Czech Education Minister Mikuláš Bek Calls for Deeper Reconciliation at Sudeten German Congress in Germany

Reims, The Gulf Observer: In a historic gesture of reconciliation, Czech Education Minister Mikuláš Bek addressed the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft congress in the Bavarian city of Reims over the weekend, greeting participants as “compatriots” and acknowledging both the tragedies of World War II and the injustices of the post-war expulsions.

Speaking on behalf of the Czech government, Minister Bek emphasized that while Czechs, Germans, and Sudeten Germans have made considerable progress toward reconciliation, three major tasks still lie ahead: defending Western values through a stronger European Union and NATO, confronting the resurgence of nationalism, and fostering mutual understanding through language learning.

Minister Bek’s remarks marked one of the strongest official Czech acknowledgements to date of the suffering caused by the post-war expulsion of the Sudeten German population—an issue that has historically strained Czech-German relations.

At the same conference, the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft awarded its prestigious Human Rights Prize to the Meeting Brno festival. Since 2016, the multi-genre festival has become a leading voice in Czech-German reconciliation efforts, organizing the annual Reconciliation Pilgrimage that symbolically retraces—in reverse—the route taken by expelled German-speaking residents of Brno in 1945, from Pohořelice to Brno.

Festival director Petr Kalousek received a standing ovation after extending a heartfelt invitation to host the next Landsmannschaft congress in Brno, a gesture widely seen as a potential milestone in healing historical divisions.

The conference reaffirmed a growing commitment among both Czech and Sudeten German communities to build a future based on shared values, historical truth, and cultural dialogue. As Minister Bek noted, “The past must inform our unity, not divide it.”