https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_intervention_in_Siberia

Japanese intervention in Siberia

The Japanese Siberian Intervention (シベリア出兵, Shiberia Shuppei) of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of Japanese military forces to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil War. The Japanese suffered 1,399 killed and another 1,717 deaths from the disease.^[4]

What a story, I have never heard, Dr. Ohn. It’s fascinating!!! 

History is always interesting! So, we all know Czechs are famous not only for world-renowned Pilsen beer but also for various machinery including the machine gun. Besides, we somehow thought/learned Czechs belong to Germans all along because of many stories of ‘Bohemia and Moravia’ we read in the literature but they are NOT Germans but Slavs like Slovakians. 

I belatedly learned this fact from one old Czech professor Cestmir Recek who lives in Vienna now- Prof. Recek is my most respectful senior scholar in Europe who made such a critical contribution to establishing a new hemodynamic concept of venous circulation-. Through him, I learned further about such complicated history of Czechs involved in WWII as well. 

BB Lee

P.S. Slovakia is another confusing story many misunderstand though they are also Slavs like Czech entirely different race/people with their distinctive culture. Indeed, I love Bratislava more than Prague.

I would like to hear more about Czech and Slovakia if you would, Dr. Lee. Thank you.

https://youtu.be/99Zn8pggt8Q

Making of a state; Czechoslovakia

https://youtu.be/r10Yt_8Umrw

Czechslovak legion in Russia; its War to return home

You already shared quite a few excellent videos, Dr. Ohn, to explain such complicated historical background of Czechoslovakia, including ‘Chech legion’ to fight Austria-Hungary Empire and then Germany. Indeed, I was totally confused and mixed up with the history involved to so many countries in Central Europe, especially Bohemia/Czech, Moravia, Slovakia, and their surrounding countries like Silesia, Bavaria/Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and further up to Lithuania besides Habsburg’s Austro-Hungary to which they also belonged.

Believe me, Dr. Ohn, it took years for me to get the correct knowledge on these countries through repeated visits – I barely made a first visit to the synagogue at Prague on my sixth visit!- and special lessons(?) from the local colleagues to get the first-hand information, But, once you retrieve correct knowledge on their intriguing historical interrelationships among them, you really can enjoy the visit to these countries including the foods, like a dispute over ‘Poland sausage versus German sausage’, etc.

Anyhow, I always dreamed to visit Bohemia someday so that the first country I chose among East European countries after the Soviets were collapsed was Czech/Bohemia together with Hungary. Indeed, for some reason, I had a special romantic (?) feeling on the word of ‘Bohemia’, perhaps due to ‘Bohemian life’ we saw through the Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘La Boheme’, and got fascinated to Bohemianism of ‘unconventional’ anti-establishment through these many years.

So, I had my first visit to Prague/Czech soon after they were liberated from Soviet control, 1995? - on way to Hamburg/Germany from Budapest/Hungary, to give my workshop on vascular malformation with Prof. Dirk Loose; I was quite impressed with the much better physical condition of the buildings/structures and facades throughout the city they maintained through the Soviet era, in comparison to Budapest/Hungary which was hopelessly dilapidated to arouse my curiosity on such differences wondering how Bohemians were much better off than any other Eastern European countries like Poland or three Baltic countries.

Anyhow, Prague fulfilled my expectation enough on the first visit as the center of ‘Bohemia’ as I always imagined/dreamed; we simply walked down from the Castle through Golden (?) Lane passing by Franz Kafka’s House to Charles River, thinking of Smetana’s The Moldau/Vltava– ‘My Fatherland’ is one of my favorite symphony poems - and enjoyed the music every evening at the churches- all were converted to the music performance halls every evening- and quite a few convents near to the center of the city were also well converted to accommodate the tourists already.

So ‘Bohemia’ is the center of Czech together with Moravia, as you already brought up as the historical background of Czechoslovakia so that it was ‘one country, artificially made with two different West Slavic peoples only to meet the political benefits for surrounding countries, we already know, like the origin of Belgium. Hence, the separation of these two different countries now is quite natural, I learned through the visits to Czech and also Slovakia.

Indeed, the upper class of Bohemia and Moravia seemed to have been pretty much Germanized way before annexed to Nazi Germany territory through WW II era while middle and lower class were left out, most of Slovakians belonged to. Therefore, other than the same Slavic language root-like distant dialects, Czechs and Slovakians are quite different peoples sharing very limited common interests- Slovakia is still pretty much rural in comparison to Czech although they later caught up with the industrialized activity like an auto industry-.

So, both Czech and Slovakia seem to be very happy with the outcome of separation/divorce, although the story behind remains a very touchy issue together with Nazi annexation.

Besides, I found out Slovakians are now free (?) from their ever-lasting ‘inferiority complex’ to Czechs and proudly seek their own future with no longer big brother on their back to concern.

One young gentleman, a son of my Slovakian colleague, Andrej Dzupina, a prominent cardiologist at Bardejov, who was at the medical school when I met first but now a medical doctor at Bratislava Univ, became our family friend to talk freely with no grudge to the past when he visited us to Washington DC, sharing their stance on this issue with us to help me to get the bird’s eye view on this political issue including ‘Romani (former gypsy)’ which is another interesting subject.

Anyhow, I was fascinated with such beautiful countryside of Slovakia with perfectly well-preserved nature, the best in Europe I bet, through my first visit to Slovakia invited by Prof. Dzupina to Bardejov to deliver the lecture and workshop for the lymphedema. I learned why their churches were so famous together with so many castles throughout the country. Indeed, I was so impressed with the churches, in particular, built only with wooden products and no metal nails besides special landscapes for the consideration of the preservation of wooden structure from the water/humidity damage by proper selection of the trees - weeping willows next to the church to maximize the water absorption from surrounding soils, etc to keep the church/wooden structure intact-.

So, I took my wife with me on my third visit to Slovakia after the meeting at Prague, and Andrej, Jr, kindly volunteered to give an extensive tour based on Bratislava – he drove his father’s brand-new BMW SUV for us - throughout his country for a week including Tatra Mountains region we enjoyed most. Indeed, Tatra Mountains are a part of the Carpathian Mountain range, opposite/south side from Zakopane/Poland, and its natural beauty is much better than Switzerland.

BB Lee

P.S. You can reach/enjoy the north/Poland side of the Tatra Mountains, which is Zakopane from Krakow. I was once invited to Zakopane by the Polish Society of Cardiovascular Surgery to give a talk on Takayasu’s Arteritis so that I had a chance to explore the vicinity including one ‘ghost town’ further south to Zakopane deep in the mountain range very next to the border to Slovakia. Due to repeated famine and bitterly cold weather a century ago, whole village peoples immigrated to the USA to Chicago area to empty the village! -, But nature is much more beautiful along the Slovakian side/south hill of the Tatra Mountain.

It is very interesting and I learned a lot, Dr. Lee!

It won't be easy to know someone who can tell the story about 

the region from his personal experience. Czech, Slovakia, and Hungary 

are the part of Europe that I did not visit and I will certainly go to see 

the countries, perhaps next Spring or Summer. Thank you, Dr. Lee.

Good to know I gave you the right message, Dr. Ohn. Of course, everyone has a different interest and aim on the traveling but I am sure you already spent enough time to visit these many touristic spots mostly through Western Europe. So, I bet you will enjoy more through the visit to these East European countries with a lot of nice surprises you wouldn't get through the routine tourist course.

Let me know when you plan and I would be happy to give better advice than the professional tour consultant based on my own experience through trials and errors!

BB