Daily news summary
Pilgrimage commemorates 1945 expulsion of German speakers from Brno
Around 250 people took part in a 32-kilometre Pilgrimage of Reconciliation from the town of Pohořelice to Brno on Saturday to commemorate the victims of the post-war expulsion of Brno’s German-speaking population. The route followed the one that the expellees must have taken but symbolically went in the opposite direction, organisers said.
The pilgrimage, which began at the site of a May 1945 holding camp for German speakers in Pohořelice, was part of a festival entitled Meeting Brno. The first such commemoration took place in 2006.
Only Czech quintuplets turn five
The only quintuplets ever born in the Czech Republic turned five on Saturday. The four boys and a girl, Alex, Martin, Michael, Daniel and Tereza, were born by Caesarean section at Prague’s Podolí maternity hospital on June 2, 2013. Their mother, Alexandra Kiňová, was 23 at the time.
A special collection was held at the time of the children’s birth to help the family financially.
The chance of quintuplets being spontaneously conceived is one in 48 million and their story received international attention at the time.
Candles to be lit at site of original Lidice on night before anniversary
On the night between June 9 and 10 candles are to be lit near the Lidice Memorial around the precise area where the original village of Lidice stood, officials from the institution told Novinky.cz. The candles will help create a sombre atmosphere before more events commemorating the anniversary of June 10, 1942, when the Nazis razed the small Central Bohemian village to the ground and killed over 300 of its inhabitants in one of the worst atrocities in modern Czech history.
Similar events are planned for June 24 at the site of Ležáky, a second village wiped off the map by the Nazis. Whereas the people of Lidice were killed in retaliation for the assassination of Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich, Ležáky was targeted due to the presence of a resistance group.
Kylián piece opens 30th Tanec Praha festival
The 30th edition of the Tanec Praha festival of dance began on Friday night with a performance of East Shadow by the great Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián at Prague’s Ponec theatre. Mr. Kylián, who is 71, was recently made a member of the prestigious Académie francaise. He was involved in the inception of Tanec Praha in the late 1980s.
Other highlights of this year’s edition of the festival include SUNNY by the Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat and Dancing Grandmothers by the Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn.
Plíšková and Kvitová exit French Open in third round
The leading Czech women’s tennis players Karolína Plíšková and Petra Kvitová were knocked out in the third round of tennis’s French Open on Saturday.
Plíšková lost to 1-6 2-6 to Maria Sharapova of Russia, while Kvitová was beaten 7-6 7-6 in Paris by Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, bringing her run of 13 consecutive wins on clay to an end.
Jarolím feeling “terrible” after Czechs’ biggest defeat ever
Czech international football manager Karel Jarolím said he felt “terrible” after his team suffered a 4:0 drubbing by Australia at St. Pölten in Austria on Friday. It was the Czech Republic’s biggest defeat ever. Jarolím said he had believed that the Czechs were improving but the match had disabused him of that idea.
The Czech Republic failed to reach the World Cup in Russia, which begins the week after next. Their campaign to try to qualify for the 2020 European Championships will get underway after the summer.
Weather forecast
It is expected to be largely sunny in the Czech Republic on Sunday, with temperatures of up to 25 degrees Celsius. Apart from occasional rain the weather should remain more or less the same for the following week.
