Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) said in Vítkov that this year is no ordinary celebration of the end of the war – we should also think about those who are dying today in Ukraine. “I respect all the fighters who helped liberate our nation from the Nazi invaders. Their heroism and memory need to be remembered. The ongoing war in Ukraine reminds us that freedom and peace are not taken for granted. Apart from the victims of the Second World War, we must also think about the victims of the war, which is currently happening in Ukraine,” the prime minister wrote Twitter. Other politicians also express themselves in the same vein.

The President of the Senate and the President of the Chamber of Deputies also expressed the same, stressing the need to support Ukraine against Russian aggressors. According to the Speaker of the Upper House, Miloš Vystrčil, current Russian aggression overshadows the legacy of the liberation of the Soviet Army in World War II.

The Speaker of the House, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, believes that today’s message is that it is possible to win over any dictator and totalitarian. “I want us to realize that above all unity helps, helps to stay united against the enemy, as it has helped many years ago,” he said.

“Many Ukrainians fought in the ranks of the Red Army, and the Czechs are now paying their debts to them by supporting Ukraine and accepting refugees,” President Zeman said. “In Russia, we see ordinary fascism, it breaks out again where the words about anti-fascism sounded the loudest before,” said the Ukrainian ambassador in piet in Prague.

After two years of anti-coronavirus restrictions, commemorative events are taking place in their usual form. The previous year, politicians came to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier periodically individually so as not to meet. Last year, the pietà was held without public participation and all participants, including soldiers, wore respirators.

Commemorative acts related to the anniversary of the end of the war were held in several places not only in Prague, but also in other Czech cities. At around two o’clock in the afternoon, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, representatives of parliament, the army, Prague and the municipality of Czechoslovakia will honor the memorial of the legion of Ukrainian Red Army soldiers who died and victims of the Prague Uprising at the Olšan Cemetery in Prague. The event will also be attended by Ukrainian women who fled Ukraine due to the Russian invasion and found temporary shelter in Prague.

At Vítka’s wreath, together with Zeman, president of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies Miloš Vystrčil and Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Minister of Defense Jana ernochová together with Chief of General Staff Aleš Opata, Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib and Cardinal Dominik Duka laid wreaths at that monument. Representatives of the association and war veterans also honor fallen memories by laying wreaths.

Prior to the solemn act, the soldiers carried historic army banners to the memorial courtyard, the national anthem and the Hussite Ktož sú boží bójníci chant was played. During the laying of the wreath, five military planes and three army helicopters flew over Prague, forming a tricolor in the sky with the national colours. Those present were silent for a minute. The soldiers also saluted.

He persists: Pieta di Lety is also a call for people to treat minorities fairly

On Sunday, Senate President Miloš Vystrčil also visited the memorial of Roma and Jewish victims of Nazism at the site of the Lety u Písek concentration camp. All victims of Nazism deserve the respect shown during the piet, says eněk Růžička of Rome’s Holocaust Compensation Committee.

“This is a memento for us to do everything we can to ensure that such suffering does not happen again. Remembering in the places where it is happening reinforces the call to do everything we can to enable society to behave in the future fairly and seriously towards minorities, be they ethnic, social or religious minorities, and to recognize that a democratic level of society can recognized both by the way they treat minorities and by admitting their faults or not,” said Pasting.

Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bartoš (Pirates), Culture Minister Martin Baxa (ODS) and former Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) also took part in the memorial service. After the event, people can visit the parish cemetery in Mirovice, where most of the children of the aviation camp victims are buried.

Baxa described Lety’s pig farm as a place of shame for the Czechs. He apologized to politicians from various parties who previously ignored or underestimated Lety’s dark story.

Most of the countries of the world took part in the Second World War. With over 60 million casualties, it was the biggest battle to date. The Czechs fought against Nazi Germany on both the western and eastern fronts.