| Monument To Soviet Tank Crews |
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The monument, originally in Štefánik square in the Smíchov district, was dedicated on 29 July 1945. The audience, including Soviet General Ivan Konev and top municipal representatives, admired a tank on a massive 5 metre stone pedestal with a barrel pointing menacingly westwards. The monument was built to commemorate the arrival of Konev's First Ukrainian Front, namely the Fourth Tank Brigade led by Lelyushenko on 9 May 1945. The tank, labeled with white number 23, was later represented by the communists as a T-34 tank, the famous Soviet tank that made its reputation in the Battle Of Kursk , as well as the first tank that came to Prague. In reality, the tank was a brand new IS-2 tank, a type that was later used in the the campaign against Japan . The number was not correct either. Following the communist Coup in 1948 the monument was raised to the status of ''national cultural monument'', commemorating the liberation of Prague by the Red Army and the square was renamed to Square of Soviet Tank Crews. After the Velvet Revolution and the abolition of Censorship , the legacy of the tank was openly discussed. The major force that saved the Prague Uprising was Russian Liberation Army led by Andrey Vlasov . Vlasov's soldiers captured the Ruzyně airport, where German Me 262 jets were deployed, and took the left bank of the Vltava including Smíchov. On May 9, the only aim of Wehrmacht military leaders was to get safely to the American occupation zone. For many citizens the tank symbolized the Soviet invasion that ended that Prague Spring in 1968 and the following permanent deployment of Soviet military units rather than the events in World War II. In February 1991, historian Pavel Bělina noted that there were "''neither moral nor historical grounds''" for preserving the monument {Link without Title} . On the night from 27 to 28 April 1991, art student David Černý with his friends painted the tank pink. He was arrested for vandalizing national cultural monument and the tank was re-painted green. However, several members of the newly elected parliament, in protest against the arrest, re-painted the tank pink. The national monument status was abolished, Černý was released, and the tank removed. It is currently located in Military museum Lešany by Týnec Nad Sázavou . Černý, who finished his studies and an became enfant terrible of Czech visual art, later proposed a new statue, a pink tank digging into the ground. Following a fierce opposition from Prime Minister Miloš Zeman and Russian ambassador Vasil Jakovlev, the municipality representatives abolished the project. The statue was finally installed in spa resort Lázně Bohdaneč , where the occupying Soviet army was deployed until the early 1990s. On 17 October 2002, a fountain "Propadliště času" was installed on the spot. The spurting water should have purified everything and let the people forget. However, the people did not forget. In 2004, a CowParade was held in Prague. One of the Fiberglass cows was painted khaki and provided with five-pointed red stars and white numbers 23 on both flanks, with the intention to paint it publicly pink later on. The cow was vandalized and the happening did not take place. On 8 May 2005, when the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War was celebrated, Communist Party leader Miroslav Grebeníček organized a gathering there. His supporters, mostly pensioners, put Lilac s on the spot of the former monument and sung '' The Internationale ''. EXTERNAL LINKS
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