Ricky Yates

Statue of Soviet Marshall Ivan Konev with floral tributes © Ricky Yates

Inscription alongside the statue © Ricky Yates

Today is a public holiday here in the Czech Republic, as it is in several other European countries. The public holiday marks the ending of World War Two, sixty-seven years ago, on 8^th May 1945.

I took the photograph on the left today. It is of a statue that stands in Námestí Interbrigády, a large square on one side of Jugoslávských partyzánu, the main thoroughfare leading from our nearest Metro station at Dejvická, to Podbaba where we live. And the person it portrays is Marshall Ivan Stepanovich Konev of the Soviet Red Army, who led the troops that liberated Prague from Nazi occupation, finally entering the city early on 9^th May 1945, just a few hours after the unconditional surrender of all Nazi troops across Europe, had come into force.

As I wrote in an earlier post on this same topic two years ago, this statue is a rare sight today, anywhere in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, as it features a leading figure of the Soviet Army which, during nearly forty-two years of communism, was regarded as an army of occupation by the people of Czechoslovakia. Nearly all public monuments featuring or seeking to celebrate, ‘Soviet friendship and brotherhood’ have, since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, been quietly removed. But, because it commemorates an event that took place before the communist coup in 1948, it remains standing.

As you can see, a large number of floral tributes have been placed at the foot of the statue in recent days. Some are official, such as the ones from the Czech Military and from the Defence Office of the Czech President. Others are simple bunches of flowers, left by private individuals. Although there is a considerable dislike of Russia and Russians amongst the Czech people today, (see some of the comments on my previous post), there is a recognition that it was the Soviet Army that was responsible for liberating Prague and two thirds of what is now the Czech Republic, early in May 1945.

Floral tribute with Cyrillic writing © Ricky Yates

However, I was intrigued by one large floral tribute pictured here, whose ribbons have an inscription written in a language using the Cyrillic alphabet, presumably Russian. If anyone can tell me what it says or which organisation might be responsible for it, I would love to know.

Inscription behind the statue which refers to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic © Ricky Yates

And I was also intrigued by this inscription on the low wall behind the statue, which refers to the country as the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the name used only during the years of communist rule. Whereas elsewhere in the Czech Republic, specific communist logos and references have been removed from war memorials such as in Tábor, here communist nomenclature remains.

Whilst the liberation of the country from Nazi occupation is still marked each year here in the Czech Republic, what has changed since the Velvet Revolution, is the attitude of Czech people towards Germany and the German people. Most Czechs are now freely able to distinguish between Nazi Fascist ideology as exemplified by Hitler’s Third Reich, and present-day democratic Germany, still very much aware of it’s relatively recent past history.

Therefore these days, Germany is the Czech Republic’s biggest trading partner. Germans also travel here in considerable numbers to enjoy the delights of what this country has to offer and in doing so, make a major contribution to the Czech Republic’s tourist income.

On the other hand, although the part played Russia and the Soviet Red Army to liberate the country from Nazi occupation is still acknowledged each year, those who liberated, in turn became an army of occupation. And although all Russian troops had left Czech soil by June 1991, there remains a strong feeling that Russia still wants to control its former republics and satellite states using its economic power, particularly with regard to the supply and distribution of natural gas.

'Arbeit Macht Frei' - 'Work makes you free' - the ironic inscription over an archway in the small fortress at Terezín © Ricky Yates

The imposing fortress and small town of Terezín lies about 80 km north of Prague. It is situated at the strategic location of the confluence of the Labe (Elbe) and Ohre (Eger) rivers and was constructed on the orders of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph II in order to keep the Prussians at bay. It was formerly known as Theresienstadt in honour of the Empress Maria Theresa. On the eastern side of the Ohre lies the original small fortress whilst on the western side there is a far larger fortress within which there is a small town with a sizeable central square and a grid iron pattern of streets.

In 1940, soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Gestapo took over the small fortress to use as a prison. A year later, the resident population of about 3000 people were evicted from the town inside the main fortress and the whole complex was then turned into a transit camp for European Jews as part of Hitler’s ‘final solution‘.

Over the following four years, more than 140,000 Jews passed through Terezín. Around 33,000 died here because of the appalling cramped conditions. At one point, there were over 58,000 inmates in a town that previously had a population of 3000! More than 87,000 were sent on to their death in concentration camps further east, in particular to Auschwitz. Only around 17,000 survived and some of these died from an outbreak of typhus around the time the camp was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945.

Ironically, despite the horrific role Terezín played in the Jewish holocaust, it was also used as a vehicle for Nazi propaganda and portrayed to visitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross as a self-administering ‘Jewish Refuge’. Despite the awful conditions, there was an amazing amount of community life with plays and concerts being performed and artwork and literature produced.

The Terezín Memorial was established in 1991 in order to retell the story of what happened here, to preserve and display art and literature produced by those interned, and to preserve numerous buildings including the crematorium, a fascinating Jewish Prayer room with Hebrew inscriptions from the Psalms on the walls, together with the whole of the small fortress, little changed from how it was in 1945.

Terezín had been on Sybille’s and my list of places to visit since we moved to the Czech Republic. Therefore when my sister Jenny stayed with us recently and also expressed an interest in going there, we took the opportunity to do so. It is not an enjoyable day out – far from it. Rather it is quite a sobering experience but certainly one I’m very glad I’ve experienced.

There is an excellent museum in two parts. The Ghetto Museum itself tells the story of Terezín and puts it in the context of the wider events of the Second World War. Then within the nearby Magdeburg Barracks there are displays of the amazing cramped conditions in which internees were forced to live, as well as displays of artwork, music and literature, all of which was produced in these appalling circumstances. You can then walk around the town to visit the other sites including exploring the whole of the small fortress. Everything is explained in four languages, Czech, German, English and Hebrew, and for once, the English is excellent with hardly any examples of that peculiar language I call Czenglish.

Terezín is a slightly eerie place and it must be somewhat strange for the nearly 3000 people who once again reside in the town to be surrounded by all this horrific relatively recent history. But as the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two is currently being marked in Poland and elsewhere, it is important that all that happened at Terezín is preserved and re-told to the next generation.

National Cemetery in the foreground of the Small Fortress, Terezín © Ricky Yates