IASA 2022 Annual Conference

The goal of this paper is to present the outcomes of the recent multi-step project supported by IASA Research Grant which intended to create an online database of scripts, recordings and other documents by John Werich and George Voskovec. These Czech comedians were pioneers of famous avant-garde performances in the Prague Liberated Theater, which encouraged defiance of Nazi aggression in second half of 1930s. The project is specifically based on research, archival evidence, and preservation of their wartime records, broadcast between 1941 and 1945 first by the BBC in London and later by the Office of War Information and the Voice of America. Some of these recordings survived and are housed in various cultural institutes in both the Czech Republic, Great Britain and the USA. Extensive international collaboration and networking is required to locate recordings in the U.S. archives and libraries, as well in private collections. This project continues to seek information relevant recorded sound resources in the Czech diaspora. By raising awareness in order to locate information, documents, and institutions, the project can build on existing research and retell an important but hidden part of shared international histories which underscore the enduring importance of radio.