Remember Jan Palach

and all the others who did not make it.

The Czech Republic is only 25 years old. It, along with Slovakia, was created from the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Czechoslovakia only existed for 75 years. It became independent from the Austro Hungarian Empire at the end of World War 1. At first it was a relatively prosperous nation but following the Munich Agreement of 1938 it was trapped in the middle of the conflicts between global superpowers.

At first its citizens suffered the misery and horrors of life under Nazi occupation and then from 1945 the oppression of communism.

The Jewish Museum of Prague is a collection of 8 sites that you can visit. It includes the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Ceremonial Hall and several synagogues including the Spanish Synagogue. All of the sites provide information about the history of the Jewish community in Prague and of course the Holocaust.

The newly refurbished Museum of Communism gives an insight into what Czech society life was like under the communist regime.

It is hard to appreciate how people coped and survived living under such tyranny. People must have spent their lives in fear. Imagine not knowing if the person stood next to you in the bread queue is a member of the Gestapo or whether the person staring at you on the bus is an officer of the Secret Police. Thousands were jailed, tortured and executed.

Around the city are several memorials to the victims of life under occupation. I remember well the invasion by armies of the Soviet Bloc in 1968. I wanted to see the tributes to Jan Palach and Jan Zajic in Wenceslas Square and also to those who died defending the radio station on Vinohradska.