I may have only been a nine-month-old infant on August 21, 1968, but the dramatic events of those days somehow etched themselves under my skin in a peculiar way. I can hardly remember them, but through my mother’s authentic storytelling, her experiences during that time have left a deep mark on my memory.
My mom’s recollections of how we, along with my grandpa, sat huddled behind the window sill, paralyzed by fear as Russian soldiers beat on the gates and shouted, trying to enter the yard and then the house, are still vivid to me. My grandpa, in an act of bravery, got up because, after all, they were just yelling, “Water!” as they tried to gain entry. He told us, “This won’t be any worse than when they barged onto this yard in 1945, took our horses and food, and moved on.” He was right. This time, they just wanted water. They were confused – they were going to war, but no one was opposing them.
However, the aftermath was a far more difficult period of devastation and societal distortion. It is these thoughts that I ponder upon these days when we once again commemorate the anniversary of the invasion by the troops of five Warsaw Pact countries, led by the Soviet Union, into our country. This year, the remembrance of the events of August 1968, in the light of the tragic occupation of Ukraine, is significantly more painful for many.
We can witness with our own eyes how things could have turned out if we had attempted to resist the results of the Prague Spring reforms before the invasion. We would be looking at the ruins of Ostrava, Brno, or Marianske Lazne, and shuddering at the thought of a possible nuclear conflict in Europe, which could have begun on our territory. In terms of the population and the strength of the invading army, we would have been far worse off than today’s Ukraine. We would probably have a hard time defending our capital against the invading forces. Perhaps our government would not have been kidnapped to Moscow to sign a humiliating surrender but would have perished under the rubble of bombed-out buildings.
Just in the course of this February, it seemed that similar events as in August 1968 or Munich 1938 could not happen in Europe anymore. As a nation that bears deep scars from both of these historical events, we are very sensitive to analogous situations in Ukraine. Or we should be, as each day shows us what we narrowly escaped back then.
War a few hundred kilometers from our eastern borders may not yet be raging here in the form of tank battles or rocket explosions in shopping centers. However, it has already been affecting us for over half a year. Like any war, this one brings a lower standard of living, societal polarization, and fear for the future. More than ever, we need to realize where we belong and what we must defend. It is not just about us, who have already spent a significant portion of our lives, but primarily about the kind of country we will pass on to our children.
Until recently, I would have considered this statement a cliché that I wouldn’t repeat. But given the cruelties of the war unleashed by the world’s largest country against a much smaller neighbor, it is once again becoming a meaningful statement that should guide us not only until this conflict ends.
Ivana Tykač,
- 21. August 2022
