Second Garden of Peace was opened in France

The 100th celebration of War Veterans Day in France is gaining a remarkable Czech dimension. On the 104th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the Second Czechoslovak Peace Garden opens near the village of Vouziers, in the Ardennes. which is called "White Mist".  It forms part of a large‑scale project to link the former frontline in France from the Belgian border to the Swiss border, in a public space. The Karel Komárek Family Foundation (KKFF) has supported the creation of the symbolic reminder of the Czech and Slovak soldiers who fought alongside the armed forces of the countries of the so‑called Troika.

Significant Czech traces from the First World War lead to the cemetery in the village of Chestres near the town of Vouziers. Here, the Second Czechoslovak Garden of Peace opens on November 11^th in memory of the fallen Czechoslovak Legionnaires. This is taking place on the site of the famous Battle of Terron during the First World War. The 21^st and 22^nd Infantry Brigade of Czechoslovak Legionnaires transferred from Russia, volunteers and former prisoners of war clashed with German troops here. At the end of October 1918, 282 Czechoslovaks died here. National Day celebrations were held in France for the first time four years later.

The Karel Komárek Family Foundation, which supported the creation of the new memorial with 40,000 euros, has been helping to restore public spaces in various places for a long time. The creation of the second Peace Garden is in line with its mission to care for the legacy of our ancestors who fought for our nation's freedom and democratic values. In that context, it is interesting that the battle took place on the very day that the independence of the Czechoslovak state was declared.

"At a time when we took freedom and democracy for granted, war broke out in Ukraine, which showed the necessity to cherish these values with even more passion than we had imagined until then. The opening of the Second Czechoslovak Garden of Peace, allows us to remember the brave deeds of our soldiers, and it also provides an opportunity to reflect on what we can still do so that we do not have to become afraid to express our opinions and freely develop our own potential," said Karel Komárek, founder of the KKFF.

The image of the Garden of Peace is mainly determined by the path leading through a high and narrow ditch, which is set in a grove of 282 birch trees. The abundance of trunks and branches evokes in visitors to the natural monument the feeling that they are passing through a fog that made conditions on the battlefield difficult, and that they cannot see because they have been blinded by toxic gas. The birch trees gradually disappear to make way for lime trees, the national symbol of the Czechs and Slovaks.

"The national holiday of War Veterans' Day is always a big event in France. The poppies, referred to in the famous poem "In Flanders Fields" by the Canadian doctor John McCrae, are pinned on by people all over the country. After the Czech Republic and Slovakia, France has the most war graves of Czech and Slovak veterans. The graves are cared for by our compatriots in associations and societies, in full symbiosis with French towns and regions. The peace gardens that are gradually being created show the relationship of our citizens to the memory of those who fought for our independence. It is important not to let the troubled past fade from memory. I am glad that this valuable architectural project continues in many places," said Michel Fleischmann, the Czech Ambassador to France.

In addition to representatives of the Foundation, the opening of the garden was attended by Michal Suchánek from the Czech Embassy in Paris, Igor Slobodník, Slovak Ambassador to France, political representatives of the Ardennes Department and the Vouziers municipality, and representatives of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. The partner town of Vouziers is Ratíškovice in the Hodonín region. Its mayor, Martin Šupálek, also attended the ceremony.

The site was architecturally designed by SLLA studio from Bratislava and Divo studio from Brno. The intention was not to create a clearly identifiable monument, but a pleasant place from which each visitor would take away a slightly different feeling. "It is important to us that the place 'knows how to age' and that it gains in beauty with age and lasts for a long time. Collaborating on the project helped us to understand the difficult history of the first half of the 20th century and the traces left by the Czechs and Slovaks in the huge war conflicts," concluded Ján Augustín from the Divo studio.