War veterans’ day will be commemorated today in the Czech Republic with commemorative events and concerts

Prague – Commemorative and commemorative events and concerts will commemorate War Veterans Day in the Czech Republic today. Soldiers will receive their awards at Vítkov in Prague, commemorative events are planned for example in Brno, Ostrava or Pilsen. Veterans Day commemorates the conclusion of the armistice in the First World War on November 11, 1918. Its symbol is the poppy flowers that covered the graves of soldiers who died on the Western Front.

After the morning memorial service at the National Memorial on Vítkovo, the soldiers will receive medals for service abroad and meritorious crosses in its premises. Among others, Minister of Defense Jana Černochová (ODS) and Chief of the General Staff Karel Řehka will take part in the ceremony. In the evening, in the St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle, a concert for the heroes of the symphonic poem by Bedřich Smetana and the composition of Leoš Janáček will be held, the event is organized by the Post Bellum organization together with Czech Radio.

In Brno, a commemorative act has been announced in the Gardens of the National Resistance and a concert in the Red Church. In Pilsen, veterans will be remembered at the monument of the Czechoslovak legionary community and at the war veterans’ monument. In Ostrava, veterans will be remembered in the Czechoslovak Airmen’s Park. Other events are planned in Česká Lípa, Kopřivnice or Šumperk.

The collection on the occasion of the Day of War Veterans is organized by Charita ČR, the proceeds go to the Military Solidarity Fund established after the suicide attack in Afghanistan, after which five Czech soldiers died in July 2014. This year, according to the Ministry of Defense, the fund has so far helped ten soldiers and their families in the amount of two million crowns. The Post Bellum organization, which has documented more than a thousand stories of war veterans for its Pámeť národa archive, organizes a fundraiser from which money goes to help veterans and other freedom fighters through the Pámeť národa Help Center. People can contribute by, among other things, buying a symbolic poppy flower from volunteers with money boxes.

Commemorative acts, displays of military equipment and religious services in Prague and other cities commemorated War Veterans’ Day already on Friday. In the Czech Republic, the day dedicated to the memory of military veterans has been celebrated more prominently since 2004.

CR army veterans commemorative PHOTO OPENER