Velvet Revolution anniversary celebration

Lots of people gathered by the memorial of Velvet Revolution in Prague on Friday, 17th November. Most of them came to light a candle there or put flowers.

The memorial is situated in the National Street, at the place, where Communist police brutally suppressed the student demonstration on 17th November 1989. The police brutality roused Czech population and there were large demonstrations of hundreds of thousands people in the whole country afterwards. The situation led to the fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

People gather every year at the memorial to commemorate the event, which was later called Velvet Revolution – because of the non-violent demonstrations. Most important Czech politicians put flowers at the place as well: president Vaclav Klaus, prime minister Mirek Topolanek and others.

You can still see many candles and flowers there, in the archway of the Kankuv dum (house No.118/16).

The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day on 17th November commemorates also the events from 1939, when Nazis suppressed student demonstrations and closed Czech universities.