Ivan Stepanovich Konev; the vandalized statue in Prague. |
In a decision of disrespect towards the city's liberator, the Prague 6 authorities have ordered that the statue of Marshal Ivan Konev, a Soviet hero of WW2, be covered up and hidden behind scaffolding.
According to the local authorities this is the cheapest way to protect the statue from vandalism!
According to the local authorities this is the cheapest way to protect the statue from vandalism!
Just a few days ago unknown thugs desecrated the monument with spray paint, writing the slogan "No to the bloody marshal, we will not forget" and the date "1968". The attack took place on the eve of the 51th anniversary of the Soviet intervention against the counterrevolutionary forces in Czechoslovakia.
Furthermore, the local authorities in Prague 6 have been pushing for the statue to be moved to the grounds of the Russian embassy in Prague, and refused to clean it up, saying the act supposedly "reflected the feelings of the public".
This stance of the Czech authorities is another sample of anti-communism and disrespect towards history. Marshal Konev (1897-1973) led the Red Army troops that entered Prague on May 9, 1945, liberating Czechoslovakia from the Nazi yoke.
A hero of the Second World War, Ivan Konev was appointed head of the Soviet forces in East Berlin and in 1956 he was named Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact. He played a leading role in the effective suppress of the imperialist-backed 1956 counterrevolution in Hungary.