Over the Pentecost weekend, the first Sudeten German Day in Czechia took place in Brno. The event, organized by the Sudeten German Homeland Association, attracted hundreds of expellees and their relatives, who remembered their origins with Bohemian and Moravian folk songs. At the same time, there were protests by small left- and right-wing parties that accused participants of a Nazi past and restitution demands.
Bavaria’s Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and the chairman of the Sudeten German Homeland Association, Posselt, emphasized that the meeting sent a message of understanding. Söder called it a “peace festival” and a “historic signal.” Herbert Schmid, chairman of the Seliger Community in Bavaria, the successor organization of the Sudeten German Social Democrats, also expressed delight at the invitation to Czechia.
Rudolf Coufal, a Czech from Znojmo (formerly Znaim), reported at the information stand of the Wischau Association about his personal story of reconciliation: a grandmother was German, part of his family was expelled. Three years ago, he found relatives in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart via Facebook. “It’s an incredible joy. On the other hand, it’s sad that some people are convinced that this is a threat,” Coufal said. “The people are peaceful, you can see that here. I don’t understand it at all.”
The Sudeten German Homeland Association had been invited to Brno – actually as a sign of reconciliation. The protests on the sidelines of the meeting have been common at Czech-German commemorative events for years. The organizers are small right- and left-wing parties that continue to label the expellees as Nazis.
Source: Tagesschau
