"V" for Victory

The 80th Anniversary of the End of World War II in Europe, 8 May 1945

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The day after the surrender in Prague, 9 May 1945. Barricades on Charles Square near the New Town Hall at the corner of Žitná ulice. (VÚA-VHA).
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Tens of thousands of people attended the commemorations for those killed during World War II on Old Town Square in May 1945. (VHA / VÚA)
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The end of the war, the end of the occupation, May 1945. (VHÚ)
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Parade of the Main Post Office fighters on Mánes Bridge, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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Flags of the Western Allies were still allowed to fly in public spaces in May 1945. It was only after 1948 that the heroes become traitors in the eyes of the regime. In the background the ruins of the burnt out Old Town Hall. (VHÚ)

The Bombing of Prague

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The same B-17s that bombed Prague in February 1945 are pictured here bombing a railway in Germany, April 1945. (National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)
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The Old Town in flames during the Prague Uprising, as seen from Letenské sady park, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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ČKD after the March air raid, 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Stanislav Pavlík)
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Wenceslas Square, 9 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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The Vinohrady Synagogue, the largest in Prague, burned down completely after the air raid on 14 February 1945. The Nazis forbade efforts to extinguish the blaze and it had to be torn down. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 2a_06
Destroyed department store near the National Museum after a German air raid, 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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The cellar of the Czech Radio building after the German bombing, 6 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, K. Hájek)
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Fighting a fire on Wenceslas Square, 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Erban)

The Czech Uprising

Panel 2b_01
Gathering of partisans in Želatovská ulice in Přerov. (Comenius Museum in Přerov)
Panel 2b_02
Exhumation of executed people of Přerov at a military shooting range, located in what is now the district of Olomouc-Černovír. (Comenius Museum in Přerov)
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A lavish funeral for the victims of the uprising in Přerov, dispatched from Masarykovo náměstí to a common grave in Michalov City Park. (Comenius Museum in Přerov)
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Negotiations with German soldiers and their disarmament in Přerov. (Comenius Museum in Přerov)
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Protectorate decree of 2 May 1945 in Přerov. (Comenius Museum in Přerov)
Panel 2b_06
From 1 to 5 May 1945, the Czech borderlands witnessed anti-Nazi demonstrations and uprisings (purple markers) and the liberation efforts of the American army (blue arrows), which had to stop at the demarcation line on 5 May, while it was not until 9 May that the Red Army units of the Ukrainian Front (red arrows) began their liberation offensive. (Redrawn with permission, Academic Atlas of Czech History, 2nd ed., Academia 2016)

The Prague Uprising

Panel 3a_01
Barricades in Prague during the May 1945 uprising. (VHA / VÚA)
Panel 3a_02
An inscription that translates as "ONLY OVER OUR DEAD BODIES" on the barricade on Karlovo náměstí in Prague, 8 May 1945. (AMP, M. Štěpánek)
Panel 3a_03
Arms warehouse of the Revolutionary Guard in Strašnice, May 1945. (VHÚ)
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A captured armoured personnel carrier at Žižkov, 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Jindřich Sláma)
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Announcer Zdeněk Mančal reporting from a makeshift studio in the Hus Congregational House in Vinohrady, 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, K. Hájek)
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Snipers on the roof of the Old Castle Steps below Prague Castle during the Uprising, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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A sniper during the Uprising, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Jiří Střihavka)
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A burning German tank in front of the Main Railway Station. (VÚA-VHA)
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Construction of the barricade in Žižkov, 6 May 1945. VHA-VÚA

Massacres of Civilians

Panel 3b_01
The massacre in Úsobecká ulice (now ulice Obětí 6. května, Krč), where on 6 May 1945 SS cadets massacred the house residents hiding in the cellar, including 16 children and 2 pregnant women; one man was beaten with a rifle butt, and a 14-year-old girl had her eyes gouged out. The building was then burned down. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 3b_02
Mass graves in Doudlebská ulice. On 8 May 1945, SS members brutally murdered 23 insurgents who were forced to dig their own graves. A post-war exhumation revealed that some had been buried alive. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 3b_03
The inscription "TOTE! NICHT EINTRETEN" (DEAD! DO NOT ENTER) in the cellar of the house at Na Zelené lišce, whose inhabitants were brutally murdered by an SS unit on 6 May 1945. (AMP, sign. I 5570)
Panel 3b_04
Žižkov freight station, insurgents killed in battle, 7 May 1945. Another massacre took place in Žižkov in the building that now houses the Na Pražačce Grammar School, where SA members sadistically tortured dozens of prisoners of war on 5-8 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, J. Sláma)
Panel 3b_05
Prague Masaryk Station, 1st and 2nd group of people executed, 8 May 1945. In addition to the insurgents, the Nazis also mercilessly executed passengers and apprentice boys. (VHA / VÚA, Josef Toušt)
Panel 3b_06
Pankrác, May 1945. For four days the battle lasted around what was then Soudní náměstí, where the Nazi SS troops encountered well-organised insurgent defenders led by former legionnaires. They avenged themselves with sadistic massacres of civilians in Úsobská ulice and at the school at Na Zelené lišce. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 3b_07
The charred body of a boy found in the Deer Moat after the massacre of 8 May 1945. A Gestapo officer and her companion were the most ardent participants in the bestial murder of 21 prisoners of war. The victims had their stomachs slashed open and their heads and other parts of their bodies cut off. (VHA / VÚA)
Panel 3b_08
Civilians shot in front of the Czech Radio building during the first hours of the Prague Uprising, 5 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA, K. Hájek)
Panel 3b_09
The brutal massacre of the residents of Úsobecká ulice was committed by SS cadets between the ages of 17 and 21. (VHÚ)

