Historie a vzpomínky na vlastní minulost (s ohledem na výpovědi českých přesídlenců v Jihoafrické republice)

Memory can be compared to the function of a balance wheel creating continuity in different areas of the society. History and memory are two different categories. History can enter memory; on the contrary, memory entry into history is an inadmissible matter for some historians; for other experts, the memories are adequate history resources. Subjective level of manipulation is what continues to be memory base. On the contrary, history is - to the maximum extent possible - an objectified view of the past. Memory records the past through individual experiences whereby several levels can be seen in the process of remembering. Especially: memory includes both a stage of a storage device and a stage of subjective interpretation depending on plenty of individualized factors including the current mood of the narrator. Both levels (storage device and interpretation), however, are subject to the author's license whereby the purpose of this communication is dominating. On the other side, the purpose cannot be related only to an individual's profit. The contribution summarizes some knowledge of the author gained at the collection of life stories among the members of Czech ethnic groups abroad with concrete examples from the Republic of South-Africa.