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President Vaclav Klaus and other state officials have paid tribute to the thousands of Russian and Ukrainian émigrés who found refuge in Czechoslovakia after 1917 but were abducted by the Soviet secret police and imprisoned in Soviet labour camps in the 1940s. The short ceremony held at an orthodox Christian cemetery in Prague on Friday morning was also attended by the victims' descendants. The illegal abductions of the Russian émigrés - who were Czechoslovak citizens - began as soon as the Red Army began to liberate Czechoslovakia in 1944, and continued long after the Soviets arrived in Prague in May 1945.

This Tuesday saw the 62nd anniversary of V-E day which marked the end of World War II In Europe. Harold Yeglin, a US GI at the time, was then part of the 97th Infantry Division which had secured parts of Czechoslovakia. His company was in the west of the country when the war in Europe ended on May 8th. As a result of his wartime experience he has continued to follow events in the Czech Republic since.

Events commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe have been held around the Czech Republic. In Prague President Vaclav Klaus, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and other senior dignitaries paid tribute to those who fell during the war at the national memorial on Vitkov hill. After the national anthem and a minute's silence, soldiers carrying military flags marched past in single file before wreaths were laid. Later at Prague Castle the president appointed four new generals, while around 250 new soldiers were sworn in.

On Sunday the liberation of the west Bohemian city of Pilsen by US troops on May 6, 1945 was remembered in a celebration at the "Thanks, America!" memorial. A number of veterans of the liberation took part in the event attended also by the prime minister, several cabinet members and other state officials as well as the ambassadors of the United States and Belgium. Tuesday May 8th - Victory in Europe Day - is a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

The West Bohemian town of Pilsen has commemorated the 62nd anniversary of the town's liberation by United States troops. Sunday was the main day of the three-day celebrations in the town as it was on May 6th, 1945 that US troops as well as Belgian soldiers arrived in Pilsen to liberate it from Nazi occupiers. Since 1990, veterans of the operation from both countries have been coming to Pilsen regularly to take part in the celebrations. This year's festivities culminated in a memorial event on Sunday afternoon, attended by the prime minister, several cabinet members and other state officials as well as the ambassadors of the United States and Belgium. The rest of the country will mark the anniversary of liberation day on Tuesday, May 8th, a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

A ceremony in honour of those who fought in the Prague Uprising at the end of World War II has been held in front of the Czech Radio building on Prague's Vinohradska Street. The building and the area around it was the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting at the end of the war when Czechs rose up against the German occupiers. May 1945 saw around 30,000 Prague citizens fight the Nazis over three days with more than 1,500 losing their lives. The memorial ceremony on Saturday was attended by veterans, the defence minister, members of Parliament as well as the head of Czech Radio and others.

To mark the upcoming 62nd anniversary of the end of WWII next week, a convoy of historic American vehicles has set off this week on a ride across West Bohemia, a region which was liberated by US troops led by General George S. Patton. For the third time the "Liberty Road Convoy" will commemorate the role of the Allies in the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis - a fact largely ignored by the communist authorities before 1989. The historic vehicles left Prague on Wednesday and set off on a two-day journey to arrive in Pilsen in time for

There is an old framed photograph in my parents' house, which I have known since childhood. In the foreground, you can see the back of the head of Edvard Benes, the second President of Czechoslovakia. And bowing forward to shake the president's hand is a distinguished-looking man with shiny matinee-idol hair and a neatly-folded kerchief in his pocket. That's Otakar Machotka, my grandfather.

Usually in Czech Books we discuss poetry or prose, but for this week's programme we look at an intriguing book that fits neither category. Instead it is a collection of interviews, coming from a part of the Czech Republic that has gone through huge and sometimes traumatic changes over the last sixty or seventy years. I talk with two people who were very closely involved in the book, Matej Spurny and Ondrej Matejka.

On Monday the Czech Republic commemorated the 61st anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Over the weekend, ceremonies were held all over the country in honour of those Czechs who lost their lives, and people celebrated the end of over six years of occupation. Amongst the events which took place was the full military burial of wartime Prime Minister Alois Elias in Prague, 64 years after his execution by the Nazis.