Location in relation to the surroundings

The monument is in the place where the tragic event occurred.

Text of the inscription

The following text is on the monument:

A memorial to the victims of the intervention of Jaroslav Veselý and Zdena Klimešová who were shot in this place on 7 September 1968 by a member of the Polish occupation army.

General description

The monument consists of a plate of black polished granite from which two gray granite columns grow. The board has dimensions of 1 x 1 meter. The left granite column is 70 cm high and the right one is about 5 cm smaller.

Condition

Good

The circumstances of unveiling

The memorial was unveiled on the initiative of the Town of Jičín on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact armies on 21 August 2013 and replaced the original makeshift memorial. The author of the monument is the architect Mr Pavel Jiránek.

Later history

Contemporary importance

It is a place of local memory that is important for the whole country. It recalls the tragic events of 1968 and the subsequent months when dozens of Czechoslovak citizens were killed by the occupying armies. It was a completely absurd act. The funeral of both victims became a great demonstration against the occupying troops and expressed the opposition of the citizens to the occupation armies in Czechoslovakia.

Publications, sources, links

BÁRTA, Milan – CVRČEK, Lukáš – KOŠICKÝ, Patrik – SOMMER, Vítězslav: Oběti okupace. Československo 21. srpen – 31. prosinec 1968. Praha 2008.

FIDLER, Jiří: Okupace 1968. Praha 2018