Milada Horáková: A Symbol of Democracy and Freedom - People in Prague #4

If you look back through Czech history the majority of the characters you encounter are male. Indeed, if you look at Jiri Votruba’s hero’s of Prague poster the only female is the legendary Princess Libuse. The remaining characters are all male, apart from the Golem! 

This year, amidst the lockdowns and restriction of movement, the people and city of Prague did celebrate a national heroine on the 70th anniversary of her death. Her name is Milada Horáková and she was born in Prague on Christmas Day, 1901. She was executed by the Czechoslovakian communist regime on 27th June1950, the only female politician to suffer that fate.

Posters were put up on many public buildings.
The caption means 'murdered by communists'

Milada Horáková was an extraordinary woman, who, like many of her era suffered as a result of the injustice of two nightmares; first the Nazi invasion and occupation, and subsequently the communist takeover in 1948. 

She grew up during the first world war, and her first action led to her expulsion from school in 1917 for taking part in an anti-war rally. Despite that early setback, she received a law degree from the Charles University in 1926 and joined the ČSNS (Democratic Socialist Party) that same year. As the second world war broke out she joined the underground resistance and was arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 and interred in Terezín transit camp where she was tortured. Four years later she was sentenced to a further eight years imprisonment by a German court for her political activities and sent to the concentration camp at Ainach in Bavaria, narrowly escaping the death penalty which the Nazi prosecutor had demanded. She was released in April 1945 by US troops.

After the war, she rejoined ČSNS and served as a Member of Parliament until resigning in 1948 as the communists seized power. Under constant surveillance by the secret police, she was arrested in September 1949 along with twelve of her colleagues. They were all charged with treason and conspiracy, and subjected to intense interrogation and torture. On 31st May 1950,  a massive show trial was kicked off with the assistance of prosecutors from Moscow. There was only ever going to be one outcome.

She was sentenced to death on the 8th June 1950 along with three co-defendants and despite petitions from Churchill, Einstein, and Eleanor Roosevelt amongst other prominent people, the sentence was not changed. She was hanged in Pankrác prison in Prague, aged 48. Her remains were never returned to her family, and have since vanished.

An empty grave marker in Vysehrad cemetery

In 1968, during the Prague Spring, the verdict from the trial was annulled but Milada Horáková was not completely exonerated until after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The street Milady Horákové in Letna, Prague 6 was renamed in her honour in 1990 and in 1991 she was posthumously awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1st Class). A film of her life was released in 2017, called simply “Milada”. Since 2004 the Czech Republic has used the date of her execution as “Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime” across the whole country.  

A small monument was also built in Pětikostelní square
near the Czech parliament building in 2018

In her final letter to her daughter Jana, on the eve of her execution, Milada wrote: “Life is hard, it does not pamper anybody … but don’t let it defeat you. Decide to fight. Have courage and clear goals, and you will win over life”. 

Hidden Prague #9 - More Saints and Sinners

It seems that I hit a sweet spot with my previous post concerning Prague's Saints and Sinners. In the first two days since it was published, it received more views than any of my previous posts. I did promise a further instalment so let's see if you enjoy this one as much!

Ever since I was a small child, the story of St Christopher has resonated with me. There is considerable speculation as to the actual existence of a definitive St Christopher. His most famous legend, which is mainly known from the West is that he carried a child, who was unknown to him, across a river before the child revealed himself as Christ. Often known as 'the Christ Bearer", the character from the legend is often reputed to be Saint Menas, an Egyptian soldier who was martyred in Antioch circa 385.

St Christopher on the Charles Bridge

St Christopher is the patron saint of travellers, ferryman, storms, boatmen, mountaineers and bachelors - so it's only appropriate that he has a place on the Charles Bridge (the statue was designed by Emanuel Max in 1857) and a special place in my life.

Next up, a genuine bad boy. Jan Mydlář (1572–1664) was a 17th-century executioner from Prague. He is best known as the executioner of 27 high-status leaders who took part in an uprising against the Habsburg empire in 1621.

Twelve men were beheaded and fifteen were hanged. The beheaded ones had their heads displayed on the Prague Old Town Bridge Tower. The execution is of historical interest, not only because of the numbers executed on a single day, but because the condemned were men of high importance, representing various ranks of the Czech society and professions—noblemen, scholars, burghers, and businessmen. They are remembered in the Old Town Square near the place of execution, by a set of 27 white stone crosses (At the time of writing these are currently almost completely hidden by the renovations being performed on the clock tower).

Mydlář is the inspiration for the 19th-century novel by Josef Svátek, "Memoirs of A Prague Executioner".

