Prague Journal

Wednesday, November 17, 2004.

Today is Den Boje Studentu, the Day of Protest, commemorating the November 1989 protests, which resulted in the resignation of Communist Party President and President of the Czechoslovakian Socialist (Communist) Republic Gustav Husak on national television on November 24th. Originally, this day commemorated the closure of the universities by the Nazis in 1938 after a rumor of the impending restoration of Czech independence, which, of course, never occurred. On Sept. 17, 1938 a period of Czechoslovak censorship began, aimed at first at domestic and foreign correspondence, especially at the correspondence sent from/to the occupied Sudetenland territory as well as Germany and Austria (Austria was at that time incorporated into Germany). Upon occupation of the former Czechoslovak territory by Germany on October 1, 1938, the postal connection between the rest of Czechoslovakia and the occupied territories was interrupted and the posted mail was returned to the senders (usually). Subsequently, the postal service was allowed, but all correspondence was censored by the Czechoslovak authorities, as it had been before the occupation. The university closures were blamed on the country’s student populations as a convenient excuse for halting education in the Czech lands and the deportation of most high school and university aged kids to slave labor factories making armaments for the Germans, or light bulbs and other trade goods for German and Swiss companies who made a fortune from the war.
Until 1989, November 17th had always marked student resistance against the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. The 1989 protests actually began on November 16th with just a handful of university students, who gathered at a traditional meeting at Charles University’s Karolinum to commemorate the death of Jan Opletal, a student who fell victim to the Nazis fifty years earlier. The following day, November 17, a peaceful student march from Prague’s Vyšehrad cemetery to Wenceslas Square was violently cracked down by police half way, on Narodni Street. After the students were brutally beaten by police, the protestors grew tremendously in number until by the end of the week an estimated 300,000 people had gathered in Prague to demand the end of Soviet Communist rule, and the return of Democracy and free elections to the Czech people.
My friend Adellaide moved to Prague from London in 1985 when she was 10. She was at the Nov 17, 1989 rally with other high-school students, unaware of the university student protests and television cameras which led to the events of the week which were to follow. After the commemorative procession was violently terminated on Narodni Street by the Communist authorities, activist students and artists initiated a meeting in the Cinoherni klub (Dramatic Club) theatre where the Civic Forum (Občanske forum) was established, calling for fundamental political changes in Czechoslovakia. Vaclav Havel immediately became its leading representative. The Communist leaders were completely unprepared for the massive protests and, after six weeks protests and of attempts at political reform, Gustav Husak publicly resigned on December 10, 1989.
The effort culminated on December 29, 1989 when Vaclav Havel, candidate of the Civic Forum, was elected Czechoslovak President by the Federal Assembly. In his inaugural speech he promised to bring the country to free elections, which he fulfilled in the summer of 1990. He was elected president for the second time by the new Federal Assembly on July 5, 1990. http://www.radio.cz/en/article/47444
This afternoon’s events marking the 15th anniversary started at 4 p.m. with a parade through Narodni Street up to Wenceslas Square. There were two photo exhibitions, one on Narodni at the 17 September 1989 plaque, today adorned with candles and flowers, and the other on Jana Palacha near the Philosophical Faculty building of Charles University, with photos from the 1989 demonstrations and the 1939 demonstration against the Nazis. Prague City Hall hosted a celebration on Narodni Street, which featured several Rock and Folk bands and speakers, with big-screen TVs transmitting (real-time) Czech Radio’s interview of Vaclav Havel at the Philosophical Faculty. The bands played both American and Czech tunes, all sung in Czech. The sound would have been deafening had we been indoors. As it was, the vibrations were felt throughout the body. At times the crowd was so dense you could hardly move – or hardly stand still if the crowd moved. Many people in the crowd sung along to the familiar tunes, some obviously nostalgic.
We went to the Louvre Café for drinks and then around the corner for dinner at U Medvídků (at the bear), a malt-house and beer hall that dates back to 1466. As a final sendoff for Robert and Cynthia’s last night in Prague, we had dessert at the Evropa Café. The Evropa Hotel is one of the jewels of Prague, built in 1889 as a masterwork of architect Bĕlský, and rebuilt in 1903 in art nouveau style, with statues on the front by sculptor Ladislav Šaloun. It is truly one of the most remarkable architectural sights on Wenceslas Square. We were entertained in the spacious café by a Czech folk quartet, who played American, Czech, and Italian arias and songs on violin, clarinet, string bass, and xylophone.

posted by JWinn @ 11:09 PM