We cordially invite you to the Václav Havel Library on 19 October 2022 at 7 p.m. for a discussion on the case of the judicial rehabilitation of General Jan Syr. The figure of the former Minister of Defence and Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (from 22 September to 30 November 1938) is associated with the period of national humiliation as a result of the Munich Agreement. The post-war era, when General Syrový was sentenced to twenty years in a heavy prison, loss of military rank and forfeiture of his fortune, is an even more problematic chapter in terms of national destiny. The current Czech judiciary, which has been dealing with his case since 2021 and finally cleared Syrový's name this year, has thus also legitimately spoken out about his historical role and the nature of the time when this man both worked and suffered politically.
This groundbreaking "trial" of our history and the peripeteia associated with the efforts to rehabilitate the general will be debated at the Václav Havel Library by historian Jaroslav Rokoský, Syrový family lawyer Lubomír Müller and Jan Syrový, one of the living descendants of the general's family. Moderated by David Svoboda.
The event takes place as part of the XVI International Festival against Totalitarianism Mene Tekel. Free admission.
Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 1.