We will have very few, if any, other opportunities to record the memories of the virtually forgotten anti-Nazi heroes members of the ethnic minorities living in the pre-WW2 Czechoslovakia called the First Republic, and finally to appreciate their contribution to the country's liberation.
Even though they fought against Nazis heroically, they have not received any well deserved honours. They cannot be seen at veteran military parades and they cannot be found among those who are decorated with medals. They live far from their homeland and they do not receive invitations for liberation anniversary celebrations. This is the treatment that the majority of antifascists who are not Czech or Slovak have been given. The youngest of them are now about 80 years old and the country where they were born knows precious little about them. It was only on 24 August 2005 that a Government Resolution opened up the path to undoing the gross injustice as well as to shedding light on the rather dim aspect of Czech history.
"The Government of the Czech Republic would like to express their profound gratitude to all those former Czechoslovak citizens especially of German nationality living before the WWII in the territory of what is now the Czech Republic who remained loyal to the Czechoslovak Republic and who actively fought for her liberation or who suffered under the Nazi terror. At the same time, the Government would like to express their regret at the fact that some of those persons did not receive their due respect after the end of WWII. Instead, at variance with the then operative legislation, they suffered wrongs as a result of measures applied in post-war Czechoslovakia 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 place of residence."
As part of the Resolution, there was a fund that provided financing to selected scientific institutions to initiate a sizable project focused on documenting and presenting the stories of those "forgotten heroes". Advertisements in both domestic and foreign media are calling on the living participants to share their memories of the war and post-war times with the public. As they are at advanced ages, we now have one of the last opportunities to search them out and record their authentic testimonies.
