History of Pension Jeznik

A historical drawing with an official stamp from 1910 shows us a southern street view of a summer house of an important industrialist of Krnov, Mr. Alois Chlupacek. The building is located in suburban recreational area of the town of Krnov – Jeznik.

The fate of the weekend house and Alois Chlupacek’s family itself are both an image of prestige, prosperity and development of industrial production of textiles in Krnov, and human tragedy upon arrival of Nazism.

Alois Chlupacek was born in Humpolec and he was not of Jewish origin. However, his wife Marie Sara Chlupackova did come from a Jewish family. The Jewish origin of Mr. Chlupacek’s wife was the reason why their three sons – Alois, Robert and Jan (Johann) – were later listed as a “half-breed” on an inventory of Jews compiled by Nazis.

The Chlupacek family owned a large factory producing fabrics and textile. It was located on Textile Street. Alois Chlupacek eventually let his sons Jan and Alois join him in the management of the company.

Alois Chlupacek was pressured by Nazis to divorce his Jewish wife. He refused to do so. Consequently, Nazis had confiscated his company. Mrs. Chlupackova survived the occupation. She was hiding in an attic of a random house for some time. The eldest son Alois Chlupacek Jr. disappeared mysteriously just before the war ended: together with many other “unreliable half-breeds” was forced to go dig trenches as the Russians were approaching. He never returned. His father was convinced that he was kidnapped by the Russians. Alois Chlupacek, the father of the family and a great industrialist, died shortly after the war ended.

Jan Chlupacek became a national business manager of the company after the war. After the enterprise was nationalized by Communists in 1945, Jan was given a position of a managing director. After the Communist putsch in February 1948, Jan Chlupacek left with his wife Mana and his mother Marie to Vienna (Austria), where he eventually became a managing director and even a co-owner of a knitting factory. He died in 1976. The third brother – Robert Chlupacek – lived in Passau (Germany) since the end of the war; he worked in wood industry.

After the World War II the Chlupacek family house was used as a preschool until 1999. The house was rebuilt very insensibly in 1979; the general reconstruction of the object included eradication of a hip roof.

The latest reconstruction of Alois Chlupacek’s weekend house turned it into Pension Jeznik. We did our best to give the building its original layout back, and renew architectural elements so it can once again serve as a recreational haven for nature lovers. It took some hard work and lots of love but there Pension Jeznik stands once again, a beautiful lodge in the midst of picturesque forests!