Attended by some of the former inmates of the Nazi persecution facilities and the general public, the traditional Terezín Commemoration proceeded in the National Cemetery in the foreground of the Small Fortress in the morning hours of May 21, 2023. As for the official guests, the rally was attended by Czech President Petr Pavel and other top-ranking constitutional representatives and politicians of the Czech Republic: Mr. Miloš Vystrčil, Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Parliament, Mrs. Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Speaker of the House of Deputies of the Czech Parliament, Mr. Vít Rakušan, Czech Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, Mr. Pavel Rychetský, President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, and other officials representing the Government Ministries and public administration institutions. Also present were Ambassadors and other senior officials of many foreign Embassies, delegations of the Terezín Memorial´s partner organizations from home and abroad, members of various associations and other distinguished guests.
After a wreath-laying ceremony and an introductory address by Mr. Jan Roubínek, Terezín Memorial Director, the keynote speech was delivered by Czech President Petr Pavel. This was followed by an address and wartime recollections presented by former Terezín Ghetto inmate Ján Hanák who was deported to this former Nazi camp from Slovakia in 1945 as a 9-year boy. The commemorative section of the gathering was concluded by a Christian prayer said by Cardinal and emeritus Archbishop of Prague Dominik Duka and a Jewish prayer made by the Chief Rabbi of Bohemia Karol Efraim Sidon.
The Terezín Commemoration figures among the most important remembrance gatherings in honor of the victims of Nazi occupation of the Czech lands in World War II. Its significance was highlighted by the Czech Television which broadcast the whole event live on one of its channels, with Mr. Vojtěch Blodig, Deputy Director of the Terezín Memorial, commenting on the event in the studio.
Prior to the Terezín Commemoration, the former execution ground of the Gestapo Prison in the Small Fortress hosted an act of remembrance in honor of the members of the Czechoslovak anti-Nazi resistance movement shot dead on this site on May 2, 1945. This commemoration of “Terezín´s last wartime execution“ has been repeatedly held for several years now in cooperation with the Uherské Hradiště High School whose students are active participants in the event under the guidance of their teacher Miroslava Poláková. The symbolic significance of this particular memorial act was further reinforced by a speech delivered by Mr. Miloš Vystrčil, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.
Jan Špringl
