Czechs mark 73rd anniversary of Prague Uprising

Political leaders, war veterans and members of the public gathered outside Czech Radio’s Prague headquarter on Saturday to mark the 73rd anniversary of the Prague Uprising against Nazi rule at the end of WWII.

The radio station was the focal point of the uprising and the site of one of the biggest clashes with Nazi forces as citizens came to defend the building against German attempts to retake it. Over 100 people died defending the radio building and hundreds of others fell at the barricades that went up around Prague. Altogether, an estimated 12,000 people were killed around the country.

The commemorative ceremony outside Czech Radio was attended by the Speaker of the Senate Milan Stech, Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová, members of the Union of Freedom Fighters and others. Mr. Stech said that although the uprising had come in the last days of the war it had prevented the Nazis from destroying the historic core of the Czech capital.