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Current AffairsBelka praises call for reconciliation with anti-fascist Sudeten Germans
The Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka paid a one-day visit to Prague on
Thursday - and praised Czech counterpart Jiri Paroubek's efforts at
reconciliation with anti-fascist Sudeten Germans expelled from
Czechoslovakia after the war. Both Poland and the Czech Republic have made
strides towards reconciliation with Germany in recent years, though the
efforts are not to everyone's liking. Rob Cameron has more.
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Current AffairsConflict between President and PM over reconciliation plan for Sudeten German antifascists escalates
The war of words between President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Jiri
Paroubek over the latter's proposal to compensate Sudeten German
antifascists has reached a new high. On Thursday President Klaus said that
Mr Paroubek "must have taken leave of his senses". The president
was reacting to PM Paroubek's statement that he had probably misunderstood
the essence of the reconciliation gesture and that by having rejected it
President Klaus has got into one group together with the Sudeten German
Landsmannschaft in Austria.
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Current AffairsPM's reconciliation plan for Sudenten German anti-fascists meets with opposition
The Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's plan for a reconciliation gesture
towards Sudeten Germans who were expelled from the country after WWII
despite the fact that they had actively opposed the Nazi regime has run
into serious problems. Even before the prime minister had time to specify
what kind of conciliatory gesture he had in mind, the opposition parties
and president Klaus slammed the idea as "totally irresponsible and
potentially dangerous". In addition to that the Slovak Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda has now made it clear that his country wants nothing to do
with it.
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Current AffairsParoubek plans gesture towards "anti-fascist" Sudeten Germans
The expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II
remains a live issue, with calls from Sudeten Germans for the return of
their property regularly dismissed by Czech politicians; they say the
expulsions were legal and demands for compensation have no validity. But
now the Czech prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, is planning to make a gesture
towards the Sudeten Germans - or at least the minority who actively
resisted the Nazis.
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Current AffairsMemorial to President Benes sparks controversy
A memorial to the second Czechoslovak President Edvard Benes was unveiled
on Monday in front of the Foreign Ministry headquarters near the Prague
Castle. President Benes is not as widely popular today as his predecessor,
Tomas Garigue Masaryk. But he is still very much respected among many
Czechs, who see Edvard Benes as a champion of democracy and fighter
against Nazism. Their view is, however, not shared by the Sudeten Germans
— ethnic Germans expelled after World War II —who blame President Benes
for their plight.
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Talking PointExpulsion of Czech Germans: bitter memories and disrupted relations
In recent days Czech towns have been commemorating the end of the Second
World War. But among the events of 60 years ago that many prefer not to be
reminded of, is the expulsion of the German minority (the so called
Sudeten
Germans) from Czechoslovakia. The expulsion was the culmination of the
clash between Czechs and Germans in the lands of Bohemia and Moravia,
which had erupted in such a brutal way during the German occupation. But
now even 60 years after the war this event still represents a sensitive
issue in Czech public life. More
SpecialMemories of World War II in the Czech Lands: the expulsion of Sudeten Germans
In this series women to recount some of their memories of wartime.
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