The crosses on the Průhonice town square were already mentioned by the Prague Monitor this week. However, their story continues. Now, their demise, orchestrated by the town’s volunteer fire department, stirred up a heated debate online. The volunteer firemen are receiving hatred-filled vulgar messages for their deed. To many, the crosses on the square, despite being temporary, have been a representation of their dead loved ones, or even just all the suffering they had to go through during the pandemic themselves. Since there are no official memorials to the victims of the last 17 months, this sentiment is understandable. Also, many criticise that chalk crosses would have been washed down by the by the first rain anyway, so washing them down with fire hoses is probably a waste of public resources and experienced manpower. On the other hand, the volunteer firefighters were ordered to do so by the operational officer of the state firefighters, and as volunteers and subordinates, they can not overturn such a command. Thus, some defend the men who washed down the crosses, and ask for all the hate to come to a halt, or at least be redirected at those who gave out the command to wash the crosses. Those who made the crosses, Million Moments for Democracy, cannot be legally forced to wash them, but some still request this. Their defence is that the crosses were designed to disappear in a short time period. Since the government wanted them gone sooner, it became their problem.
