Litoměřice: New commemorations for victims of anti-German massacres of 1945 during the “Jubilee of Reconciliation”

by Bohumil Petrík

Litoměřice – On July 31, 1945, shortly after the surrender of Nazi Germany, an ammunition depot exploded in Ústí nad Labem, in what was then Czechoslovakia, killing 27 people. The incident was followed by a manhunt targeting the local German minority and extending to anyone who spoke German. The violence was fueled by hatred that had built up during the Second World War and by the prejudice of “collective guilt” to be imposed on all Germans for the atrocities committed by the Nazis. An enraged crowd in the city shot people and threw the alleged “culprits” into the river.

Eighty-one years later, Prague Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl and German Ambassador to the Czech Republic Peter Reuss joined representatives of German associations and local residents in Ústí nad Labem. In the Czech city, not far from the German border, they gathered to commemorate the victims of the post-war massacre.

At the time, official reports spoke of dozens of German-speaking people (between 40 and 80) who had lost their lives either as a result of the explosion or by drowning. German sources, however, speak of at least 2,000 German victims in the Ústí nad Labem pogrom. An investigation by the authorities was closed without reaching any conclusion or resulting in convictions.

The many decades that have passed show how long and uncertain the processes of reconciliation and healing can be between peoples wounded and divided by war and hatred. The Archbishop of Prague and the German ambassador had also taken part in commemorations of massacres carried out between May and June 1945, when the Czechoslovak army killed at least 763 Germans in Postoloprty.

In Ústí nad Labem, Archbishop Přibyl said: “Our task, as ordinary people, is not to identify the guilty, but to seek to heal the wounds.” In his view, commemorating tragic events is of fundamental importance, especially for survivors, and can contribute to reconciliation.

The commemoration is part of a series of events marking 2026 as the Jubilee Year of Reconciliation, particularly between Czechs and Germans, proclaimed by the Diocese of Litoměřice. The Jubilee was announced by Stanislav Přibyl when he was still Bishop of Litoměřice. He was subsequently appointed Archbishop of Prague and became apostolic administrator of his former diocese.

The most recent commemoration in Ústí nad Labem began with the unveiling of a memorial plaque near the former sugar factory and continued on the footbridge of the railway bridge. Following the speeches, a prayer was held in Czech and German, followed by the laying of wreaths.

“We commemorate the events, but above all we must remember the people who lost their lives,” the prelate said. “Human life has immense and immeasurable value. I would like us to see every person as a person, not merely as a representative of a political or religious group.”

The commemoration concluded with Holy Mass at the local church. The events of July 1945 were largely ignored or interpreted unilaterally by the Czech side.

The next event of the Jubilee of Reconciliation will take place today, Saturday 8 August, in the small town of Svor, where Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague will preside over an ecumenical commemoration.
(Fides News Agency, 8/8/2026)

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