Waclaw Zalud (1803–1881) was a talented musician from Nove Straseci in Western Czechoslovakia, a student of Franz Czermark, a noted musician and wind instrument maker at the end of the 18th century. Waclaw was the founder and first director of the musical instrument factory in Terezin, which was a well-known and highly regarded factory in its time in Europe, and is still remembered to this day. His son and grandson took over the factory, which operated until 1941. Waclaw’s son, Edward, was a gifted master musical instrument maker. In 1870, he lived in Prague where he produced clarinets for the company V. Horaka and in 1874 started his own company where he produced wooden instruments, which were renowned for their perfect finish and sound quality. The majority of clarinets and flutes used in the National Theater Orchestra in Prague were created in this time by his firm.
Paul Zalud (1864–1931), one of the grandsons of Waclaw, took over in the 1930s and in addition to the woodwind instruments already in production, added a line of brass instruments.
The Germans closed the factory in 1941 and sent all the instruments and the entire Zalud family to the Terezin Ghetto. Some of the instruments survived the war and are used by musicians even today. None of the Zalud family survived the war. All of them died either in the ghetto or in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
Instruments produced by the Zalud firm are still valued and celebrated all over the world. An Italian journalist and musician, Matteo Corradini, dedicated many years to piecing together the story of the many musicians who performed in the camp at Terezin using instruments from the Zalud firm. In 2013, he formed the Pawel Zalud Memorial Quartet and later an entire symphony orchestra called the Zalud Orchestra, which plays music composed in the ghetto during the years of German terror, and on instruments made by the Zalud firm, gathered from all over the world and meticulously restored.
In the United States and in Europe, concerts are held on a regular basis dedicated to the music, composers, and instrument makers from Terezin.
Surely, by now someone reading this story must be asking themselves what all this about Terezin has to do with Zagorow, its story, and its people. My articles have the primary responsibility to tell the story of Zagorowian emigrants, their fate in foreign lands, about the Marcjan, Kmieciak, Jasinki, or Wyberski families, about which stories have already been written. Sometimes, however, these stories don’t follow a straight path, but rather wind back and forth, loop around, follow the straight path once again for a moment just to plunge back into the underworld before emerging once again unexpectedly to the light of day. So it was in this case. Therefore, in order to present the story about Zagorow, it is necessary to know a little history about Terezin and its musicians—everything comes together in unexpected ways.
Edward Zalud Sr. (1848–1911) was one of three brothers producing musical instruments, starting mainly with wooden clarinets and flutes, and later other brass instruments in the nearby factory in Terezin.
Edward left the family business and moved to Prague in 1870 where he started a firm specializing in creating wooden instruments because he wanted to make instruments using only traditional methods and natural materials. He believed that sheet metal was a departure from real craftsmanship; he was not interested in mass production using machinery. It wasn’t easy for him in the beginning, as the business had serious difficulties in selling products; however, his last name, Zalud, opened the door to clients. He delivered most of his clarinets and flutes to the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra of the National Theater in Prague.
Edward Zalud Sr. had several children—Franciszek, Katarzyna, and Edward. His youngest child, Edward Jr., was born in Prague in 1878. Despite the fact that the last name Zalud was closely associated with the Jewish faith (hence why all of the Zalud family from Terezin died in the gas chambers in Auschwitz after a short stay in the ghetto), Edward Jr. and his father were Catholics. Friends and story hunters from Czechia found entries in the church baptismal record books for the father Edward at the Catholic church in Nove Straseci, and for his son at the church in Prague.
It is interesting that often families carrying the same last name do not necessarily belong to the same religion. The majority of Zaluds in Czechia are Jews, but this last name is also popular in Austria, where a line of Zaluds are Protestants. Edward and his son were Catholics, probably reaching back to an even earlier generation. I am not discussing religious affiliation in this story for no reason. Almost 100 years later, in what would seem to be the modern year of 2018, I became brutally aware that religious stereotypes and prejudices are alive and well. I will return to this topic a little later.
Edward Zalud Jr. didn’t follow in the family tradition of making instruments. His father believed that the time of craftsmanship, which produced musical instruments using traditional methods and tools, was ending. The Industrial Revolution had begun with highly modern and efficient machines, which rendered it impossible to compete with only two, albeit highly skilled, hands. He was raised, however, in a home filled with music, and Edward possessed a different kind of talent—he was a very talented musician, and of course his instrument of choice, and the one on which he based his education at the Prague Conservatory of Music, was the clarinet. It comes as no surprise that he played on an instrument made by his own father. Edward Jr. was a member of a very prestigious orchestra—he played in the Orchestra of the National Theater in Prague in the inter-war years, practically until his death in 1939. We know that he also worked with numerous other orchestras, lived in Krakow for many years, and traveled extensively throughout Europe. During one of his visits to Warsaw in 1904 he met a beautiful Polish girl. Wladyslawa was 17 years old, Edward Jr. was 25. His growing musical career did not permit him to stay in Warsaw, so he swept Wladyslawa off her feet and carried her off to his beloved Prague, where they lived together until 1939, when both died—first Wladyslawa, and a few months later Edward Jr. In 1906, a daughter was born in Prague, Hedvika Zalud.
