22 JANUARY 1936
Born in Pilsen
Pavel Hauzner was born in Pilsen and spent his childhood in Roudná. He was raised largely by his grandfather — a Pilsen builder and architect who awakened in him a sense of precision and respect for things that endure.
1939 — 1945
A Wartime Childhood
He spent the entire Second World War in occupied Pilsen and lived through all eleven air raids on the city — hiding with his mother and little sister in a shelter near Dvořákova Street. In the final raid on the Škoda Works, eleven American bombers were shot down.
6 MAY 1945
Liberation — the Americans in Pilsen
Early in the morning the first American units entered Pilsen, and on Republic Square Nazi rule came to its definitive end. Nine-year-old Pavel was drawn to the tent city the soldiers built by the Bory prison — and it was there, in a refuse pit, that he found envelopes bearing airplane stamps, the seed of a lifelong collection.
1956
Military Service
After his studies he was called up to serve with the signal corps in Prague-Bohnice. He kept building his collection — even as the subject of the “U.S. Army” had become politically dangerous.
1948 — 1989
A Quiet Keeper of Memory
Under communism he secretly safeguarded materials on the U.S. Army and its part in the liberation. Throughout the normalisation years he regularly attended memorial gatherings for fallen American airmen — at a time when the liberators from the West were officially silenced or lied about.
AFTER 1989
The Truth Finally on Display
After the fall of the regime he could finally exhibit in public. His first exhibition, The Liberation of Pilsen by the U.S. Army, was opened symbolically on 6 May 1990 by General Antonín Liška, a fighter pilot of the RAF’s 311 Squadron and a former classmate of his father. Many more exhibitions followed — including at Pilsen Town Hall — spreading the truth about the liberation. He won several international awards — a vermeil medal at the PRAGA 2008 World Stamp Exhibition — and exhibited abroad, most recently in Bangkok. He became a respected expert, lecturer and forensic specialist in postage stamps, focusing also on perfins and field post, and published in the journal Merkur revue.
2013 AND 2017
Recording for Memory of Nations
In October 2013 he recorded his memories for the Memory of Nations archive in a project documenting the liberation of western Bohemia; in March 2017 he returned to the microphone for the project In the Footsteps of the Canonbury Parachutists, the Jewish Community and the U.S. Army in Pilsen. Over four hours of testimony in Europe’s largest collection of witness accounts.
MAY 2015
The Face of the Liberation Festival
For the 70th anniversary of the liberation he was given the lead role in the Liberation Festival TV spot, shot by director Jakub Machala in Pilsen’s Malá Street. Czech Television aired it and the campaign carried it to veterans’ communities abroad — the boy from the Bory camp had become the face of Pilsen’s celebrations.
2018
Co-Author of a Book on Revenue Stamps
With Miroslav Jeník he published The ABC of Revenue Stamps — a survey of their history from artwork to engraving. The Czech National Library has since listed him among its national authority records as a collector and forensic philately expert.
5 SEPTEMBER 2019
A Lecture in Prague
A renowned postal historian, he lectured at the Prague Philatelists’ Club 00-15 on the express-message service of the German Reichspost — one of many talks through which he passed his lifetime of knowledge to younger generations of collectors.
2020 — 2021
A Comic, an Interview and an Exhibition
For the 75th anniversary of the liberation, the comic book Roll Out the Barrels! was created from Memory of Nations testimonies, illustrated by students of the Sutnar Faculty. In 2021 Mr Hauzner recorded an extensive video interview for the NEWSPHILA society, and Pilsen Town Hall hosted an exhibition of American wartime post — soldiers’ correspondence, unit postmarks and photographs of the camps. His life’s subject, at last where it belonged.
AUTUMN 2022
His Last Story — Told to Children
He entrusted his memories one last time to two schoolgirls from Pilsen’s 10th Elementary School, Hana Kanalošová and Barbora Rabochová, who made a radio documentary about him for the Stories of Our Neighbours project. Czech Radio Pilsen broadcast it on 12 December 2022.
15 DECEMBER 2022
He Is Gone; the Collection Speaks On
Pavel Hauzner died suddenly on 15 December 2022 at the age of 86. Family and friends said farewell on 27 December at the family grave in the Pilsen-Bolevec cemetery. His memories remain preserved in the Memory of Nations archive and the Stories of Our Neighbours project — the stamps from the refuse pit have travelled further than their senders could ever have imagined.
