Jan-Wiener-Obituary

Jan Wiener

Obituary

PRAGUE (AP) — Jan Wiener, a Czech Jew who fought in the British air force during World War II after fleeing Nazis in Germany and Czechoslovakia, has died. He was 90 years old.

Jiri Pehe, director at Prague's branch of New York University, said Wiener died Wednesday at Prague's military hospital. The cause of death was not given.

Born May 26, 1920 in Hamburg, Germany, to a Czech-German Jewish family, Wiener and his life reflected the turbulence of the 20th century.

His family fled Hitler's Germany for Prague, but Wiener found himself on the run again after Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi troops.

He managed to escape to Britain through Yugoslavia and Italy, where he was captured, to join the Royal Air Force's No. 311 Czechoslovak Bomber Squadron.

Wiener's father committed suicide to avoid ending up in the hands of the Nazis. His mother died in the Theresienstadt Nazi concentration camp north of Prague.

After the Communists took over Czechoslovakia in 1948, Wiener spent five years in communist prisons, a fate shared by many of his colleagues because the brave fighters anti-Nazi fighters who fought in the West were considered the enemies of the communist state.

In the mid-1960s, Wiener settled in the United States and became professor of history at the American University in Washington, D.C.

After the collapse of communism, he returned to his homeland on a regular basis and became a guest lecturer at Prague's branch of New York University.

Pehe said he remembered Wiener as a brave man who "rarely made a compromise."

"It was admirable that he was still able to give lectures when he was 88," he said.

Wiener is survived by his wife, Zuzana, a son and a daughter.




Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press

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Gerdi was an important teacher and role model for us students at Windsor Mountain

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

I was blessed to have known you, Jan. You were one of the finest men to have ever lived.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING GERDI.MY CONDOLANCES TO HIS FAMILY AND ALL WHO WERE ENRICHED BY SUCH A REMARKABLE MAN.

Jan Wiener was my teacher in Prague, in my Erasmus year. He was trully an inspiration and a great storyteller. I will always remember his classes.

I am VERY sad of heart to have learned just a few minutes ago of this sad news! I was researching some German History tonight as part of an ongoing effort to understand this world and my place in it. Specifically, I wanted to learn more about Reinhard Heydrich, a high-level leader in Germany's Third Reich. I recalled that my History Teacher at Windsor Mountain School in Lenox, MA had written a book on his assassination while I was there. Upon searching the Web for this book I came upon...

I have viewed the film Fighter many times and each time learn something new. He and his friend Arnost Lustig were exceptional and endearing and both, of course, were heroes. I found myself "falling in love" with them. I have told friends about the film and how unique and human it really is.

I was just thinking of Jan today as I started working on entering historical info for Terezin. I will remember his class in Prague like no other and especially the privilege of living in an adjacent apartment to he and Zuzana. I still think it is amazing that someone as remarkable as Jan existed.

All who knew Jan were truly blessed. Jan was not only an inspiration for my life, but was the best teacher I ever had. You are a true hero Jan, in every sense of the word. My heart goes ou to Suzanna, and the rest of the wiener family.