Reconciliation in sight: Sudeten Germans and Czechs are progressing together!

Reconciliation in sight: Sudeten Germans and Czechs are progressing together!

Against the background of the 75th Sudeten German day in Regensburg, Bernd Posselt, the spokesman for the ethnic group and federal chairman of the Sudeten German compatriot, expressed positive developments in the relationship between the Czech Republic and the Sudeten Germans. These progress include the initiative announced by the Czech government to consider millions of graves Sudetenutscher as a common cultural heritage and to provide money for their care. Such steps are crucial for long -term reconciliation between the two sides.

Posselt also forced the support of the Czech government for the "reconciliation march", which reminded of the painful "Brünner death march" of 1945, in which at least 2,000 German -speaking residents were expelled. This march, which recently led to Brno from South Moravian Pohrlitz, recorded a high level of participation and is a symbol for the common memory process. On this occasion, two Czech organizers presented an initiative to hold the Sudeten German day 2024 in Brno, which Posselt described as a "incredible honor".

on the pulse of reconciliation

This year, two Minister of the Czech government, Mikuláš Bek and Petr Hladík, took part in the reconciliation march for the first time. They thought of the German victims of violent displacements and thus contributed to strengthening the dialogue. The day after the march there was also a common memory of the Kaunitz student dormitory, which served as a torture prison during the Nazi era.

As part of the “Meeting Brno” festival, the Masaryk University headed a panel discussion entitled “Due to memory”. Prominent voices such as David Macek, Bernd Posselt and Miloš Doležal, who dealt with the memory of the story, took part in this discussion. These formats are important steps to deal with history and create a common memory.

The expulsion of the Sudeten Germans remains a trauma that had far -reaching consequences for those affected and their descendants. Historically, the history of displacement in the Czech Republic has been replaced for a long time. But since the end of real socialism, there have been efforts to call the German history of Czech Republic into national awareness. An example of this is the planned exhibition "Our Germans" in ústí nad Labem, which is supposed to shed light on Czech-German history.

The challenges of memory

documentary filmmaker David Vondráček and writer Kateřina Tučková address the brutality of the post -war years and the effects on social memory in her works. Michal Urban from the "Anti -complex" organization reminded of the lost linguistic and ethnic diversity in the Czech Republic and called the need to reflect Czech misconduct.

The reconciliation march is criticized by a small group of counter -demonstrators. Nevertheless, the organizer of the march, Jaroslav Ostrčilík, emphasizes that the march does not put the crimes of the Nazis into perspective and that he works for the processing of displacement and against racism. In today's ethnically more homogeneous Czech society there is often a lack of tolerance for minorities, which further increases the challenges of reconciliation.