17 November - big day in history

3 things happened on this day:

• 1939: Nazi crackdown on students
• 1989: Start of Velvet Revolution
• 2007: Eric Korte arrives to visit

1939: Nazi crackdown on students

Celebrating the anniversary of independent Czechoslovakia on 28 October 1939, many students protested the Nazi occupation in 1939. The Nazis broke up the protest by firing into the crowd, seriously wounding a student Jan Opletal.

Opletal's funeral became an even bigger protest and on the night of the 16th November the Nazis closed many universities. They later sent off some 1,200 students to concentration camps. Since then, 17 Nov is International Students Day.

1989: Start of Velvet Revolution

Fifty years later, around 15,000 students held a candle vigil to honor Jan Opletal. They were again protesting their occupiers, this time, the Communists.

Students were approved to march in a south neighborhood of Prague. Instead of stopping, however, they tried to continue to Wenceslas Square. The police brutally stopped students just a few blocks away, at Narodni Trida. This crackdown shocked the people awake, starting a chain of events leading to the Velvet Revolution - a bloodless end to Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.

2007: Eric Korte Arrives
We'll probably tick off some people with comparing these 3 events, but hey, it my blog. The third event is happening today (well, I'm writing this a week in advance...).
Eric arrives this morning, ~9:30 am. I'll pick him at up at the airport and ..., if he's lucky, I'll only march him for the last few kilometers along the students' path (after we drop off his bags).

Last time we saw Eric, we were all hiking through Red Rock National Conservation Area, outside Las Vegas. Here's a pic of Eric & Ella in April 2006. I'll post a new picture soon.

Here's his airplane coming in ...care of GoogleEarth (click to expand):









...I should get going to the airport. later