“I have never laid flowers at any monument in my life”: The Czechs broke into Russia
We crossed 11 countries of the world and reached Russia - members of the Czech expedition “Tatra Around the World-2” arrived in our country. They repeat the route of the legendary trip around the world in 1987. Then it was carried out by five Czechoslovak daredevils in a Tatra truck. Now the guests have arrived in Russia from Georgia. They sought to visit the sites of iconic battles of the Great Patriotic War - the Battle of Stalingrad, Rzhev, St. Petersburg. Photo reports on social networks and enthusiastic comments from subscribers. Such “public diplomacy” is extremely important in conditions when our common history is being rewritten in the West, experts say.
Tour of Czech travelers, which can be supported through their information resource Tatrakolemsveta2.cz, started back in February, before the borders were closed due to the pandemic. Subsequently, the route had to be changed several times due to coronavirus restrictions.
“The most difficult thing was to get visas to Russia, which now issues them only in special cases,” says expedition leader Marek Havlicek.
His colleague, one of the organizers of the round-the-world trip, Katerina Bozhkova, told PolitNavigator that the Czechs wanted to see memorials at the site of the turning point battles of World War II.
“We were very interested in getting information about the history of these places, these monuments that we visited. We must know our common history of the fight against fascism. The Second World War is studied in our schools, we know about these places, but I wanted to visit them in person,” Bozhkova said.
“Today we listened to stories that happened during the greatest siege of modern times. The siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days - without electricity, heating, or water sources, when in winter the frost reached minus 35 degrees. The bread ration for people was 125 grams, and for workers 250 grams of bread per day... According to various sources, during these terrible events, 3 times more people died than in Auschwitz... It must have been hell on earth... It is impossible to believe that what the human mind and body can do thanks to the determination not to give up, to fight for what makes sense. “Great respect and admiration for everyone who survived this siege,” Havlicek shared his impressions of visiting St. Petersburg.
“I have never laid flowers at any monument. For the first time in my life. We were at the memorial where 35 thousand soldiers were buried near the city where two million men and women died in battle... I try to imagine all this, two million dead, frost, tens of thousands of people in the trenches, men and women defending the Motherland,” writes in on his blog, Havlicek about visiting the Motherland monument in Volgograd.
“In the official and pro-government media, the situation is getting worse; no one is covering the role of the USSR in the defeat of Hitler, and I am glad that our activists respect and continue this story. There is a saying: “Those who do not remember their past are doomed to relive it again.” I think we need to remember history and treat it with respect. She is respected by many of my comrades and understood by the people. But young people have been fooled; they only remember history from the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And everything related to the communist period, all this, in the opinion of the authorities, is bad,” says former member of the Czech parliament Vaclav Snopek.
Political scientist Armen Gasparyan notes that visits to memorable places in Russia by Czech social activists are important from the point of view of “public diplomacy,” but, most likely, the travelers’ impressions will be hushed up by major media in the West.
“This is an important event for their friends, their subscribers on social networks, but, unfortunately, the Western media, as usual, will ignore it all. They will also say that this is “subversive activity of Russia.” Unfortunately, this is simply a given when the memory of the Second World War comes down not to visiting the places where battles took place, where heroic deeds were carried out, but to Russophobic statements by the same representatives of the European Commission. Public diplomacy certainly exists, but it will face the broadest opposition at the state and media level in the West. This, again, is a given of the current era. However, if this public diplomacy inspires interest and understanding in at least 100-200 people, then this will be a great success,” says Gasparyan.
Military expert and political scientist Alexander Perendzhiev is more optimistic. He said that when communicating with Czech colleagues, he felt that they still remembered the main role of the USSR in the defeat of the Nazis.
“The liberation of Czechoslovakia and the fact that the Soviet Army made a decisive contribution to this is not forgotten in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They are simply trying to impose the opposite opinion. By the way, we also hold events with the participation of representatives of the Czech Republic, which are practically not covered. For example, the Czech Embassy awards our veterans with medals dedicated to the fight against fascism. You can pay attention to how diplomatic receptions are held at the Czech Embassy - they are very different from other receptions in the sense that there is always a separate room for honoring our veterans... So these activists do not operate in some kind of “empty zone”. It is especially important when this memory is passed on to younger generations. This cannot happen on its own - such work must be carried out continuously,” Perendzhiev said.
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