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Hundreds of politicians, foreign dignitaries and members of the public attended the annual commemorative ceremony in Terezín, the site of a former Nazi concentration camp. Speaking at the gathering, marking the camp's liberation, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka recalled the horrors of Terezín and warned against division in society. He also said peace and freedom were the result of a joint European effort to overcome the differences.

Also known as Theresienstadt, the 200-year-old fortress town was transformed by the Nazis into a camp where Jews from across Europe were gathered until they could be transported to extermination camps. Of the 150, 000 people who were interned at Terezin between 1940 and 1945, 33,000 died and 88,000 were transported to Nazi death camps elsewhere.

The head of the ultra-right party Adama Bartoš has been charged with Holocaust denial and inciting racial hatred, Czech Radio reported on Friday. According to the police, Bartoš intentionally incited hatred of Jews as well as immigrants in his speeches and published texts. The case will be heard by a Prague district court. If found guilty, Bartoš would face up to three years in prison.

On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Czechs are marking the memory of Antonín Kalina, a Czechoslovak Communist who risked his own life to save at least 900, mostly Jewish children from the Holocaust. A documentary about the unsung hero of the Holocaust was premiered on Czech Television this week while his hometown of Třebíč announced plans to open a memorial hall dedicated to their famous son.

The Holocaust is a drastic example of where intolerance can lead if left unchecked, Senate chairman Milan Stěch said at an event marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in the upper chamber of Parliament on Friday. He said European culture is one of tolerance, but it must never tolerate those who incite religious and racial hatred. The gathering was attended by Holocaust survivors, war veterans and representatives of the Czech political and cultural scene. One of the speakers at the event was Romany singer Radek Banga who recently openly protested against the fact that one of the music awards at the Slavík Awards ceremony went to a singer whose band is notorious for its racist lyrics.

The internationally-renowned harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková will celebrate her 90th birthday at a special concert in Prague on Saturday. After surviving the horrors of the Holocaust, the Plzeň-born musician – inspired by her love of Bach – brought the harpsichord to new audiences around the world in a long and successful career.

Why does long-term exposure to extreme stress make some people more resilient, while it makes others weaker? Does such an experience result in far-reaching biological changes that can be transferred to future generations? More than seventy years after WWII many of these questions remain unanswered.

Scientists from Brno’s Masaryk University are engaged in a research project aimed at studying the effects of stress on the psyche of Holocaust victims. According to the internet site Novinky.cz which posted the story on Monday the team of psychologists, neurology experts and genetics experts are studying possible changes to the brain as a result of long-term exposure to extreme stress. The head of the research team Ivan Rektor said 30 survivors had agreed to cooperate and has asked others willing to do so to come forward.

Former Czechoslovak diplomat Vladimír Vochoč, who helped hundreds of Jews escape from Vichy, France during the Holocaust, has been recognised as “Righteous among the Nations”, the highest Israeli tribute to non-Jews who saved the lives of Jews during the Second World War. Mr Vochoč is the 116th Czech to receive the tribute, sponsored by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

A book written in Terezín concentration camp by Otto Weiss, who later died at Auschwitz, is being presented at Prague’s Maisel Synagogue on Tuesday evening. Copies of the book entitled I viděl Bůh, že je to špatné (Even God saw it was bad) will be signed by the author’s painter daughter Helga Hošková-Weissová, who illustrated it in Terezín at the age of 13. Mrs. Hošková-Weissová, now aged 86, is herself the author of Helga's Diary: A Young Girl's Account of Life in a Concentration Camp.

Czech-born Holocaust survivor George Brady received a commemorative certificate from the mayor of Brno Petr Vokřál on Monday. The mayor thanked him for his work in educating students about the Holocaust and supporting Czech expats abroad. Brady, who was reportedly crossed off the list of nominees up for a state award because his nephew Culture Minister Daniel Herman met with the Dalai Lama against the president’s wishes, has been at the center of media attention since arriving in Prague. He received numerous distinctions and awards including the Karel Kramář Medal from Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.