Representatives of the association ofwar veterans were given silver
commemorative medals by Senate chairman Premysl Sobotka at a popular celebration
on Monday, symbolically ending the anniversary of Victory in Prague.
Along with war veterans and politicians, the celebrations in the Senate's
Valdstejnska zahrada garden were attended by 1,000 people.
"The figures characterizing World War Two are well-known, but one can never
measure and statistically enumerate human suffering,fear and desperation
experienced by the people from the occupied countries. Like other European
countries, Czechoslovakia was on the verge of its demise," Sobotka said.
The deputy chairman of the Czech Freedom Fighters, Milan Grus, stressed that
in these days, it was impossible to only remember the end of war. "For a
resistance fighter, the 60th anniversary isnot only the end of war, but also the
anniversary of the liberation from the Nazi occupation and oppression and the
allied victory of Nazism," Grus said.