Czech Leaders to Honor Russian Political Prisoners on 35th Anniversary of Velvet Revolution

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WASHINGTON and PRAGUE, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Czech leaders will honor Russian political prisoners at an international gala and conference being held on November 12-14 at the historic Palace Lichtenštejn in Prague to mark the 35th anniversary of the collapse of communism in Europe.

Oleg Orlov, co-chair of the Russian human rights group Memorial, will receive the "Resistance and Solidarity Award" of The Remembrance Society (TRS) on behalf of the more than 700 political prisoners currently held in Russia, at a gala dinner ceremony on November 13 at the Lobkowicz Palace. The dinner will also feature remarks by Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland and Solidarity leader, Kamila Bendova, widow of Charter 77 leader Václav Benda.  

The three-day event will explore the continuing influence of totalitarian ideologies and feature panel discussions by leading experts, scholars, journalists, and public officials on themes such as reckoning with the communist past, the politics of memory, legal continuity after 1989, and education on totalitarian crimes.

"We must preserve the physical and narrational traces of what happened under communism and pass them on to future generations," said Ambassador Martin Palouš, TRS Founding Trustee and Director of International Cooperation. "We must listen attentively to the almost inaudible voices of the weak, the downtrodden, and those who were victimized and did not manage to escape."

The announcement of the award laureate coincides with the International Day of Political Prisoners, a commemoration observed in Russia since 1991 and rooted in dissident movements stretching back to 1974 under the Soviet Union.

"The truth that those who cannot remember the past are doomed to relive it seems more important than ever as today's information-overloaded society buries the vital lessons history," said TRS Founding Chairman and former US Congressman Don Ritter. "The Remembrance Society counters this trend by telling and communicating compelling stories of past experience that powerfully impact both present and future."  

The conference and gala are organized by The Remembrance Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people about the crimes and present dangers of totalitarianism, in cooperation with the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, the Vaclav Havel Library, the Casla Institute, and Post Bellum.

Other notable speakers will include Martin Dvořák, Czech Minister for European Affairs, Edward Lucas, former senior editor at The Economist, Jan Špringl, Head of Education at the Terezín Memorial, Igor Lukeš, professor of history at Boston University, and David Satter, Vice Chairman of The Remembrance Society.

"Educating people about the crimes of totalitarian regimes is the only way to prevent the horrors of the 20^th century from being repeated," said TRS Founding Executive Director and Trustee Kristina Olney. "The fight for human freedom against totalitarian oppression is still being waged every day, and on this International Day of Political Prisoners we stand in solidarity with the 700+ individuals imprisoned today in Putin's Russia and urge the international community to demand their immediate release."

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