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Current AffairsWorld renowned photographer Josef Koudelka picks up award and makes significant donation of works to Czech museum
After his images of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia flashed
around the world in 1968, Josef Koudelka went on to become one of the
greatest photo-journalists of our time. Now in his early 70s, he has just
received an award for promoting the good name of Czech culture. At the same
time, Koudelka has presented some of his most important works to a Prague
museum.
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Current AffairsPeople were surprised but not depressed, Czech PM Jan Fischer, then 17, recalls of Soviet-led invasion of 1968
A memorial ceremony was held at the Czech Radio building on Vinohradská
Street on Friday morning, marking the events of August 21, 1968. During
the
previous night, Soviet tanks had rolled into Czechoslovakia, crushing the
Prague Spring reform movement and the hopes of a generation. Czech Radio
became a rallying point for resistance to the
occupation; thousands of
people gathered in front of the building, and bloody fighting ensued. More
From the Archives1969: Radio Prague goes back to the bad old days
In the course of 1969 and 1970 Czechoslovak Radio was transformed back into
what it had been in the 1950s, a tool of hard line propaganda. In the
process, over 700 radio staff were forced to leave their jobs. Those who
stayed found their freedom of expression severely curtailed. To give an
idea of the extent to which things had changed by August 1969 - the first
anniversary of the Soviet led invasion – I will start with a short
extract from Radio Prague’s broadcasts back in 1968, as the tanks rolled
into the city. At the time the radio was playing a crucial role in keeping
the world informed of what was really happening – including reports of
violent incidents as the invading troops opened fire on civilians: More
From the ArchivesAfter Palach: fears and hopes
In last week’s From the Archives we followed the tragic last days of the
student Jan Palach, who on January 16 1969 set himself alight in protest
against growing apathy in the face of the Soviet invasion five months
earlier. The whole country was in shock. Such a drastic and violent
sacrifice had little precedent in modern Czech and Slovak history, and
perhaps for just that reason Palach immediately became a symbol of the
country’s lost liberty and a rallying cry for those who still hoped to
save something of the reforms of 1968. Those in power had to be cautious;
they were well aware that Palach’s legacy could be explosive.
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From the ArchivesThe abnormality of normalization
On the airwaves, 1968 ended very much as it had begun. For New Year’s
Eve, Czechoslovak Radio chose the same format as the year before, with the
light-hearted musical cabaret of the Semafor Theatre. But behind the
scenes, the Soviet-led occupation in August had changed everything. The
Soviets were only too pleased for the radio to give the impression of
normality. A gradual, almost imperceptible drift back to hard-line
communism was beginning. The process came to be known cynically as
“normalization”, a word that was first used by Alexander Dubček
himself on August 27 1968. He had just returned from his forced five-day
stay in Moscow, where he had been bullied into accepting the presence of
foreign troops.
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From the ArchivesPlaying cat-and-mouse with the Soviets to keep on air
In the days immediately after the Soviet invasion in August 1968, staff at
Czechoslovak Radio played a cat-and-mouse game with the occupying forces.
For the first couple of days, they managed to continue broadcasting
directly from the radio headquarters, despite the presence of tanks
outside.
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Current AffairsPrague street renamed in honour of Polish "human torch" against Soviet invasion
A street in Prague has been renamed in honour of a Polish man who committed
suicide in protest at the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Ryszard
Siwiec set himself alight in a Warsaw stadium in September 1968, and died
four days later. His protest was long covered up by the communist
authorities, and only recently have details begun to emerge.
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