v Turnově, Krakonoš,10.11.1912 [c]
• Jaroslav Hašek, Krakonoš,24.11.1912 [h]
• In memoriam Jaroslava Haška, Rudé právo,30.3.1923 [i]

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• Zesnulý Alois Hatina..., LA-PNPBřetislav Hůla,24.4.1951 [e]
• Toulavé house, Radko Pytlík,1971
• Jaroslav Hašek: Data, fakty, dokumenty, Radko Pytlík,2013 [d]
• Historie turnovského Sokola, Sokol Turnov