Fifty years ago last week this newspaper reported a Catholic priest serving in Nuckolls County had returned from a trip to his homeland. At that time Father John Prachar was serving the St. Stephens parish south of Lawrence. Later he was to serve the St. Joseph’s parish in Superior and Sacred Heart at Nelson. Through out his years here, he not only counseled Nuckolls County residents about spiritual matters but he was also quick to express his political views. In June of 1973 the Hastings Tribune newspaper published a story the late Roy Alleman wrote after interviewing Father Prachar.
Both men were well acquainted with The Superior Express and Nuckolls County. In 1973 Alleman was serving as the Tribune’s farm editor. Earlier he had worked for the Farmer-Stockman of Nebraska, publication then being published at Superior. He also was the author of several books offered for sale by The Express including the Bloody Saga of White Rock, The Judge and the Gavel and the Blizzard of 1949.
While re-reading that story, we were shocked to see what Father John saw happening in the United States in 1973 parallels what is happening in 2020.
Alleman asked Father Prachar “How does a man who has spent several years in a Nazi prison camp and behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia feel about America?”
And though the answer which follows was given 47 years ago, The Express believes it parallels the current situation in America.
“I know, I believe very firmly, there is no place in the world where there is so much freedom as in the United States,” he said.
“I also know, and believe, that the sad part of it is we in Americans don’t realize what we have. We will never fully appreciate it unless we lose it.
“However, the people behind the iron curtain know what freedom means. This is why President Nixon is treated with such great respect by the people when he visits there. When the President visited other nations, freedom demonstrators threw eggs and rocks at him. When he visited Rumania, the one million people carried small American flags and cheered. This man is the symbol of freedom to them.”
The Rev. Mr. Prachar spent nearly 10 years learning that freedom is not free. He lived in a Nazi prison camp beginning in 1942 when Germany occupied his country. He came back home only to see his nation occupied by Rumanians.
In 1949, knowing that he was next on the list to be sent to prison, he escaped to West Germany during Holy Week.
The Rev. Mr. Prachar found out that a refugee camp in Germany needed a priest. He was accepted and lived there until 1950. He came to New York in May 1950 and to Nebraska in June that year.
Serving a rural church was a new experience for him but he called the four years he had served St. Stephens “the greatest four years of my life.”
While in Nebraska, he used every opportunity to talk about freedom and what it should mean to Americans. He made himself available to any group who wanted to hear him.
He freely answered questions about religion in Czechoslovakia and how he felt about America.
When asked “If religion is out in Czechoslovakia?
He said, “Politically, yes. The priests who are still operating openly are for the benefit of tourists, to impress the world that religion is free. Otherwise, religion is underground.
“When they took over (the Communists) the country, they promised us heaven—new churches, everything. But it wasn’t long until all that came to an end.” They could continue if they preached socialism; otherwise, no. A large number of priests went to prison. When they returned, they were not allowed to be priests, they had to do something else.
So the church went underground and boomed.
“Christianity surely isn’t dead over there, neither is it dead in Russia. Neither is it dead among young people. I discussed this with a person visiting from Czechoslovakia. I said to him ‘they can’t change the old people but they are changing the young people.’ he said, ‘You are completely wrong; it is the younger generation which has a hang-up on faith and strong ideas of freedom.’ He assured me the young people are on the side of freedom, not Communism, in spite of all the propaganda and the Communist schools they attend.”
What about loss of freedom in America?
“Freedom is something you don’t appreciate until you lose it. I am disturbed to see young people in demonstrations shouting the same slogans I heard 35 years ago. The words are the same—police brutality, people power, corruption in government. I have heard every one of them, only it was in Czeck then, now it is in English.
“These demonstrations have done the cause of freedom more harm than anything else. Over there, if a person dares to demonstrate, it is because he is so desperate he would as soon be dead. So the Communists show these films to their people saying to them ‘See! They are so desperate in America they are rioting against their government.’
“Communists know how to use these movements and the tricks are old as the party itself. I don’t know how many peace petitions passed my door over there. The ideas presented are beautiful—freedom, social justice, equality. This is what we all want, what we are all praying for.
“It is very easy to get taken up with these slogans and hard to see the facts. But, when the Communists took over, the young people soon learned they were to have none of these. They thought they could still demonstrate, but they found that was over. They were the first to go to prison.”
What is freedom?
“It is hard to explain freedom to a person who has always had it. Likewise, it is hard to explain slavery to the person who has never experienced it. What these demonstrators call slavery here is a laugh, or what they call loss of freedom. This is the most difficult part, trying to explain to people here what it is like over there.
“The American Flag is the mark of freedom all over the world. I think the U.S. Flag is more respected and honored behind the Iron Curtain than it is over here.
“It is hard for me to understand why young people, who have all the possibilities and educational benefits they have here, will walk the street with Viet Cong flags and burn a U.S. Flag. It makes me sick. I am not one of those who sees a Communist under every bush, but I am deeply concerned. I deeply wish all that I say were a lie, but it isn’t.”
What about church involvement?
“I don’t want to get into politics. Whatever I say is my opinion, not that of my church, neither do I want to condemn any church leaders who have been involved.
“However, it is important that we be united. The anti-God forces are united, we are not. We have the most incredible forces, the force of Christ on our side and yet we are divided. This is where we are doing harm to the cause of freedom.
“I, personally, thought the involvement of churches in peace marches over Vietnam was wrong and it was no place for ministers. I feel they forgot about the thousands of their brothers and sisters who are in prison over there. I don’t believe the demonstrations were in favor of freedom.”
Communism controls some 60 per cent of world’s population. Will the people ever take their nations back?
“I wish I knew. When we look at Communist leaders, we are not looking at the people. They can’t count on their own people who are just waiting to take the country back.
“It is impossible for us to realize what it means to overthrow a government or change it when it is under a police state. You don’t fight tanks with sticks no matter what anyone says.
“If we want to see how they operate, we have only to observe 500 persons taking over a university of 20,000 students. The reason they can do it is only because the other 19,500 do nothing.
“That is the way in Communist countries. Only a few control the masses of people against their will.”
“The ecumenical movement is the first step in the right direction. It doesn’t mean making Protestants of Catholics or Catholics of Protestants; but we must learn to respect each other and work together as brothers and sisters. Families quarrel but if one of them is threatened, they unite at once. We should learn to do likewise. No one needs to change his convictions.
“When we think of the things which divide us and then start thinking of the things which unite us we will find there are more things on which we agree than on which we disagree. Our prejudices have built up over the centuries and they won’t go away over night. We must keep working at it. I am proud that it was Pope John who first extended the hand of fellowship.”
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