The third Sunday in May in Terezin traditionally belonged to the remembrance ceremony – a memorial event to commemorate the victims of the Terezin Nazi repressive facilities – the police Gestapo prison in the Small Fortress and the Terezin Jewish ghetto.
Dozens of delegations from the Czech Republic and abroad laid wreaths under different memorials at the National Cemetery in front of the Terezin Small Fortress. Keynote speeches, stressing the need not to forget the past, but to learn from it, were delivered by President of the Czech Republic, Mr. Vaclav Klaus, and Director of the Terezin Memorial, Jan Munk.
After the speeches came the Christian and Jewish prayers. The ceremony ended with Lacrymosa and Agnus Dei from Verdi’s Requiem performed by the Decin Choir.
The remembrance ceremony itself was preceded by a memorial act at the former execution place in the Small Fortress at the occasion of the sad anniversary of the last execution in the police prison, which took place on 2 May 1945 (more about this execution – see Newsletter 2 / 2010)
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