Prague, 16 April 2020
The Museum of the Memory of the Twentieth Century has agreed with the management of the Prague 6 municipal district on the loan of the statue of Marshal I. S. Konev for the Museum's future exhibition and for its dignified use in commemorating the history of the last century. The Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century expressed interest in the statue after the resolution of the Prague 6 Municipal Council of 12 September 2019 No. 120/19, in which the municipal district decided to remove the statue of Marshal Konev and offer it to memory institutions
The mission of the Museum of 20th Century Memory is to provide a comprehensive view of 20th century history in a local and temporal context. We see the statue of Marshal Konev on several interconnected levels: as a reminder of the Red Army's contribution and role in the defeat of Nazism and the liberation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War II, which today, compared to the past, may be viewed in different historical ways (especially as a result of the country's subsequent loss of freedom and democracy), or as one of the expressive means of the so-called "Red Army". This was also due to Marshal Konev's important role in the military maintenance of communist regimes in the Soviet or Eastern bloc.
At the moment, the Museum of the Memory of the XXth Century does not yet have a suitable building with the possibility of a worthy permanent exhibition. However, the statue of Marshal Konev is envisaged as a logical and appropriate part of it. The Museum of the Memory of the XXth Century has contractually committed the Prague 6 Municipal District to the appropriate public presentation of the statue.