The chairman of the Prague Academic Club 48, Martin Špolc, said of the meeting: “This year, unfortunately, the epidemiological situation did not allow for the traditional honor of the brave students of 25 February 1948, who opposed the emerging communist totalitarianism. We have therefore decided to prepare an "online reminder" for today's anniversary. "
This is a new comprehensive online publication on political purges at universities, which immediately followed the consolidation of communist power in 1948 and 1949. The publication summarizes the course and effects of the greatest political purge in modern Czechoslovak history, which marked the end of studies for every fourth student. "The Committees composed mostly of communist students expelled more than 9,000 of their non-communist colleagues over the course of one month. This injustice was only the beginning of the political repression of non-communist students - most ended up in menial jobs, in the armie´s PTP auxiliary battalions on forced labor, or directly in communist concentration camps. Only a fraction could return to their studies. It was one of the biggest interventions of communist totalitarianism in the operation of universities, which had no analogues even in neighboring communist states, "adds Martin Špolc. You can read the publication here.
"The march of university students to Prague Castle was the only public protest against the communist coup. About five thousand students and their teachers, including those from CTU, wanted to support President Edvard Beneš, who was their last symbol of democracy. Security forces then attacked the protesters and broke up the march. This was followed by purges carried out by student action committees and disciplinary commissions, in fact instructed by the Communist Party. A quarter of university students were excluded on the basis of personnel examinations carried out using questionnaires that focused on the past, family relationships and political thinking of students. Many gifted young people were thus prevented from studying, were transferred to working-class positions, or preferred to emigrate to Western countries. This memorable day is a legacy for us that freedom is not commonplace and human rights are among our highest values, "says the rector of CTU doc. Vojtěch Petráček.
