Editorial

Dear Readers,

our thoughts keeping slipping back to Ukraine, whether we want them to or not. Every day, we listen to the news on the radio or on TV, we grasp at thinner or thicker straws and keep hoping...

Our Ecumenical Bulletin always provides at least one text on this sad topic. This time, we are bringing you an interview with an 80-year-old Czech preacher of a Protestant community in a small village near Odessa, called Veselynivka. Marie Provazníková was born in Ukraine. Her ancestors left Bohemia in the 17th century because of the religious oppression that followed the Battle of White Mountain. This history lives in Marie, it is clear that the 80 years of her life have made her strong.

I don’t think the current Russian aggression will throw her off her balance. She has experienced two world wars in Ukraine, not to mention the horrors of the Soviet-induced famine in the 1930s. This means, of course, that in her heart, she is deeply rooted in her country.

Paradoxically, there also tends to be a positive aspect to such tragic episodes in national history. They can bring a nation together, lead it to courage and perseverance. The Ukrainians prove this today, during the Russian “special military operation”, and it is also evident in the inhabitants of this small Czech village. Marie confirms it with her whole being.

The second thing I would like to mention concerns a settlement called Lety u Písku. Everyone in the Czech Republic knows about the Nazi concentration camps. But Lety u Písku? President Václav Havel was probably the first to draw our attention to this place. During WWII, there was a penal camp for the Roma and Sinti people here. They died in appalling conditions either in the camp itself, or they were transported to the „big concentration camp“, Auschwitz.

After the war, the communists set up a large-capacity pig farm here (!). How many of us were aware?

It is not surprising that the first personality to draw attention to this was our first post-revolutionary President. However, he was alone in the endeavour and did not achieve anything significant. The whole business has only been set in motion in recent years, the pig farm has finally been demolished and a memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti will be built on the site. It has taken decades – but it is definitely good news. 

Wishing you hope and all the best, on behalf of the Editorial Board,

Jana Plíšková