In the footsteps of Ervina Brokeš
Ervína Brokešová ranked among the most technically accomplished violinists in Czech music. During the Second World War she joined the anti-Nazi resistance and the Příbram region became her second home. She then settled permanently in Rožmital pod Třemšín.
1.ROŽMITÁL POD TŘEMŠÍNEM
The peaceful town in the Příbram region became a second home for the Beneš family.
The outbreak of the First World War is one day away. Martina and Sylva are absolutely identical twins, who are unrecognisable even to their own father. But Martina struggles internally with her resentment towards her sister, and when Sylva tragically dies during a sailboat ride, an opportunity opens up for Martina to "steal" her life - the one she has longed for.
This is the basic plot of the novel Uloupený život / The Robbed Life by the Czech writer Karel Josef Beneš. The book received international acclaim immediately after its publication in 1935. It wasn't long before the first film adaptation was made in the UK. For a fee, Beneš and his wife built a villa in Rožmital pod Třemšín. That wife was Ervína Brokešová.
2. THE VILLA OF THE BENEŠ FAMILY
The villa in Klikova Street in Rožmital was originally their summer residence. After the end of the war they moved here permanently.
After graduating from high school, he began studying law at Charles University, but the following year he returned to his native Příbram to enrol in the local mining academy. He was much more attracted by the environment of literary salons. Thanks to his studies at the academy, however, he met, for example, the poet František Gellner or Karel Toman.
Ervína Brokešová was born in 1900 and spent her childhood in Netvořice near Benešov. She played the violin from an early age and performed with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of nineteen. At the same time, she also began studying at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševčík, an important violinist and teacher. Soon after, she was touring abroad not only with the Czech Philharmonic but also with other leading European orchestras - in Vienna, Berlin and Warsaw. During this period she also married the aforementioned writer Karel Josef Beneš.
In the context of the occupation of Czechoslovakia, both spouses were actively involved in the Věrni zůstaneme petition committee. Karel J. Beneš was arrested by the Gestapo in December 1941, and Ervína Brokešová also underwent several interrogations. Under the code name Foška, she went underground and acted as a liaison between the Prague and Rosmital resistance.
She even secretly followed her husband to his trial in Dresden, where the death penalty was proposed - later reduced to seven years in prison. "We are calling Ervina Brokešová in Rožmital! Her husband, the writer K. J. Beneš is returning as a delegate from Freising," she heard then on 21 May 1945 from the Prague radio.
3. MOURNING HALL ON THE STAR
Ervína Brokešová died on 19 October 1987 in a hospital in Příbram, and her funeral was held in the Na Hvězdičce mourning hall.
After the end of the war they both moved permanently to Rožmital pod Třemšínem. In view of the changes after February 1948 - in connection with the involvement of Karel J. Beneš in the Czech National Resistance and the arrest of some of his collaborators - they retreated into seclusion. Karel J. Beneš devoted himself to creative activities, while Ervína Brokešová practically limited her artistic activities and helped him with the transcription of manuscripts. He died after a long illness in 1969.
Ervína Brokeš was left alone. Her health slowly deteriorated. At first she was helped by neighbours and friends, but later she needed almost permanent care. She died on Monday, 19 October 1987 in the hospital in Příbram, and her funeral was held in the Na Hvězdička funeral hall.
4. HŘBITOV
Together with her husband, Ervína Brokešová is buried in the municipal cemetery in Rožmital pod Třemšín.
Václav Bešt'ák
Photo: Karolina Ketmanová
