Jan Ungár

* 1946

  • "I pointed out that when the logotype was chosen, I was personally advocating for that design and I was quite active in the direction that the design of this student Št'astný, whom I didn't know personally, but from what was offered, I thought it was the simplest and most unambiguous and graphically appropriate to the situation of the moment that it was supposed to serve. Eventually it was pushed through and it was chosen and I said, now how do we get it copyrighted, because we weren't an organization yet, it was just the Civic Forum, but nobody there knew that, it wasn't even considered. And now most of these self-appointed commissioners were saying that nobody would pay attention to it and there was no time or time to debate it. I said, that's not true, it can quickly backfire or something can happen and it will turn out badly. And it did turn out badly, it ended up going over the thing here, it wasn't addressed. And also what I predicted happened, within six months the student had to sue the Civic Forum. How that turned out, I don't know, but it ended up in court. Because it began to be very disadvantageous to that author, because it was appearing all over the place and being used, and of course as a successful author he was entitled to have some kind of priority written down and also to get some royalties. At least some royalties commensurate with that social importance."

  • "I still vividly remember Kalandra, even if it's only fragmentary memories, I remember going to their apartment, number five, after the war, after he returned from the concentration camp and before his arrest. And I also want to say that I didn't come into contact with his wife until after his execution. I didn't even perceive what was wrong with him, somehow I didn't understand why Kalandra was no longer there, nobody gave me any information about it. I even remember that as a small child I listened to the trial as it was going on with my grandmother in her house outside Prague. The Horáková trial was broadcast on the radio. My grandmother listened to it and had some comments. As a small child I didn't understand it at all, somehow it didn't touch me that my uncle was being tried for something, I didn't understand what for, that he was answering to some judges, and so on."

  • "She recalled how State Security behaved when Arnošt Ungár was arrested, saying that far from the Gestapo acting and behaving in such a way towards her, State Security immediately stole, loaded what was left of the dentist's office from the opposite house, took everything out, everything except the technical laboratory and the metal cabinets that belonged to it, confiscated all the dental equipment. They didn't even give my mother any receipt. When she wanted it to be written down and given some kind of stamp, they told her: Madam, shut up or we'll take you with us."

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Praha, 10.02.2023

    (audio)
    délka: 02:00:28
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
  • 2

    Praha, 10.03.2023

    (audio)
    délka: 02:07:17
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
  • 3

    Praha, 14.04.2023

    (audio)
    délka: 01:52:35
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

He last heard his uncle Záviš Kalandra on the radio

Ungar Jan, 1960
Ungar Jan, 1960
zdroj: Archive Ungár Jan

Jan Ungár was born on 4 May 1946 in Prague. His aunt Jarmila Rambousková, a photographer and artist, became the second wife of the famous photographer František Drtikol. His stepfather Arnošt Ungár was of Jewish origin. During the war he divorced his first wife to protect her and their two daughters and then faked suicide. For the rest of the war he had to hide from the Gestapo. Then he joined the Prague Uprising as a doctor. His stepfather Arnošt Ungár and uncle Záviš Kalandra were arrested in connection with the political trial against Milada Horáková. After a few years, the stepfather was released from custody, but Záviš Kalandra ended up on the scaffold. The three-year-old Jan Ungár was taken by his mother to his grandmother to protect him from the consequences of the persecution. He was only able to return after several years, and the long separation from his mother left its effects on his psyche. During his studies at the Academy of Arts and Crafts, the Warsaw Pact armies occupied the country and he decided to emigrate to Sweden. After a few months, he returned again because he understood that it was not he who should leave, but the occupiers. He worked all his life in the field of media, graphics and fine arts. He has published both at home and abroad. At the time of the Velvet Revolution he was involved in the activities of the Civic Forum. In 2023 he lived in Prague.