Читать книгу Operation Danube Reconsidered - Группа авторов - Страница 4

My father Ladislav created in August 1968 a set of photographs of the Warsaw Pact troops’ invasion to Czechoslovakia. Among these, the famous Man with bare chest before an occupation tank—a picture that spread around the world and before being almost completely forgotten. Just like the story of the occupation of Czechoslovakia.

The largest military operation after World War Two has been underestimated for a long time as an insignificant part of history and the most recognisable picture of a Slovak author wandered around the world nameless. However, the truth lay somewhere in the memory of Slovaks and Czechs, while justice for that truth awaited its moment. This came in the year 1989.

The exhibitions of my father’s photographs revealed the true face of the occupation. Justice showed itself in the trials in Germany as well as in Slovakia. The pictures of August 1968 became, together with the name of their author, a part of our visual memory and cultural heritage. However, in order to pay the debt to our history and our ancestors, it is necessary to answer also the questions of the causes of the occupation beginning with the word Why …?

Why were the Soviets so scared of the Prague Spring?

Why did they send such an unreasonably large, half-a-million strong army?

Finally, why did they name this military intervention after the river Danube?

The answers to these questions were hidden in the archives belonging both to the countries who were our aggressors and to those who had been our allies. Together, also thanks to the work of our non-profit organization, these answers appear in the pages of the book you are holding in your hands right now. Can you find them in the texts of the writers from Serbia, Russian Federation, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and other countries? Will these new pieces of information be an inspiration for you in your search for truth about August 1968 in the future?

I do hope so …

Peter Bielik

Head of Camera Obskura, n.o.