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Ok, this is pretty strange, I know; I was thinking to post it on History.se, but maybe it can fit here, too, as I saw it while traveling and it was in a "famous" cemetery (...I'm not the kind of tourist for cemetery visiting, this one just happened as I stumbled on it...)

Location: Prague, Vyšehrad cemetery. I noticed the following inscription, and it struck me as something really different because:

  • the shape
  • the position (in an isolated corner with a "special" path to reach it)
  • there is written Komunismu (did they buried communism here?)

I searched for information on Google, but everything I've been able to found was in čeština, and I'm not able to read it a single word of it. But still it shows it is some kind of touristic landmark, so I'm not that off topic after all :-D

Here is the photo. Sorry for the low quality:

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The inscription says in Czech:

Památce kněží, řeholníků a řeholnic, obětí nacismu a komunismu

Já jsem vzkříšení a život. Kdo věří ve mne, i kdyby umřel, bude žít.

Evangelium Svatého Jana 11, 25

Translation of the first part is:

To the memory of priests, monks and nuns who were victims of nazism and communism

The second section is part of a verse from Gospel of John (11, 25), which is translated as (KJV):

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live

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  • Thx. I'll accept the answer in a few hours (I always leave a bit of time for other answers). In the meantime...would you be so kind to add a bit more historical information/context/meaning to this, if there is any and if you are willing to? As a I said, I can't find anything online that it's not in your language :-\
    – motoDrizzt
    Sep 12, 2016 at 7:24
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    You cannot bury communism. It is like cancer in society. This is a memorial to dark times in czech(czechoslovak) history of 20th century. People with higer moral code were hunted during WWII and after "vitcorious February" (communist putch) because they were dangeorus to the ideology. They who resist to believe in Marxism-Leninism under the rule of One Party (guess which one) were hijacked, dishonored, tortured, enslaved and slaughtered. All on behalf of the Republic. One of them were priests, monks and nuns. This is memorial of their sacrifice.
    – Crowley
    Sep 12, 2016 at 8:49
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    People with higher moral code weren't 'hunted' in Czechoslovakia. The christian religion was however seen as wrong and as something to be eradicated and controlled, whilst officially being allowed. Exactly in the same way as is happening nowadays in China and before than in Nazi Germany. Going eastward however the situation was far far worse and considering this is on a cementry this is likely more a reminder of that then the situation in Czechoslovakia. In the USSR proper over 50.000 clergy were for example executed for not following (crazy) laws regarding religion. (cont.)
    – David Mulder
    Sep 12, 2016 at 10:48
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    Either way, if you want to get a bit of a general idea I can recommend these artifcles on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… (and whilist you read that remember that those things aren't something of the dark ages, but still applicable to various parts of the world today, if you want to read more about that I would recommend the Open Doors organization)
    – David Mulder
    Sep 12, 2016 at 10:48
  • @svick, I guess it would be useful if you added the original check wording to your answer, so that it's searchable. (On top of the English translation you already have for non-Czech speakers).
    – Grzegorz Oledzki
    Sep 12, 2016 at 11:38
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Action K is the name for the project of illegal elimination of monasteries and male catholic monastic orders that took place in the communist Czechoslovakia in April 1950. It was preceded by the staged trial of Machalka et al. involving order superiors, intended to provide ideological justification for the general public. 219 monastic houses were closed down and 2376 monks were interned during the action in Czechoslovakia. Movable and immovable property of orders was confiscated (though for real properties, this formally happened only later). The action resulted in a huge loss of cultural heritage as several monasteries started to fall into disrepair and others were intentionally destroyed; a lot of valuable printings disappeared and movable properties were misappropriated, for example an ancient furniture and so on. Soon after Action K, Action R followed. Action R was slower and it was aimed against nunneries. The last one, Action B was meant to formally eliminate all orders, but in did not materialize to a large extent. The first night when the monasteries were attacked and closed down has been nicknamed ‘St. Bartholomew’s Day of Monks’.

http://www.mistapametinaroda.cz/?lc=cs&id=217&ls=en

  1. – 14. 4. 1950 – "Action K" – forceful concentration of Czech monks, List of witnesses: http://www.pametnaroda.cz/anniversary/detail/id/42?locale=en_GB
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