Holocaust memorial opens Meeting Brno and Sudeten German congress

Representatives of Sudeten Germans and two of the so-called “Winton children” joined a Holocaust memorial ceremony at Brno’s main railway station on Thursday. The event, held at Platform 5, from where Jewish transport trains departed during World War Two, opened this year’s Meeting Brno festival and the annual Sudeten German congress, taking place in Czechia for the first time.

Around 500 people attended the ceremony, including about 100 protesters opposed to the visit of Sudeten German descendants. Sudeten German leader Bernd Posselt spoke in support of European unity, condemned nationalism and stressed the importance of learning from the past.

Among those attending were Eva Paddock and Milena Grenfell-Baines, who were rescued from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia as children by British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who organised trains to Britain and helped find foster families for hundreds of mostly Jewish children. Together with Winton’s son Nick, they spoke about the importance of dialogue and reconciliation.