Monument to the fallen in WWI and WWII in Stěžery

With the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, the village of Stěžery began to discuss the erection of a monument to the fallen in WWI. On 14 July 1929, the village saw the erection of this monument in front of the municipal office next to the town school and the local pub. The monument was made as an allegorical sculpture consisting of three male bodies. The first statue depicts the Czech people in chains under the persecution of Austria, the second statue symbolizes the dawn and awakening of the Czech nation, and the third statue is an allegory of freedom breaking free from the chains of the monarchy. On the massive concrete plinth is carved a list of the fallen: “Honor to the National Martyrs, 1914–1918, Russian leg. Bohdanetsky Vinc. 1882, Italian leg. Jäger Josef 1897, Bednář Josef 1880, Bendl Frant. 1880, Bendl Karel 1886, Blažek Frant. 1882, Drnek Frant. 1894, Honc Frant. 1882, Honc Karel 1890, Jiroušek Jan 1895, Jiroušek Václ. 1893, Matoušek Václ. 1875, Pacovský Emil 1892, Pilnáček Frant. 1877, Pluhař Josef 1895, Pultar Frant. 1894, Radoň Jan 1895, Šanda Frant. 1879, Šanda Josef 1874, Šanda Václav 1892, Šejvl Josef 1894, Šotola Josef 1872, Tikal Václav 1878, Tomášek Václ. 1890, Ulrych Josef 1894.”

 

After the end of WWII, a metal box with photographs of Josef Lhoták, who died of typhus in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, was embedded in the memorial. The next person whose photographs were placed in the metal box was Rudolf Jánský who died in the Auschwitz extermination camp. Subsequently, the names of the local victims of WWII were carved on the memorial: “1939–1945, Jánský Rudolf 1906, +1943 in Auschwitz, Flora and Josef Pacovský +1941 in Dachau, Lhoták Josef 1913, +1945 in Theresienstadt.”

 

The ornamental memorial garden was maintained by the local school. There were flower beds and climbing roses, which were regularly pruned, and a memorial lime tree, planted in 1919 to mark the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic.

Until 1989, lantern parades of the citizens of the village were organized from the monument. The area around the monument was fenced off and in 1998, the fence was repaired. In 2004, the monument was completed with an inscription about the Pacovský family murdered in the concentration and extermination camp in Auschwitz.

 

In 2019, the monument was restored by the restorer and academic sculptor Kateřina Čiháková Myšková.

 

JFB