Fire in the Old Town Hall

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Rescue work at the burning Old Town Hall on 9 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA, J. Střihavka)
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The Old Town Hall after the fire on 8 May 1945, which also destroyed the valuable town archives. (AMP, sign. I 5384)
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Honour guard at the cross made of charred beams from the Old Town Hall to commemorate the dead, 10 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA)
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Burning tower of the Old Town Hall, 8 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA, J. Střihavka)
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Detail of the astronomical clock destroyed by shelling during the Prague Uprising in 1945. (VHA / VÚA)
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A burnt out German tank on Old Town Square after the fighting in May 1945. (VHA / VÚA)
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Old Town Square, one of the victims of the Prague Uprising in May 1945. (VHA / VÚA, Wanner)

The ROA in Prague

Panel 4b_01
Members of the ROA in Jeseniova ulice in Prague, who on 6 May 1945 turned out in force to aid the Czechoslovak Guards in their fight against the occupying SS units at Pražačka. (VHA / VÚA, Jindřich Sláma)
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A cavalry reconnaissance detachment of the 1st ROA Division in Smíchov, Prague, on 6 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA, Josef Čvančara)
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The Vlasovites in Bartolomějská ulice during negotiations on aid to Prague on 6 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA)
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Members of the 1st ROA Division (Vlasovites) on May 7 1945 in Prague. (VHA / VÚA)
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Representatives of the ROA in Bartolomějská ulice at the "Bartoš" headquarters on 6 May 1945. (VHA / VÚA)
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Artillery regiment of the 1st ROA Division, moving on 6 May 1945 to attack Petřín Hill. (VHA / VÚA, Josef Kurc)
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General Vlasov (third from left) meeting with the US Army in Plzeň, at the headquarters of the 16th Panzer Division, 9 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)

Western Allies

Panel 5a_01
Detail of Old Town Square. General George Patton (left) and General Harmon (right), who wrote in his biography that "...faced with the Soviet Army on the demarcation line crossing Bohemia, fifty miles west of Prague, it was obvious that our wartime alliance with the Soviet Union was beginning to crumble." (Plzeň City Archives, i. no. O 30943, LP 2636)
Panel 5a_02
General George Patton at Prague Castle, where President Beneš presented him with the Order of the White Lion First Class on 27 July 1945. (Plzeň City Archives, i. no. O 30138, sign. LP 2636)
Panel 5a_03
Several military journalists managed to infiltrate Prague during the Uprising. The photo shows the Jeep of war correspondent Meyer Levin and photographer Eric Schwab. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 5a_04
A US army column on the road to Velichovky on 8 May 1945. Film footage from the cameramen filming the American mission. (National Archives and Records Administration).
Panel 5a_05
British troops, freed from captivity during the 1945 Prague Uprising, try to get from Prague to Plzeň through the danger at Zlichov. (VÚA-VHA, Josef Kurc)
Panel 5a_06
British soldiers freed from captivity in the Jiřího z Poděbrad barracks (now the Palladium shopping centre on náměstí Republiky), 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 5a_07
American soldiers at a parade in Plzeň on 15 June 1945. The American army completely left Czechoslovak territory during November 1945. (Plzeň City Archives, i. no. O 30.814)
Panel 5a_08
Behind the demarcation line, on 7 and 8 May 1945, a mission of the 3rd U.S. Army headed to Velichovky, led by Col. R. H. Pratt (green arrows). From 5 to 9 May, the U.S. Army also liberated several places behind the demarcation line in western and southern Bohemia (red marks). (Redrawn with permission, Academic Atlas of Czech History, 2nd ed., Academia 2016)

The Surrender in Prague

Panel 5b_01
Brigadier General Karel Kutlvašr (centre), a hero of the Russian legions during World War I, was chosen to lead the Prague Uprising. "Bartoš" headquarters on 5 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, K. Hájek)
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Oath at the "Bartoš" headquarters in Bartolomějská ulice during the Prague Uprising in May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, K. Hájek)
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"Bartoš" headquarters on 5 May 1945, where Jaromír Nechanský and Veleslav Wahl, both executed by the communists in 1950, also worked for the CNŘ. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 5b_04
The surrender negotiators walk to the headquarters in Bartolomějská ulice. View from the Papež ladies' shoe shop on the corner of Perštýn and Národní ulice towards Spálená. (VHÚ)
Panel 5b_05
The car of the negotiators of German General Rudolf Toussaint, commander of the Wehrmacht troops in Prague, 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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German General Rudolf Toussaint with negotiators signing the surrender to the CNŘ at 4 p.m. on 8 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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German troops on their way to the Motol prisoner-of-war camp, which was set up immediately after the end of the fighting, May 1945. (AMP, sign. X 12214)
Panel 5b_08
Ammunition of disarmed Nazi troops in Prague after the surrender on 8 May 1945. (VHÚ)

