November 17th - The Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy
16.11.2023 / 06:07 | Aktualizováno: 10.02.2025 / 23:48
On November 17th, Czechia commemorates two historically significant events. On November 17, 1939, which was eventually declared International Student Day, the Czech universities were closed by the Nazi occupiers and patriotic students were executed. On November 17, 1989, on the 50th anniversary of the events of the occupation period a demonstration took place, which grew into a protest against the communist regime of the time and, as a result, marked the beginning of the Velvet Revolution and, with it, the return of Czechoslovakia to the family of European democracies.
The national holiday of November 17 is accompanied by the traditional commemoration of both historical events at the memorial sites: Prague's Hlávka koleje, where the first victim of Nazi repression, medical student Jan Opletal, was staying in 1939, and on Národní třída, where in 1989, protesting students were brutally attacked by members of the security forces.
The Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Sydney will be closed at this day.