The event is also remembered in a local bar just off the Old Town Square called Pivnice U Kata (on U Radnice), where the walls are adorned with the shields of the executed men and various macabre tools typically used by executioners of that time. The bar itself draws mixed reviews (from tourists) - it is small and unpretentious, but has good Pilsner Urquell beer at a good price for that part of town! I love the place.

Saint Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who was baptised as an adult and became a monk. The most famous legend concerning him was that he had once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the latter from the cold. That night, he dreamt of Jesus, wearing the half-cloak and saying to the angels, "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is now baptised; he has clothed me." Saint Martin died on November 8, 397.

In the Czech Republic, St Martins Festival is technically November 11th but it usually extends to the weekend. This can be considered as the European Thanksgiving which dates back to the 14th Century. St Martins Day also coincides with the real start of winter. The proverb - Martin přijíždí na bílém koni ("Martin is coming on a white horse") - signifies that the first half of November in the Czech Republic is the time when it often starts to snow.

St Martins Goose at Vojanuv Dvur 2017

Roast goose is traditional food for the St Martins Festival because of stories about St Martins connection with the goose. One says that the goose is eaten because geese disturbed Saint Martin’s sermons and that is why they are now punished on the pan. The other one holds that Martin was so modest that he concealed himself in a goose house to avoid his appointment as a bishop, but the cackling of the geese gave him away.

That concludes this instalment of my favourite saints and sinners, and my time in Prague is once again drawing to a close, at least for this year. But don't worry, still lots of material available to share with you. Please keep checking back (no pun intended this time!) to see what's new.

Hidden Prague #8 - Saints and Sinners

I actually started writing this article over a month ago but I've been so busy that this is the first opportunity I've had to complete it. But the good news (for me) is that I'm back in Prague and finding new places and things to write about in the future.

In some of my earlier posts, I've written about some of Prague's more famous Saints and Sinners, most notably St John of Nepomuk, and Jáchym Berka (Prague's original Darth Vader). Given the history of the city, there are plenty more characters to learn about. The trouble is, that while there are hundreds of statues of saints, nobody really builds memorials to sinners. Of course, the sinners themselves often do, but they tend to get removed at the earliest possible opportunity! Luckily, one man's saint is often another man's sinner, so that gives me room for manoeuvre.

First up is St Sebastian, a Christian saint and martyr. This sandstone statue is near the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Prague within the walls of Vyšehrad. It dates back to the first half of the eighteenth century.

St Sebastian at Vyšerhrad

St Sebastian is said to have been killed in AD288, during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post and shot with arrows. While this is the most common artistic depiction of Sebastian, he was rescued and healed by Saint Irene of Rome before haranguing the emperor and being clubbed to death. He certainly fits the bill as a saint to some and a sinner to others!

The "Vodník" or "Hastrman" is the Czech bogeyman or water sprite.  The vodníci are said to appear as a naked old men with frog-like faces, greenish beards, and long hair, with their bodies covered in algae, muck, and black fish scales.

The Vodník on Kampa Island

When angered, the vodníci break dams, wash down water mills, and drown people and animals. They would drag down people to their underwater dwellings to serve as slaves. To be fair, there are stories of benevolent vodníci - so I'm guessing this cheeky little chappie is one of those. You can find him just below the Velkopřevorské náměstí bridge which spans the canal across to Kampa island.

The English tend to think that they have a monopoly on St George but in addition to being their patron saint, he is also patron saint of numerous other countries and states including Georgia, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Catalonia. But the legend of St George slaying the dragon is common to many other traditions include the Czech Republic.

St George and the Dragon in Prague Castle

St George lived sometime between 256–285 A.D to 23 April 303, and according to legend, was a Roman soldier of Greek origin and officer in the Guard of Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced to death for failing to recant his Christian faith. 

The statue in the photo stands in the shadow of St Vitus' cathedral in Prague Castle, not far from the Basilica dedicated to him (which is also the oldest church in the castle complex).

As my final offering in this post I've included Jan Palach. Strictly speaking he was neither a saint nor a sinner, but he became a national hero during the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1969. Jan Palach (11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economy at Charles University in Prague. His protest, by setting fire to himself, was in reaction partly to the invasion, but also, allegedly, against the "demoralization" of Czechoslovak citizens caused by the occupation. 

Jan Palach Memorial by the Vlatava in Prague 1

This monument, located just off Náměstí Jana Palacha, beside Mánesův most was designed by the late Czech-American architect John Hejduk and consists of two nine-by-nine-foot steel prisms, each crowned with a roof of spikes. One is known as the House of the Suicide and clad in stainless steel; the adjacent House of the Mother of the Suicide is an inhabitable enclosure. Hejduk’s design pays tribute to both Palach and his mother, Libuše Palachová, who battled the ruling regime’s attempts to discredit her son and the dissent represented by his sacrifice.

I've still got enough material for another saints and sinners post but I'll try not to leave it so long this time!