Sudeten German gathering in Brno ends with tribute to Nazi victims

The first-ever Sudeten German congress held in Czechia concludes in Brno on Monday with a memorial ceremony honouring victims of Nazism at Kounic Halls, a site where the Nazis imprisoned and executed Czech resistance members. The gathering, hosted as part of the Meeting Brno festival over the weekend, included events focused on reconciliation, remembrance and Czech-German dialogue. But the congress also drew protests from critics who pointed to the role of many Sudeten Germans in the destruction of pre-war Czechoslovakia and rejected any questioning of the post-war Beneš decrees. Several thousand demonstrators gathered in central Brno on Sunday.