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Czech Post on Wednesday unveiled a new souvenir sheet containing a 46 crown stamp marking the 75th anniversary of Operation Anthropoid. In the mission, Czechoslovak parachutists were dropped into occupied territory to assassinate Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich. The souvenir sheet, about the size of a postcard, gave the artist greater room to pay homage to those who gave their lives in the operation or were murdered in reprisal by the Nazis.

Around 90,000 people attended a four-day Festival of Freedom in Plzeň marking the liberation of the city by US troops at the end of World War II, organisers said on Monday. The event reached a climax on Sunday when a convoy hundreds of vintage military vehicles paraded through the West Bohemian city. General George Patton’s Third US Army liberated Plzeň on May 5, 1945. Red Army troops reached Prague several days later.

Events have been held in the Czech Republic marking the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Defence Minister Martin Stropnický, Chief of the General Staff Josef Bečvář and other senior Czech Army figures attended the main event at Prague’s Vítkov National Memorial on Monday morning. In the afternoon President Miloš Zeman named new generals, including the country’s first woman general, Lenka Šmerdová. Ceremonies marking the anniversary of VE day were also held at Prague’s Klárov and in Brno, while several days of celebrations in Plzeň reached a climax.

On the occasion of the anniversary of the end of WW II, I speak with well-known historian Matěj Spurný about the Sudeten Germans whose future in post-war Czechoslovakia was sealed when many lined up with Nazi Germany ahead of the Munich Agreement. Most of the ethnic German population was forced to leave – spelling the end of what had been a largely peaceful coexistence going all the way back to the 13th century.

Czech Radio’s Prague headquarters was very much the focal point for the Prague uprising against Nazi rule at the end of WWII. And today’s top state personalities assembled on Friday outside the radio building to pay homage to the hundreds who fell at the barricades in Prague and in scattered skirmishes across the country.

Czech leaders marked the 72nd anniversary of the Prague Uprising at the Czech Radio building on Friday, a focal point of the uprising in which Czechs took up arms against the Nazis. The radio station itself became a beacon for resistance when the call went out in a broadcast for the rising to start and for citizens to come and help defend the radio building against German attempts to retake it. Among those attending Friday’s memorial event were the heads of both Czech house of parliament, Milan Štěch and Jan Hamáček, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, and Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová.

A convoy of historical U.S. military vehicles set off on its traditional ride through Prague on Friday at the start of celebrations marking the country’s liberation from Nazi rule. The convoy stopped at the US Embassy and in the coming days will ride through South Bohemian towns and villages which were liberated by the 3rd U.S. army under General George Patton´s command. It will culminate with a ceremonial parade through Plzen next weekend, the highlight of the town’s Freedom Celebrations.

Two new additions look set to be made to the Czech Republic’s list of official “significant days”. The Chamber of Deputies has voted to make June 18 the Day of the Heroes of the Second Resistance, referring to those who fought back against the Nazis during World War II. The anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, on 9 March 1944, is also in line to become a significant day. A co-author of the bill, Robin Böhnisch of the Social Democrats, said it paid a debt to the heroes of WWII.

Czech scouts have begun mapping the fates of scouts who died during World War II in battle, in concentration camps or in prisons, Czech Television reported on Tuesday. Within the project War Heroes they are attempting to trace their fallen predecessors’ life stories in a bid to preserve them for future generations of Czech scouts. The Nazis banned the scouts in 1940 and many of its members joined the resistance. Around 700 died in the course of the war.

Prior to being dropped in Nazi-controlled Bohemia to carry out the assassination of German governor Reinhard Heydrich, the Czechoslovak parachutists Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš were based in the English village of Ightfield, where they befriended the local Ellison family. Now – 75 years after their daring mission – the pair are set to get a monument there. The man behind the campaign to honour them in this way is Englishman John Martin, the author of a book on Operation Anthropoid.