Domažlice has a new memorial for liberation, initiated by the families of soldiers from the USA

Domažlice – In the center of Domažlice, under the garden of the Chodsko Castle, a new liberation memorial was unveiled today. The initiative for its creation came from the families of four American veterans who were granted honorary citizenship of the city in 2016. From the USA, they contributed 423,000 crowns from a fundraising campaign, and the city provided a similar amount. Domažlice, which had only a memorial plaque until now, approached Klatovy sculptor Václav Fiala, who created the work in six months from a multi-ton granite monolith. The date of the unveiling was chosen in agreement with the town hall to coincide with the anniversary of the Allied forces' landing in Normandy. Due to the pandemic, it was not possible for the Americans to come for the unveiling of the memorial on May 5, the day the city was liberated in 1945.

The memorial stands at the site where the first American soldiers arrived in Domažlice. "The combination of a memorial with a place to sit, rest, and reflect on events that, although in the past, I believe still speak to people living today, I consider a great idea," said Mayor Zdeněk Novák (Association for the City of Domažlice). The entire Chodska Street under the Chodsko Castle was filled with people and historical military equipment today. The memorial was also blessed by the local priest.

According to Fiala, a letter arrived at the Domažlice town hall from America last December, in which veterans from the 2nd Infantry Division, who liberated Domažlice and have returned to the city for years, proposed the town hall create a reminder of this event. The intention was supported with a financial contribution. "There was one more option on the table, as they wrote: You can create some monument, or invite all citizens for a Domažlice beer and that great rye bread you bake there. The city leadership chose the first option, and during the work, which took place under extreme time pressure, I sometimes asked myself whether they shouldn't have opted for the second option instead…," the author humorously stated.

According to Fiala, this is a monument with a strong human story, and he was very much looking forward to how those who brought the idea would like it. "To James Duncan, who smoked his pipe on the balcony of the Domažlice tower in May 1945. To Herman Geist, who, at a high age, still communicates with us from New York, and to the descendants of Commander Robert Gilbert, who lived to be 101 years old and left his military legacy to the Domažlice museum," he said. Matthew Konop, who won the hearts of the Chods by speaking to them in their dialect taught to him by his grandfather, did not live to see the unveiling.

The memorial consists of stone benches and a table as a place for gathering. On the plaque are the names of the four liberators, honorary citizens of Domažlice. An American military helmet and a traditional Chod hat, both made of granite, lie on the table. On the plaque next to the helmet is the inscription: We came not to take anything of yours. We came with an Idea: Freedom (Nepřišli jsme, abychom vám něco brali. Přišli jsme s nápadem: Svoboda). The larger part of the monument is a slightly wavy four-ton granite slab, 2.5 meters wide and 1.65 meters high, with a thank you inscription, the date of liberation, and fragments of the American flag on one side and the Czech flag on the other side. "Konop's grandson Patrick Dewaine, in response to the proposed design of the memorial, wrote that the combination of the military helmet and the Chod hat is amazing, as while his grandfather wore this helmet, his great-grandfather wore the Chod hat," said Novák.

For the last 30 years, Domažlice has regularly celebrated the liberation by the American army, with participation from American World War II veterans, their families, and representatives of the sister city of Two Rivers, where the first people from Domažlice came in the mid-19th century. In the town on the shores of Lake Michigan in the state of Wisconsin, descendants of the Chods still live.

According to city councilor Rudolf Špoták (Pirates), there will be celebrations at the memorial every year, similar to the Plzeň Thanks, America! "Domažlice did not yet have a memorial of gratitude. We only have memorials dedicated to the victims of Nazism, thus World War I and II," he stated. Only near Újezd is there a reminder of the last fallen American pilot.