NOT JUST ANOTHER VETERANS’ DAY

AT PEACE SQUARE

The poppies that bloomed this year on

November 11th in Prague’s Peace Square

(Namesti Miru), - and not just them – had

a different sort of ‘feel’ than in years past.

Veterans’ Day has over the past several

years, and even the last couple of decades,

become a recognized event. Today, a poppy

attached to a coat collar is hardly surprising. But it wasn’t always like that. I can

recall when around 1996, Czechoslovak veterans of the RAF took me along to the British embassy to a small ‘party’ they called

‘Poppy Day’. I really didn’t have a clue as

to what it was about, why the poppy had

been singled out, and where the roots of all

of this lay. Information ignited by memories of my school years didn’t materialize

because there simply weren’t any. It’s not

because the school system’s emphasis on

honoring history is any better today (maybe depending on where), but major steps

forward have been taken in terms of remembering vets of past wars, and for that

I am grateful. The tradition began to develop in the civilized western world already

in 1919, under the influence of King George

V for nations of the Commonwealth. It got

to us a little later due to some ‘historical

twists’. Eastern Europe remains somewhat

untouched by the notion of the Poppy. By

some strange way, as if at the crossroads

between East and West, the Poppy sym-

114

INFO Eduard

bol found its way to Ukraine. There, the

poppy pin began to show up in 2014, when

the country moved a bit further from the

East, but not in connection to November

11th, but rather May 8th, a day that is associated with the final victory at the end of

the Second World War. I was surprised to

learn that the red poppy in Ukraine (where

in 2014 it replaced the standard badge of

the Red Star) is generally not understood

as a reminder of Flanders Fields like it is

here, but a symbol of that ‘small hole in

the coat’, i.e. a bullet hole, with blood soaked around it. A symbol of wartime sacrifice in a somewhat more sobering guise.

It must be said though, that even that concept has something to it. Either way, even

there the poppy became a symbol associated with respect for the fallen and for

veterans. The answer to the question as to

why the poppy, as a symbol of respect for

the victims of war, did not get any further

east than Ukraine is maybe best left up to

the individual.

I can't help but return to the notion expressed above and still maintain focus on

Ukraine. I noted the fact that this year's

event at Peace Square in Prague was different from previous years. Of course, why

this is has become quite obvious The act

of paying homage to, and reflecting upon,

such memories has never been accompanied by a war so physically close to home.

Although no new crosses appeared on the

lawn of Peace Square symbolizing fallen

Czech soldiers in modern wars, the awareness of the current horrors being played

out in eastern Europe was ever present.

Eduard was again present at this event

and again sold kits with proceeds going to

the Military Solidarity Fund. And I can thus

compare the moods, tension and sense of

belonging, which could be felt from the

participants and visitors of the event, to

previous years. I was a little worried about

what we would encounter during Memorial Day. And that was mainly under the

influence of two demonstrations against the government of the Czech Republic

and generally against our aid to Ukraine,

which took place in Prague not long before. The cold day in Peace Square alleviated my fears. Not only did many Ukrainian refugees, temporarily living in Prague,

come to the event, stopping by our stand

to thank us, the reactions of the ‘locals’

in particular were completely favorable

and in line with our own understanding of

the world. Social conflict, in which no one

knows exactly where the balance of power

lies, did not manifest itself at this event.

There was unity. There was no ‘us against

them’. Perhaps, it was because those ‘patriots’, spewing nationalistic, selfish and

pro-Russian crap at various meetings and

demonstrations, are actually not interested in the victims of those who helped win

our freedom.

Jan Zdiarský

December 2022