The Freedom Lecture is a public debate on a current social topic with outstanding personalities that has been held annually at the

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the sec ...

in Brno,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

on the occasion of International Students´ Day (Student Seventeen). The tradition of the debates was established in 2014, in the year of the 25th anniversary of the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in November 1989. The Freedom Lecture is organized in remembrance of students and professors around the world whose lives were extinguished by aggressors. The main aim of the Freedom Lecture is to inspire creativity and promote active citizenship while helping students realize their dreams and encourage their efforts for a better and more peaceful world. Founders of the Charta 77 Foundation

František Janouch František () is a masculine given name of Czechs, Czech origin. It is a cognate of Francis (given name), Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz (given name), Franz. People with the name include: *Frank Daniel (František Daniel) (1926–1996), ...

and Ada Kolman or the German activist Rainer Höss with the Israeli journalist Tal Bashan have participated in the debates. The Freedom Lecture is organized by the

and the Alumni and Friends of Masaryk University in the

University Cinema Scala University Cinema Scala is a cinema in Brno in the Czech Republic. It is located at Moravské náměstí (Moravian Square) in the basement of building 127/3, city quarter Brno-střed and neighbourhood Brno-město. It has been in operation sin ...

in Brno.

History

The tradition of the debates was established in 2014, in the year of the 25th anniversary of the

in November 1989. Alumni and Friends of Masaryk University invited the founders of the Charta 77 Foundation

and Ada Kolman from Stockholm, Sweden. The main goal was to show the history of the foundation and how dissidents in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

were supported from Sweden between 1978 and 1990. The 2015 Freedom Lecture took place on the 70th anniversary of the end of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in connection with the Year of Reconciliation initiative organized by the City of Brno. The debate between the German activist Rainer Höss, the grandson of

Rudolf Höss Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving co ...

, the commandant of the concentration camp

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and the Israeli journalist Tal Bashan, the daughter of

Ruth Bondy Ruth Bondy (19 June 1923 – 14 November 2017) was a Czech-Israeli journalist and translator. Bondy was a Holocaust survivor who wrote for the Israeli newspaper Davar and translated books written in Czech to Hebrew. She was awarded the Sokolov Aw ...

, the writer who survived imprisonment in several Nazi concentration camps, focused on the topic of Humanity vs Barbarity. The Freedom Lecture is organized by Martin Glogar, Dušan Fiala and Petr Dimitrov from the

and Don Sparling from Alumni and Friends of Masaryk University. The Freedom Lectures have been held in the

in Brno. Debates are supported by the Theodor Herzl Distinguished Chair at the Masaryk University.

Debates & speakers

References

External links

Masaryk University

Alumni and Friends of Masaryk University

Year of Reconciliation / Jahr der Versöhnung
{{Masaryk University, state=autocollapse University and college lecture series Annual events in the Czech Republic Masaryk University Autumn events in the Czech Republic 2014 establishments in the Czech Republic Recurring events established in 2014 Student rights