It may be that this nation, wedged as it was right into the living space of the Germans, found itself backed into a moral corner where its baser instincts gained the upper hand. Virtually paralyzed by the unequaled creative genius of their larger German neighbor, the ambitious Czechs developed those complexes which, when additionally fueled by envy and resentment, have resulted in their well-known explosive outbursts. And this soul-deep unease is the driving force behind their boundless chauvinism. Throughout the many centuries that the Germans coexisted with the Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia there was not one single case of a German having killed a Czech out of hatred or revenge. Alexander Hoyer Eyewitness .
Sadism manifest itself both in individuals and in entire cultures.
The German social psychologist Erich Fromm has concluded that collective sadism may often be found in frustrated social strata that suffer from a sense of powerlessness. The Hussites roasted in their prisoners in pitch-covered barrels. Centuries later, the Czechs of May 1945 burned wounded Germans to death as living torches, hung upside down over blazing fires. A curious duplication. In the time of the witch-hunts, women were beheaded or burned for allegedly having slept with the Devil.