Fears of rise in neo-Nazism in Czech Republic expressed at Terezín memorial

Speakers at a commemorative meeting at the site of a former World War II ghetto at Terezín in central Bohemia have warned of a rise in neo-Nazism and racism in the Czech Republic. The director of the Terezín Memorial, Jan Munk, said that today the victims were Romanies; next will be Jews, and then other people. He said as a Jew and a citizen he felt threatened by neo-Nazism, and called on state bodies to take greater action against the danger. Some of Prime Minister Jan Fischer’s own family members were killed after being interned at Terezín. He said at Sunday’s ceremony that he had been disappointed by the results of a mock election held in Czech schools which suggested over 7 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds would support the far-right Workers’ Party of Social Justice. Mr Fischer said the area of values was being emptied out in Europe, thanks to an over-emphasis on so-called real politics; this area was being left to those who are against freedom and democracy, he said.

Around 144,000 Jews were sent to Terezín (Theresienstadt) by the Nazis during the war. Fewer than 17,300 survived. Around 1,000 people attended Sunday’s commemorative meeting, which was the 64th.