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‘The Accidental Hero’ show coming to town

NEW ULM — The Grand Center for Arts & Culture is hosting a one-man history show featuring coincidence and unintended homecomings.

“The Accidental Hero” performed by Patrick Dewane will be Saturday, Feb. 25, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Kabaret. Tickets are $8 for members and $12 for non-members.

The multi-media show tells the tale of Dewane’s grandfather, Matt Konop, during World War II and his journey from Omaha beach to Domazlice, a Czech city Konop’s grandparents had emigrated from decades before.

“The show is about how a guy who grew up on a farm speaking Czech, and thinking that that was an impediment to being a ‘real American’ finds himself then in WWII, and in the last week of the war, his ability to speak Czech makes him more valuable to his unit than anybody else in that unit,” Dewane said.

Along with history, Dewane’s show explores identity and self-discovery, as Konop goes from largely uninterested in his cultural heritage to immersing himself in it.

Konop’s fluency earned him a position commanding the advanced party liberating Czechoslovakia. During his time there, he stumbles into the town his grandmother grew up in.

“They cannot believe that the first American they ever met comes in and speaks their language and that he is one of them,” Dewane said.

The soldier’s story had almost been lost to history. Konop never spoke about his time serving in the war.

Further obfuscation came from the takeover of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1948, which repressed any acknowledgement that Americans had participated in the country’s liberation, according to Dewane’s website.

It was not until Dewane’s sister Jane discovered their grandfather’s typewritten notes and film that he shot with an 8-millimeter film camera.

“My sister was being nosy, and she wanted to snoop around in my grandfather’s stuff. It was all in my aunt’s basement,” Dewane said.

Dewane was amazed by the trove of information. He became obsessed with his grandfather’s hidden story.

“I could not believe it,” Dewane said. “I always had hoped he had done something amazing, but I had no idea, I could not have dreamed up the reality.”

It took him a while, and multiple trips to the Czech Republic, before he was able to understand Konop’s descriptions of battles and military life.

Even now, Dewane is continually discovering new information like battlefield layouts or even an undiscovered tin of film, which he works into the show.

Dewane’s favorite part of the show comes after his performance. He usually stays to chat with the audience and hear their stories.

“The show opens a channel for people to remember things that otherwise lie perhaps beneath the surface, or people who have passed a while ago,” Dewane said.

For more information about “The Accidental Hero” visit accidentalhero.net.

Connor Cummiskey can be emailed at ccummiskey@nujournal.com.

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