Czechoslovakia was headline news in 1938/39, yet little was known about its cultural heritage. Patriotic exiles in Britain determined to remedy this through multi-faceted entities such as the Czechoslovak Institute, graced by Queen Elizabeth, Queen consort, who attended an exhibition of Wenceslaus Hollar’s engravings. It also hosted contemporary artists such as Friedrich Feigl, Marie-Louise von Motieczky and sculptor Mary Duras, musicians including Vilém Tauský. But the Communist-inspired Czechoslovak-British Friendship Club, the Czechoslovak Army’s SOKOL branch, and regional clubs played a vital role too.

Dr Jana Barbora Buresova is a committee member of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies at the University of London. In addition to post-doctoral research, she is actively involved in the Association of Jewish Refugees Audio-Visual Testimony Archive project. Her key areas of interest are political exiles past and present, particularly Czechoslovak women in exile, on which she has spoken and contributed to a number of publications.