‘Faces, Not Numbers’: Interfaith Gathering In Prague Stands With Refugees
PRAGUE — On the first platform of the Main Railway Station in the Czech capital of Prague stands a statue of Nicholas Winton, an official who, together with his colleague Marie Schmolková, saved 669 Jewish children from the Nazis before the start of World War II.
They sent them by train to safety in Great Britain. The last and largest Kindertransport — part of a British rescue mission that brought nearly 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children under age 17 from Nazi-controlled Europe — was supposed to carry 250 children.
It never left.
The day was Sept. 1, 1939, and the Nazis had just invaded Poland. Just five children from the last list survived the war.
This past Dec. 18, on International Migrants Day, participants in an interfaith prayer group gathered at Winton’s statue with Jewish children. In freezing weather and amid the noise of passing trains, the refugees were remembered by the people who had helped them.
The prayer was led by representatives of the Czech ecumenical community from The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, Catholic Church, Greek Catholic Church, Old-Catholic Church and International Church of Prague. The prayer was also attended by representatives of the Czech Muslim community, the Ahmadiyya movement and dozens of other civil authorities.
Prayer in Persian
The prayer in Persian was recited by Marina, a Muslim woman from Afghanistan who was forced to flee her country with her three children. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 after the Americans pulled out, her husband became a victim of radical Islamists because he had helped the Czech army.
"We, Christians and all other people of good will in the Czech Republic, feel a sense of responsibility and solidarity with migrants and refugees who come to us as a result of war, persecution, poverty, or environmental crises. Mikuláš Vymětal, a pastor, and Petr Pijáček, a social worker and therapist, who organized the event, said in a joint statement.
“We are united by our common humanity, the dignity of every person, and the conviction that no one should be rejected simply because of where they come from or what religion they profess.”
Vymětal also evoked Chapter 13 of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Let brotherly love continue. Love those who are far away, and welcome those who are strangers. Some have welcomed angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them; remember those who are suffering, for you too may be suffering.”
Faces instead of numbers
When Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, trains gradually brought around 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees to the same train platform as last month’s gathering.
These Ukrainian refugees sought safety in the Czech Republic after Russia's invasion. Some of them continued on to other Western nations, others remained in the Czech Republic. Some later returned to Ukraine. Ukrainian Roma were in a particularly difficult situation at the time, often searching in vain for accommodation.
The interfaith meeting was organized by the Hlavák Initiative, which helped Ukrainian refugees at the train station, and the organization Together Against Racism and Fascism. Ukrainian and Czech national songs and carols were sung by the Ukrainian children's choir Dreamers, led by Olga Byčková, one of those forced to flee Ukraine because of the war.
The participants listened to the choir, bringing with them Ukrainian, Roma and Palestinian flags, as well as portraits of public figures who became refugees, including the popular Czech singer-songwriter Karel Kryl, who had to flee Czechoslovakia before the Soviet occupation and worked as a music editor for Radio Free Europe in exile.
"God, we pray for all politicians, that in their decisions they see human faces, not numbers; names, not statistics; and children, not graphs,” Father Petr Miencil, a Catholic priest, prayed during the meeting.
Support for refugees in the Czech Republic still relies on the non-governmental sector. Their situation is now complicated by the lack of sympathy in the new governing coalition.
For example, shortly after taking office in November, Tomio Okamura, the country’s chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, had the Ukrainian flag removed from the chamber building, where it had been hanging since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in an expression of support for the attacked country.
"It is a symbol. The Ukrainian flag was removed from the Czech Chamber of Deputies building on my instructions, and it took a few seconds," Okamura said.
The opposition, at the time, called it a shameful move. That same day, opposition lawmakers hung Ukrainian flags from the windows of their offices in protest. The speaker's action sparked a new wave of solidarity with Ukraine, especially among the country’s churches.
But signs of hate remain. After a flag was hung on a Christian church in Prague, an unknown vandal smashed the door.
"We call on public authorities, churches, civic initiatives and individuals to openly oppose xenophobia and racism,” read a statement by those who took part in the interfaith Prague gathering. “We will not be silent witnesses to this era. When we see a growing number of attacks on foreigners, we say clearly: Enough!”
Martina Mašková is a radio presenter based in Prague, Czech Republic. She previously worked for the BBC in Prague and London. She is an alumna of The Media Project Coaching and Leadership Fellowship at the Poynter Institute in 2016.