61 years on - the Czech Republic commemorates the end of WWII - 09-05-2006 - Radio Prague
On Monday the Czech Republic commemorated the 61st anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Over the weekend, ceremonies were held all over the country in honour of those Czechs who lost their lives, and people celebrated the end of over six years of occupation. Amongst the events which took place was the full military burial of wartime Prime Minister Alois Elias in Prague, 64 years after his execution by the Nazis.
Vitkov memorial, photo: CTK Vitkov memorial, photo: CTK
The 8th of May 1945. Czech Radio announces the arrival of Soviet tanks in Prague and the liberation of the Czechoslovak capital from the Nazi occupation. This marked the end of one of the most brutal periods in Czech history, a war which claimed the lives of 150,000 Czechs, 77,000 of whom were holocaust victims.
One unusual event to mark the anniversary was the burial of the Prime Minister of the wartime Protectorate, Alois Elias, at Prague's Vitkov memorial, no less than 64 years after his execution. Elias was the only wartime prime minister to be sentenced to death by the Nazis in occupied Europe, accused of "treason and espionage". O

Of course, for a long time, the end of WWII was celebrated on May 9. Commemorating the actual liberation of Prague by the Red Army. Another significant date was the "Prague uprising" which happened on May 5. Also commemorated is the liberation of Pilsen by US troops which often comes with a bittersweet "what if" - what would have happened if they had continued on to Prague and made the Czech lands part of the Western rather than Soviet sphere of influence.