The war ended on May 8, 1945. My generation was used to the ninth and not to that eight and not to get used to it. The young generation probably doesn’t care, probably like my generation they didn’t experience any anniversary of the First World War. Anyway, May 8 is a holiday.
The atmosphere is probably rougher than usual. It cannot be otherwise, the war has been going on for the third year and a favorable end is in sight, no matter how one imagines it. A convoy of American vehicles with people dressed in American uniforms drove through Prague to celebrate, and we read in the media how the Soviet soldiers raped and looted until they eventually took over the country as a colony. The main problem of the Prague municipality, it seems, is not the construction of metro line D, but rather the fact that at the Anděl station there is a metal relief stuck on the wall with the inscription Praha Moskva. It was also celebrated in Pilsen, where the American cars somehow belong. But shit happens grandmother said on similar occasions when someone broke the drum you’re the devil sprinkler: someone stuck a hook-and-eye flag out of the window of an American car and the police immediately dealt with it. Meanwhile, the pro-Russian Night Wolves knelt before the graves of the fallen in Olšany. No sixteen-year-old activist has yet thought that Hřib should have them dug up. At least that way.
I am not in a contemplative mood and my thinking is mundane. I am reminded of Havlíček’s “I wish the Lord God would give us all kinds of patriotism from the mouth!” The scramble for flags and reliefs and names while our miniature army is not at its full miniature state and when the Chief of the General Staff exhorts the people that it is time evil, catches misery for haunting people. The post-war period is definitely over and we are up to our ears in pre-war. It is not certain that it will break out fully, but there is something constantly present which is a necessary prerequisite for war, namely hostility. Gone is the dream of a reboot, as announced by US President Obama in Prague and ushering in an era of weaklings in the White House.
But since we’re talking about anniversaries and commemorations, try looking into Czech newspapers and magazines from the late 1930s to see how the army was written there. It worked out the way it did, but when there was mobilization, the guys grabbed their briefcases and ran into the barracks – my dad experienced that twice. Today, people cringe at the mere mention of the fact that it would be good to find out how many young men we actually have capable of defending the homeland.
So how is it, did the war end on the eighth or the ninth? Let everyone take it as they want, now the main thing is that a new one does not start.
