CZECHS’ SORROW

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22586, 15 March 1948, Page 5

CZECHS’ SORROW

SCENES IN PRAGUE MASARYK’S FUNERAL PRESIDENT ATTENDS (10 a.m.) PRAGUE, March 14. Policemen stood 100 yards apart along almost the whole of the 30-mile route of M. Masaryk’s funeral from the Pantheon where the ceremony in Prague was held to his grave dug at the right of his father’s in the village of Lany. Church bells tolled throughout Prague and crpwds packed the streets. Some people wept softly. There was a strange hush as the guncarriage bore the coffin past mourners. Lany had an influx of tens of thousands of visitors for the burial ceremony. Nearly every home in the village displayed a black-banded photograph of M. Masaryk. People standing behind their fences threw flowers at the passing cortege. The final rites at the graveside were held at dusk. 1,000,000 in the Streets

The deputy Foreign Minister, M. dementis, said at the burial that M. Masaryk knew how to combine service to the Fatherland with service to mankind.

“He left us in times not exactly joyful for such heralds of international understanding. He was a born counciliator and a tireless seeker of agreement.” Thirty minutes after the coffin, which was carried on a horse-drawn hearse, left the Pantheon marchers were still lined far up the hill waiting to join the procession. The crowd in the streets easily reached 1,000.000. There were hundreds of wreaths in the Pantheon.

A wreath from Dr. Benes was laid at the catafalque. The national flag, topped with flowers from M. Masar.vk's sister, Alige, covered the coffin. The Pantheon Hall was draped with black, hung with flags and lit by six flames. Soldiers, war veterans and members of the Sokol (Communist controlled gymnastics organisation) stood on guard.

Dr. Benes Breaks Down

Dr. Benes who was making his first public appearance since the Government crisis on February 21, maintained ' his composure, with his head hunched down in the fur collar of his overcoat till the children’s choir sang the favourite folk song of the old President M. Thomas Masaryk, then Dr. Benes broke into tears. After the ceremony the Communist Prime Minister, M. Gottwald, hesitatingly extended his hand and Dr. Benes took it in a brief handshake. Dr. Benes then turned to the Speaker of Parliament, M. Josef David and gripped his hand firmly. M. Gottwald, in a personal tribute beside M. Masarvk’s bier: “I can Drove •j it myself that, from the first days of the Government crisis, M. Masaryk kept away from those who plotted the crisis. The press of the West began an organised campaign against M. Masaryk. Whoever knew his character knew how J sensitive he was toward personal at- -• tacks and must understand how difficult this concentrated attack on his deepest feelings must have been. These attacks, together with M. Masaryk’s illness, provided the circumstances that drove him to a tragic end. Premier’s Claim

“I can prove that M. Masaryk. clearly and without compromise, agreed with the action programme of the new Government and had already began to ..fulfil this programme within his sphere of influence. I can prove that M. Masaryk, who decided to go with the

■ people when he stood on the crossroads of our nation’s fate, meant what he & said. We who are staying here have taken a lesson from your beauest—that one should always go with the people. We, dear Honza (M. Masar.vk’s nickname) shall always be with the peoole and go forward with the people. This is our promise to you.”