Seventy years down the line, the deeds of the main actors at last see true recognition. I was as deeply moved by the large amount of various events commemorating the deed as I was by the number of expert texts issued and by the media attention.
Finally, probably all of those who became victims of Nazi repression after the assassination were given moral satisfaction. In the times of Communism, the act of revenge wasn’t widely commemorated, because it was organised from “hostile and imperialistic” London. Just after 1989, everything was hectic and attention was paid more to “what lies ahead” rather than to “what is in the past”.
The 70th anniversary of this self-sacrificing deed allowed us to express gratitude not only to Jozef Gabčík, Jan Kubiš and the other brave parachutists, but also to hundreds of other people, who contributed to the success of the act.
In the past, Czechs haven’t showed much respect to their heroes. Let’s hope this bad habit will change. It’s high time.
Bohuslav Svoboda
Mayor of Prague