Historians praise German president's apology for Lidice

Prague, June 8 (CTK) - Historians and analysts addressed by CTK Saturday praised the letter of apology German President Joachim Gauck sent to his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus over the massacres in the Czech Lidice and Lezaky villages perpetrated by German Nazis during World War Two.

Gauck expressed admiration for the courage of the Czechoslovak paratroopers who committed an attempt on the life of Deputy Reichsprotector of Bohemia and Moravia Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on May 27, 1942.

Lidice, central Bohemia, was razed to the ground on June 10 and Lezaky, east Bohemia, was burnt down on June 24 by Nazi forces.

Gauck wrote that thinking of the despicable terrorist acts in Lidice and Lezaky fills him with a deep sorrow and shame, and that Germany is aware of its historical responsibility.

Gauck wrote that the horrors of World War Two arising from Germany have left over deep wounds.

Klaus said he appreciated Gauck's letter.

"On both sides, these are the right words in the right place," Oldrich Tuma, director of the Institute for Contemporary History, said.

Tuma said Gauck's letter was a breakthrough step.

"As it is a man who cared for victims of a regime for one half of his life, he is, to say, an expert. This is why he has a bigger understanding," Tuma said.

"This is something Germans did towards Poles long ago, but not towards Czechs. It is a great gesture," Tuma said, adding that Germans did condemn the massacre in Lidice because it could not be overlooked, but simultaneously claimed that otherwise, Czechs had quite a good time during the protectorate era (1939-1945), "did not have to wage war and had plenty of food."

Tuma said previous German apologies often also referred to "Czech crimes" perpetrated against Germans.

"After the long 70 years, this was one of the most human statements from the German side," historian Pavel Suk said.

Suk said such things should be "spoken about because the young often do not know much about them."

German students in particular do not have information on what the German armed forces, above all the SS units, perpetrated not only in Bohemia and Moravia, but also on the eastern front.

Ignorance may bring about a repetition of history, Suk said.

Political scientist Petr Just said in the past German politicians were making "compulsory diplomatic apologies."

"Gauck is the first to have spoken in a quite natural way and perhaps in the way he feels it. He is not afraid of criticising his own nation and its past, which still poses a problem to some in Germany. His letter has aroused confidence," Just said.

Political analyst Bohumil Dolezal said with his apology, Gauck has taken the wind out of the sails of Czech nationalists with undemocratic leanings who would like to open a gap between the Czech Republic and Germany.

"From the political viewpoint, it is a good move," Dolezal said.

Dolezal said he expected Klaus to say in his answer that Czechs, too, "do not have any entirely clear conscience."

It is typical of Klaus not to have done so, Dolezal said.

"Germans seem to be here to make apologies, while we are here to be given the apologies. If they fail to apologise one year, Czechs feel offended," Dolezal said sarcastically.

In the early 1990s, Dolezal was an aide to Klaus, but they later fell out.