Liberation80: Trnava Commemorates 80th Anniversary of Its Liberation

Trnava, April 2 (TASR) - A commemorative event to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Trnava was held on Tuesday (April 1), with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument of the Liberators on SNP Square in Trnava forming part of this. The city was liberated during WWII on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. Some 120 soldiers gave their lives for the liberation of Trnava. Trnava vice-mayor Eva Nemcovska in her speech underlined that 80 years ago a period of fascist occupation ended in the city and a new stage of history began. "The people who survived the horrors of war felt huge relief, hoping for a better tomorrow," she said. However, the post-war period brought new challenges that needed to be faced. "Freedom is not a matter of course, freedom must be protected, cultivated and passed on to future generations," she stressed. Trnava region governor Jozef Viskupic pointed out that human victims were behind the peace that was won. "Statements about peace and freedom mustn't be just empty phrases that we use during commemorative events. They must be lived, they must be alive, they must remind us of how precious values ​​like peace and freedom are," said Viskupic in his speech. Not long ago we couldn't have even imagined that we would witness military aggression in the heart of Europe in the 21st century, he said. "The resistance shown to the aggressor at the time and the help of the allies also indicate the framework of today's responses," he added. ko/df