Memorial to the fallen in WWI, Svinary

WWI had a great impact on the life of the inhabitants of Svinary. More than fifty men were drafted and fourteen of them died in the war. After the establishment of the First Czechoslovak Republic, discussions began about erecting a memorial to the war victims. After many meetings of the municipal council, a committee was elected to build the memorial. The committee consisted of four members – the chairman and the mayor Josef Medek, the treasurer Václav Mencl, Václav Konečný, and Josef Tomek.
 

The committee then searched for a suitable location for the monument. The land of the Škarytkas next to the house No. 39 was chosen. At the next municipal meeting, ideas of the local inhabitants for the monument were discussed – it was supposed to express the ideal of a free republic, the desire for freedom, but it was also to be dedicated to the fallen and celebrate their strength and heroism. The committee approached the renowned sculptor Josef Václav Škoda from Hradec Králové, who agreed to design monument.
 

Škoda designed the monument as a figure of a French legionnaire on guard on a massive plinth, looking into the future and leaning on a Hussite pavis with the following inscription: “Always stand bravely on the front guard, faithful Czech man.” On the front side of the pedestal, there is the Czechoslovak state emblem, a two-tailed lion, and on the sides, there are the names of the fallen in WWI. “Fišer Josef, Fišer Václav, Kubín Alois, Kubín Karel, Kupka Josef, Mencl František, Novotný Alois, Rufr Václav, Slezák Josef, Smotlacha Václav, Střemcha Jan, Šrámek Jaroslav, Veverka Josef and Novotný Josef”. The back of the monument bears the following text: “To those who fell in 1914–1918 from their fellow citizens. Made by V. Škoda, sculptor. In Hradec Králové, 20 May 1921”.
 

The monument was unveiled on 29 May 1921. The ceremony was opened with a large parade, after which the then mayor of the village gave a speech. Then the poem “Daddy is not coming home” was recited by one of the orphans. Afterwards, Lieutenant Oto Bartl, the education officer of the 4th Infantry Division from Hradec Králové, had a speech. The celebration was concluded with a concert in the garden of Jan Novák’s house no. 19, organized by František Bastl from Třebechovice pod Orebem.
 

Two voluntary collections, which brought CZK 1 576 and CZK 522, were organized to build the monument and to organize the ceremony. The municipal treasury added CZK 1,000 and the proceeds from the unveiling ceremony combined with other small earnings of CZK 7,568.90 to the two sums.
 

Based on the decision of the municipal council of 25 May 1935, the monument was provided with an iron polychrome fence in the state colors, with a small gate bearing the state emblem and the date 1914–1918. The fence was made by J. Černý’s company from Třebechovice pod Orebem.
 

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, the monument was deprived of all state symbols. However, this was not enough for the German authorities at the time, so they later decided to remove it. Fortunately, the monument was not destroyed, but buried in the ground. After WWII, the monument was re-erected and on, 28 June 1945, it was unveiled again. During the ceremony, local liberated prisoners from concentration camps were officially welcomed with glory: lieutenant colonel Bohumil Jan Šrámek, the executive of the district firefighters’ union Josef Janeba, and Emil Hamáček, a local Jewish citizen. Subsequently, a plaque was added to the front of the memorial with the inscription “1939–1945, František Heyduk, Lieutenant Colonel Bohumil Šrámek”.

 

In 2012, the monument was renovated by Josef Faltus.
 

JFB