Posted on 08/13/2018 12:07:58 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
The number of Russians residing and working in the Czech Republic has been steadily growing in recent years. Today Russians are the fourth strongest foreign minority in the country, after Vietnamese, Slovak and Ukrainian nationals. In the last decade their number rose from 23,000 to 37,000.
For young Russians, Prague is an attractive city free of the constraints of the Putin regime, and a good place for business and entertainment. The language barrier is easily surmountable due to both nations speaking a Slavic language. However there is one barrier that is harder to cross and that is the stigma of the Russian-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, engraved deeply in the nation’s memory. Most Russians here say they have come across expressions of hostility at one time or another.
Jana Svobodová, the author of a multi-media theatre performance about how young Russians in Prague come to terms with this painful legacy, says it was a subject that needed addressing.
“This is something you can’t erase, it is something we Czechs all have buried deep inside us, even young Czechs have it from their parents, it is part of the nation’s memory -what happened back in 1968.”
The theatre performance is in the form of a dialogue between young Czechs and young Russians. Roman Mikshin is one of the young Russians taking part. He believes that performances such as this can be a form of therapy.
“1968 is the main source of the negative feelings for Russians; it is like a wound that is still fresh. It is important to talk about it, to open up the subject and to try to come to terms with the past.”
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.cz ...
In 2015, the Slovak and Czech governments addressed their disapproval with the Kremlin after Russian State TV aired a nationally-aired documentary defending the USSR's role in the Prague Spring.
The film argued that the Warsaw Pact sent troops, including Poles, Hungarians and Bulgarians, into Czechoslovakia in response to a purported threat from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (NATO)
Using Soviet-era documentaries and former Soviet servicemen as sources, the film alleged that many of the protesters subdued by Warsaw Pact troops were fascists, Nazis, and members of the Nazi SS—arguments reminiscent of Russia’s current justification for its interventions in Ukraine.
The film also defended the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian revolt of 1956, which killed thousands. The film noted that the Soviet Union was then occupying force in Hungary, which had been an ally of Nazi Germany, and that Soviet forces were responsible for maintaining order.
- Alan Cullison
Try Ukraine. There are still people who survived the “Holodomor”. Not liking the Russians for it.
Lol. Russia has no need to pander to Czech’s childish tantrum.
Just like China.
Majority of Chinese are proud of China’s intervention in Korean war. They won’t say sorry to pathetic South Korea.
On the other hand these Russians weren’t even born for at least another quarter century after this happened. It would be like jumping all over some Japanese exchange student for Pearl Harbor.
True. But the Ukrainian people lost almost 10 million people deliberately starved to death.
How about Japanese visiting China's city of Nanking?
Or Germans visiting Russia?
Given Russia’s history of brutally oppressing Eastern Europe, they are not popular throughout the region. It goes back hundreds of years. The Poles and Hungarians despise them as do a lot of Ukranians not to mention Estonians, Lithuanians and Latvians.
Spoken like a true Putin loyalist.............or employee.
Stigmas abound. Back in the 70’s, my boyfriend’s Jewish boss told me to leave his home , and I was no longer welcome there when he found out my ancestral family had come to Texas from Germany...in the 1840’s.
My Dad had a friend who witnessed the 1968 invasion by the Russians. A plane load of Russians landed at the airport every 30 seconds. And the planes kept landing for hours and hours.
I’m not a follower of John McCain (the Ayatollah of Russophobe nuts).
How about Americans visiting Vietnam;
Or Iraq ;
So black radicals do have the justified right to demand apology and compensation from whites over the slavery in history ?
Those countries have been invaded by Russia several times. Do you think there is a danger of slavery returning for African Americans?
they have been invaded by Germans, Austrians, French......and Czech was invaded by Poland in 1938.
You know, the Civil rights Act’s history is not very long.
signed in 1964 by a dem party government. So Biden adopted Russophobes’ tactic, he told blacks: you can’t vote for Republicans, they will put you all back in chains.
Having lived in Eastern Europe, I can tell you the people in those countries very much do see Russia as a present and future danger - not just a past oppressor. Any attempt at drawing an analogy between the civil rights movement and how people view the security threat from Russia in this region fails.
The Germans visiting Russia have no problem unless they make the locals think that they support the Nazi WWII actions here. Moreover, Germans are popularly respected for their work ethics and discipline.
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