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The assassination in May 1942 of the Nazi governor of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, was one of the most dramatic events of World War II. The Czechoslovak resistance fighters parachuted into Prague to carry out the attack later met their own deaths in a church in the city, after being surrounded by Nazi troops. Their brave actions are the focus of an exhibition in the church’s crypt which has now been given a major facelift.

The city of Brno has made up its mind on a contentious issue: the hammer and sickle on a public monument to fallen Red Army soldiers from the Second World War is coming down. In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the city council decided to end two years of protests and vandalism by removing the still-controversial symbol for good.

The remains of an unknown Czech soldier who died at the Battle of Zborov in 1917 have been returned to Prague. Speaking at the city’s airport when a Czech army plane carrying the remains landed, Prime Minister Jan Fischer said the foundations of the Czechoslovak state had been laid by the legions who fought in World War I. Defence Minister Martin Barták said the Battle of Zborov had been a great success thanks to the courage and military expertise of the Czech legionnaires, despite the fact they were facing forces that were better armed and equipped. On May 8, the anniversary of VE day, the remains will be interred in a restored tomb of the unknown solider at Prague’s Vítkov national memorial, alongside the remains of a soldier who fell at the Battle of the Dukla Pass in 1944. The Vítkov national memorial is being reopened on Sunday after extensive renovations.

On September 1, the world remembered the outbreak of the worst conflict in history. For Czechs, however, the war started earlier than September 1939. By the time Nazi troops stormed Poland and France and the UK declared war on Germany, thousands of Czechs had already left their country, ready to join the fight against the Nazis. One of them was Karel Kuttelwascher, who became a famous night fighter with the RAF, and the most successful Czech fighter pilot of the war. Recently his daughters came from England and together with the people of his native

The 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two this week will pass almost unnoticed in the Czech Republic. The reason is simple. For Czechs and Slovaks the tragedy did not begin with the invasion of Poland, but a full year earlier. With the Munich Agreement of September 1938, Britain, France and Italy gave Hitler the green light to annex huge tracts of Czechoslovakia and less than six months later, Nazi troops marched into what was left of the Czech lands unopposed. So how did Hitler get away with bringing a determined and well-defended

A commemorative ceremony has been held to mark the 67th anniversary of the Lidice massacre by the Nazis. The country’s political leaders, among them President Václav Klaus and Senate chairman Přemysl Sobotka, cultural figures and war veterans attended a wreath laying ceremony and concert held in memory of those killed in the brutal massacre. The old Lidice, a village north-west of Prague was one of two villages which were completely destroyed by German forces in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich the highest ranking Nazi official in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. On June 10th of 1942, all 192 men over 15 years of age were rounded up and shot, the women were sent to concentration camps and the children to be re-educated. The other village, Ležáky was razed to the ground in a similar manner a fortnight later.

Some figures are cast as heroes and others as villains. Emanuel Moravec - the face, voice and main force behind Czech collaboration with the occupying Nazis during WWII - unmistakeably belongs to the latter category. For his actions he became dubbed ‛the Czech Quisling’ – a reference the more famous Norwegian collaborator. In this week’s Czechs in History, Chris Johnstone explores Moravec’s complex character and path to collaboration.

One of the darkest chapters in modern Czech history has just been reopened, with the news that police in north Bohemia have named two men responsible for the killing of Sudeten Germans in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Though the alleged culprits are long dead, some have welcomed the fact that the matter has finally been investigated.

The 64th anniversary of the end of World War II was marked by a number of events in the Czech Republic. On Friday, President Václav Klaus laid a wreath at a monument to Czech soldiers who lost their lives in the service of other countries’ armies. The ceremony was attended by senior politicians including outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. Mr Klaus said after the ceremony it was “a duty” to remind younger generations of what had taken place, while the head of the Czech Senate, Přemysl Sobotka, said it was necessary to remember those who had sacrificed their lives. This year, for the first time, the president did not name new generals to the Czech Army.

It was a now famous appeal broadcast from the Czech Radio or Český Rozhlas building on May 5, 1945, which sparked the Prague rising against the continued Nazi occupation. The 64th anniversary of the event was marked at the radio building on Tuesday at the precise time of the original broadcast.