Call for the exhumation and dignified burial for Jozef Gabčík, Jan Kubiš, Josef Valčík, Adolf Opálka, Jan Hrubý, Josef Bublík, Jaroslav Švarc and other members of the 2nd and 3rd resistance lying in mass graves in the Czech Republic

Prague, 1 July 2016. At the occasion of the premiere of the British-French-Czech coproduction film Anthropoid at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, non-governmental organisations are reminding the public of the tragic fact that the bodies of the Czechoslovak parachutists who carried out one of the bravest and most important resistance acts of WWII – the attack on Reinhard Heydrich, are probably lying in a large mass grave in Prague – Ďáblice, where they were thrown over 70 years ago.
In the British and French traditions, fallen members of the resistance are treated with all respect. Jozef Gabčík, Jan Kubiš, Josef Valčík, Adolf Opálka, Josef Bublík, Jan Hrubý and Jaroslav Švarc are national heroes. Until this day however, the Czech state has not provided them with a dignified resting place where they could be commemorated with honour.

Organisations of political prisoners and organisations dealing with coming to terms with the totalitarian past are therefore calling on the Government and Parliament of the Czech Republic to adopt a legal amendment as quickly as possible which would enable the exhumation and identification of the remains of members of the 2nd and 3rd resistance who are lying in mass graves, and their dignified burial.

Signatories:

Platform of European Memory and Conscience
Centre for Documentation of Totalitarian Regimes
Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic
Union of Former Political Prisoners
Union of Auxilliary Technical Units – Military Forced Labour Camps
Prague Academic Club 48
Antonín Švehla Society
Association for private agriculture
Post Bellum
Václav Morávek Society
civic association Paměť

 

Echo in the media in the Czech Republic as of 2 July 2016:

Domácí organizace požadují po vládě exhumaci a důstojný pohřeb (www.aktualne.cz)

Organizace žádají důstojné spočinutí těl Gabčíka a Kubiše (Pražský deník)

Organizace žádají důstojné spočinutí těl Gabčíka a Kubiše (24 hodin Blesk.cz)

Živě: začíná festival v Karlových Varech (magazin.aktualne.cz)

Začal festival v Karlových Varech Dafoe převzal křišťálový globus (www.ceskenoviny.cz)

Karlovarský festival začal, hvězdy filmu zářily na červeném koberci (www.tyden.cz)

Organizace žádají důstojné spočinutí těl Gabčíka a Kubiše (aktualnizpravy.cz)

Dafoe, Dornan i Geislerová zazářili na červeném koberci, festival ve Varech začíná (www.lidovky.cz)