Information on the Statement of the Government of the Czech Republic on active opponents of Nazism
08.09.2005 / 13:46 | Aktualizováno: 06.01.2009 / 14:52
At its session held on August 24, 2005, the Government of the Czech Republic approved the following statement.
At its session held on August 24, 2005, the Government of the Czech Republic approved the following statement:
Statement of the Government of the Czech Republic
on active opponents of Nazism
who suffered wrongs as a result of measures applied in
Czechoslovakia after the end of World War II against so-called
enemy population
The Government of the Czech Republic expresses its deep
recognition to all former Czechoslovak citizens, in particular
those of German nationality, who lived before World War II in the
territory of the present Czech Republic and who remained loyal to
the Czechoslovak Republic during World War II and actively
participated in the struggle for its liberation or suffered under
the Nazi terror. The Government of the Czech Republic at the same
time expresses its regret that some of these persons did not live
to see after the end of World War II the recognition they deserved.
Instead, at variance with the then operative legislation, they
suffered wrongs as a result of measures applied in Czechoslovakia
after the end of World War II against the so-called enemy
population. The Government of the Czech Republic expresses its
apology to all the active opponents of Nazism who suffered such
wrongs, irrespective of their later citizenship and residence.
In an effort to express symbolically its recognition for
active opponents of Nazism, who suffered wrongs as a result of
measures applied in Czechoslovakia after the end of World War II
against the so-called enemy population, and to contribute to the
mobilization of historical memory, the Government of the Czech
Republic will initiate and support a project for the documentation
of the fates of persons who suffered such wrongs. The Government
therefore invites all persons who suffered these wrongs or their
relations and friends to contact, in their own interest and within
their capacities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech
Republic either directly or through Czech diplomatic missions
abroad.
The person whom the document approved by the Government of the
Czech Republic concerns is every person meeting the following three
criteria:
a) Had the citizenship of the Czechoslovak Republic on
September 29, 1938 and lived in the territory of today's Czech
Republic;
b) Remained loyal to the Czechoslovak Republic during the war
and either actively participated in the struggle for its liberation
(e.g. in the armed forces of countries of the anti-Hitler coalition
or in the national liberation struggle) or suffered under the Nazi
or fascist terror (e.g. was imprisoned);
c) Suffered wrongs after May 8, 1945 as a result of measures
applied against so-called enemy population (in particular a person
that was not permitted to reacquire Czechoslovak citizenship) or
had justified fears that he/she might suffer such wrongs (e.g. in
cases when some of his/her next of kin suffered such wrongs).
The later citizenship or permanent residence of the persons
addressed in the Statement and meeting the above criteria are not
decisive. Nor is it decisive whether such person is still
alive.
Work on the documentation project relating to active
opponents of Nazism will be launched on December 1, 2005 at the
latest and will be terminated on September 9, 2008. The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic would welcome the persons
addressed in the Statement of the Government to send their contact
data and biographic notes on the fate of the person to be included
in the documentation project to the following address: Ministerstvo
zahraničních věcí České republiky, Odbor států střední Evropy,
Loretánské nám. 5, 118 00 Praha 1, fax: (00420) 224182023, e-mail:
s_ose@mzv.cz or to the address of
any diplomatic mission of the Czech Republic abroad. All persons
interested will be contacted as soon as the institution that is to
carry out the documentation project starts its activities.