The 76th Sudeten German Day is being held this year in Brno, Czech Republic – a first in the history of the expellee organization. Bavaria’s Minister Markus Söder (CSU) called the Whitsun weekend gathering a “great peace festival” and a “historic signal” for German-Czech relations. Deutschlandfunk first reported on the CSU leader’s speech.
The Sudeten German Homeland Association represents the interests of Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II. Observers viewed the fact that its annual Whitsun meeting is now taking place on Czech soil for the first time as an important step toward reconciliation. In his address, Söder emphasized the reconciliatory character of the event and praised the hospitality of the Czech hosts.
The Sudeten German Day is the largest regular gathering of the expellee organization. In past decades, it was always held in Germany, mostly in Bavaria. Moving it to Brno, the capital of Moravia, is seen as a gesture of rapprochement between the two countries. The Czech government approved the event and supported its organization.
Source: www.deutschlandfunk.de
