The 76th Sudetendeutscher Tag — the annual meeting of ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II and their descendants — is scheduled to take place in Brno from May 22 to 25 as part of the Meeting Brno festival of reconciliation. The decision to host the Sudeten German Association in the Czech city has provoked protests, a symbolic parliamentary declaration and a heated public debate about history, memory and reconciliation.
Czech deputies in the lower house approved a non-binding declaration opposing the convention, citing concerns about “historical revisionism” and the “relativization of Nazi crimes.” The motion passed 73 to none, with four abstentions. Center-right opposition parties boycotted the parliamentary debate, accusing the governing coalition — which includes the far-right SPD — of politicising the issue.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who previously described the gathering in neutral terms, has said the event is “not a fortunate development,” a shift that opponents say reflects political pressure. In Brno itself, hundreds have protested: about 500 people took part in an April demonstration organised by the SPD, which opposes the meeting and accuses Sudeten German organisations of trying to overturn the postwar Beneš decrees that stripped many ethnic Germans of citizenship and confiscated property.
Bernd Posselt, chairman of the Sudeten German Association, rejects that accusation. Posselt — a former Bavarian MEP for the Christian Social Union — says the association no longer seeks to challenge the postwar order and describes the Brno meeting as an effort at honest historical dialogue and reconciliation. He points to revisions to the association’s charter in 2015 that removed references to reparations and land reclamation. Posselt has criticized the parliamentary declaration and said the gathering will go ahead.
“At a time when war and nationalism are growing worldwide, this meeting between us and our Czech friends is very important,” Posselt told DW, calling the event an opportunity to acknowledge Nazi crimes (including those committed by some Sudeten Germans) while also asking Czechs to confront difficult episodes in their own history and to remember centuries of coexistence.
Meeting Brno, the civic initiative hosting the festival, focuses on Czech‑German reconciliation and on remembering both Nazi atrocities and the postwar expulsions. The association normally holds its annual meeting in Bavaria; organisers say the question is not why it is being held in Brno now but why it has not been held there before, given that many participants trace their origins to the region.
The festival for more than a decade has included the March of Peace, Coexistence and Reconciliation, which retraces in reverse the route of the Brno death march of May 1945. The march recalls a painful episode when tens of thousands of ethnic Germans were forced out of Brno and marched toward the Austrian border.
The expulsions from Czechoslovakia after 1945 remain a fraught subject. Around three million German speakers fled or were expelled in the chaotic months after the war — expulsions authorised by the Allied powers and formalised at the 1945 Potsdam Conference. Historians estimate that between 15,000 and 30,000 ethnic Germans died in connection with the expulsions through violence, disease, suicide and harsh conditions.
Local reactions in Brno have been mixed and emotional. At a heated city council meeting a councillor invoked family memory, saying the community could not forget the destruction and occupation that preceded the postwar period. Brno’s mayor, Markéta Vaňková, has continued to back the festival despite the political pressure.
Security will be tight at the Brno Exhibition Grounds where the convention is being held. Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder and Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt were reported to be expected to attend. Czech President Petr Pavel has placed the Meeting Brno festival under his patronage — as he did in previous years — with Prague Castle saying the project promotes honest dialogue and shared historical reflection.
Organisers say the event will proceed as planned. Supporters view it as a rare chance for direct Czech‑German exchange about a painful shared past; critics fear it could reopen contested historical narratives. The broad debate underlines how the legacy of the 20th century continues to shape politics and public memory in the region.