The Red Army

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Crew of a Soviet tank in Troja, 9 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Josef Ženíšek)
Panel 6a_02
Arrival of the Red Army in Prague on 9 May 1945. The archival photograph is labelled "The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", as the Soviets do not consider the period before 1941, when they agreed with Nazi Germany to liquidate Poland, as wartime. (VÚA-VHA, Václav Chochola)
Panel 6a_03
Arrival of the Red Army in Prague in May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 6a_04
Soviet tank number 24 hit by a Hetzer tank destroyer on 9 May 1945 at Klárov. The tank commander, Ukrainian Lieutenant Ivan Hryhorovych Honcharenko, was killed in the strike. (VÚA-VHA, Smola)
Panel 6a_05
Welcoming the first Soviet tanks in Prague-Libeň near the Ferkl cinema on 9 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Josef Ženíšek)
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Parade of Red Army soldiers in Prague, 18 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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Rocket launchers (known as Stalin's Organs) arrive with the Red Army in Prague-Kyje, 9 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Stanislav Pavlík)

The Bloody Reverberations of War

Panel 6b_01
Public pillorying. Kneeling German women with a swastika on their foreheads in Prague, May 1945. After the liberation of Prague, 19 children of German nationality were found murdered by their parents, who subsequently committed suicide themselves. (VÚA-VHA, donated by Josef Pospíšil)
Panel 6b_02
Prisoners of war at Strahov stadium with a sign "WE ARE FROM VIENNA, WE HAVE CONFIRMATION THAT WE'RE GOING HOME", May 1945. (AMP)
Panel 6b_03
The surrendering Hitler Youth, Hitler's youngsters indoctrinated to believe in the superiority of the Aryan race. (VÚA-VHA, Dvořák)
Panel 6b_04
Hitler's bust in a noose during the uprising on 5 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 6b_05
German civilians from prisoner of war camps forced to remove a barricade in Francouzská ulice above náměstí Míru in Prague, 10 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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German civilians going off to collection camps, Prague 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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German women from prison camps forced to remove barricades in Vodičkova ulice in Prague, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 6b_08
Pass of the Commissar of the SMERSH (Death to Spies) from 1943, a division of the NKVD with the power to eliminate subversive elements of the regime, subject only to the supreme command. (Image - reproduction)

Return of the Czechoslovak Squadrons

Panel 7a_01
Czechoslovak airmen from Great Britain were officially welcomed at Ruzyně Airport on 15 August 1945 by Army General Svoboda. The photo from this day shows people looking at a single-seat Spitfire fighter aircraft. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7a_02
Czechoslovak airmen from Great Britain are greeted at Ruzyně on 13 August 1945 by General Boček in front of a number of Spitfires in which they had returned to their homeland. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7a_03
In the presence of British Marshals and ambassadors of many countries, President Edvard Beneš decorated thirteen airmen on 21 August 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7a_04
Stands on the Old Town Square in Prague on August 21 1945 for the ceremonial parade of the Czechoslovak Air Force after its return from Great Britain. (VÚA-VHA)
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President Beneš decorating Czechoslovak airmen on 21 August 1945. (VÚA-VHA, L. Sitenský)
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Parade of Czechoslovak airmen through Prague on 21 August 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7a_07
General of the Czechoslovak Air Force in Great Britain and hero of the Second World War Karel Janoušek (third from left) after his return to his homeland in 1945; in 1948 he was declared a traitor and political prisoner by the communist regime. (VÚA-VHA)
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Thousands of people welcomed the Czechoslovak airmen at Ruzyně Airport on 15 August 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
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Ruzyně Airport on 15 August 1945. Official welcome of Czechoslovak airmen by General Ludvík Svoboda. (VÚA-VHA)

"V for Victory"

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General Patton on his visit to Prague, Old Town Square, 27 July 1945. (VHÚ, AMP, sign. I 1645)
Panel 7b_02
Fighters of the Prague Uprising celebrate their victory, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7b_03
Parade of the Revolutionary Guards on Old Town Square, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7b_04
Partisans from Jince, Brda, May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7b_05
Shop windows of the Orbis publishing house with the Nazi "V" symbol in Vinohradská ulice in Prague during the occupation. (VHÚ)
Panel 7b_06
Parade of barricade fighters on Old Town Square, 17 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA)
Panel 7b_07
Church bells stolen by the Nazis await their return, Prague 1945. (VÚA-VHA, Josef Ženíšek)
Panel 7b_08
Czech Radio employees at the Hus Congregational House in Vinohrady, 7 May 1945. (VÚA-VHA, K. Hájek)
Panel 7b_09
Parade on Old Town Square in May 1945. (VHÚ)
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"V" for Victory

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