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Scenes from the streets

Nov. 10 events played out differently for various groups

November 14th, 2007 issue

The police presence

Security forces used air patrol, armored vehicles, water cannons, dogs, riot squads and sound and smoke grenades to maintain control throughout the afternoon and evening.
KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
Police formed a barricade on Pařížská street, one of the many fronts staged throughout the afternoon and evening by the 1,915-member force.
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“There were a few minor skirmishes, but that’s to be expected with so many people showing up,” says Prague police spokeswoman Eva Brožová.
The first arrests of the day occurred around noon on Sokolská street in Prague 2, when police searched about 200 ski mask–clad right-wing extremists, many of whom were carrying weapons.
KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
Police also pacified several minor outbreaks of violence in Old Town, including an incident in which a young, right-wing extremist produced a gas gun and waived it at the crowd.
“An abundance of weapons, including cap guns, pocket knives, homemade explosives and Army paintball guns was confiscated throughout the event,” Brožová says.
While most of the extremists headed home shortly after dark, police made additional arrests on Jungmannovo náměstí in Prague 1 after a group of anarchists started throwing lose pavement stones at police officers.
In the end, the day left one police officer hospitalized after sustaining injuries at the protest, and one police vehicle damaged.

The Jewish gatherings

Simon Chang/For The Prague Post
Jindřich Heřkovič, of Prague, who lost his family in the concentration camps, was pleased by the show of support for the Jewish community: "It's very nice to see the people around here."
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Hundreds of supporters turned out for a pair of afternoon events meant to commemorate Kristallnacht and to protest the march. Organized by groups such as the Prague Jewish Community and Jewish Liberal Union, one was held in front of the Old-New Synagogue, the other on Old Town Square. Speakers included Senator Bohuslav Sobotka, Jewish community leader František Bányai, Cardinal Miroslav Vlk and writer Arnošt Lustig, as well as Holocaust survivors such as Oldřich Stránský, who wore the striped prison garb he’d been given during his detention in Sachsenhausen 62 years earlier. They largely called for remembrance of history’s harsh lessons — especially in the face of current events such as the day’s march. Among those who gathered — many wearing gold stars, waving Israeli flags and holding anti-extremist signs — it was clear the speakers’ words landed on sensitive ears. “Seventeen people from my family died in the camps,” said Bret Hampl, 50, of Prague. “It’s not possible [to allow] the Nazis to go through my town.” American exchange student Tanya Silverman offered a younger perspective. “It’s one thing to hear about these issues in class,” said the New York resident, whose Charles University professor had urged his students to attend. “It’s another to actually come and see it. Being here brought it all together.”

The neo-Nazi/anarchist conflict

More than 2,000 members of left-wing organizations attended the event Saturday, according to Antifa, a local anti-Fascist group. Assembling at various points in the city, the anarchists — hailing both from Prague and abroad — vastly outnumbered the right-wing extremists, who gathered in a group of about 25 outside the Jewish quarter.
VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
A right-wing protester was apprehended by police after waving a gas gun in a crowd.
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According to Antifa, “the neo-Nazis didn’t get through to the Jewish quarter — half of them allowed themselves to be arrested due to bad organization, and the other half helplessly wandered through the city.” At one point, a separate group of 100 or so neo-Nazis assembled in the Vysočany district. The leftist march began at 3 p.m. on náměstí Republiky and ended outside the Jewish quarter, where the group clashed with neo-Nazis and police. Several anarchists were arrested after demolishing a parked police vehicle on Břehová street. “This is a rally to stand up, to show that we care about our community,” said one anarchist, who declined to give his name. He stressed that the actions of his group, Anti-Fascist Action Prague, weren’t intended as being pro-Israel, but anti-hatred.
The neo-Nazis outside the Jewish quarter were more reticent about their motives. “We are protesting [the presence of] Czech soldiers in Iraq,” said one who didn’t give his name. When asked why they wanted to march, he shrugged and added, “That’s my personal thing.”


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