The Return

The Sudetenland Germans were and still are a part of the city because many of them have retained a relationship to the city and some are even coming back. Isa Engelmann was born before the war in India, where her father represented a chemical plant from Liberec, but spent her childhood in Liberec. After the outbreak of the war, her father fell into British captivity. At the end of the war Isa Engelmann with her mother and her siblings had to leave the family villa within just hours, but thanks to the protection of the British Embassy in Prague (her and her brother were born on British colonial territory), they managed to avoid their immediate deportation to Germany. The family moved to Germany later,during the organized phase of the forced banishment. Isa Engelmann then lived for a long time in Italy, where she one day decided to return to the place of her childhood. She’s one of those capable of quickly restoring the relationship with the old home. This is shown by her friendship with the inhabitants of the house which used to belong to her family, but also by the fact that she published a book aboutthe Jews from Liberec. The many German citizens of Liberecmake it easier for us to build a lively relationship with the vanished pre-war city. As a result, the relationship with the city itself can become deeper. Testimony was gathered within the Living Memory of Liberec – Reichenberg project.