Unknown vandals poured red paint on Wednesday night and inscribed it on the monument to the Red Army, erected in 1946 in the Comenius Gardens in the center of Ostrava in the north-east of the Czech Republic and being a cultural monument, told the deputy head of the municipality in the central part of the city, David Vitos.
Vandals poured paint over the monument and inscribed “Budapešť 1956” and Kitartás on the sides. On this day, October 23, 1956, in Budapest, an armed uprising began against the pro-Soviet communist regime. The Hungarian word Kitartás translates as “Withstand!”
“We condemn this act of vandalism, which is a manifestation of human stupidity. And what is the reminder of the events in Budapest in 1956? About 700 Soviet soldiers who died as a result of the Ostrava operation of the Red Army are buried in this place. They died liberating our city. This monument was marked on the first anniversary of the end of World War II to pay tribute to its victims, I appreciate this incident as an expression of blasphemy towards these dead, as well as to our grandfathers who fought for our freedom and raised this monument, “- Vitosha said.
The actions of unknown vandals were severely condemned by the primator (head) of the Ostrava, Tomas Matsura.
“I am ashamed of what these certain“ heroes ”did under cover of night. They thereby demonstrated their cowardice, ignorance of history and disrespect for those soldiers who died during the liberation of our city and whose remains lie in this land,” Matsura told reporters .
The leaders of the city and the district promised to clear the monument as soon as possible. According to the primator, the police have already begun to investigate the incident and search for those responsible.
The Moravian-Ostrava offensive operation of the Soviet troops, as a result of which the north-eastern region of the republic was liberated from Hitler’s troops, lasted from March 10 to May 5, 1945. During the fighting, the Red Army lost 112 thousand people, of which nearly 24 thousand people died. Losses of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, operating as part of the Red Army, amounted only during the second half of April 1945 to more than 1,500 people killed and wounded.