CAUSE OF FREEDOM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25385, 17 November 1943, Page 4

CAUSE OF FREEDOM

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ DAY

COMMEMORATION OF CZECH SACRIFICE.

(PA ) WELLINGTON, Nov. 16. '“To-morrow, November 17, the date on which the Nazis sought to destroy tne Intellectual and cultural freedom of the youth of one country, has become a symbol for that international unity and understanding which .must always exist between the students of every . land, says a statement issued to-day by Mr J. B. C Tavlor, president of the New Zealand University Students’ Association. This day which marks the anniversary of the execution of a large number of Czechoslovakian student leaders at the Prague University, has become known throughout the world as International Students p ay _a day of remembrance for those students who have suffered and died for the cause of freedom, and a day of determination to defend the rights of cultural liberty. " Little did the Germans think as they shot the Czech student leaders on that grey November morning in 1939 that four vears later the echoes of it would still be ringing round the world. Every year since that tragic day international gatherings and demonstrations have been held to commemorate the heroism of those Czech students; Every year, has brought us closer to the day when the- colleges in the occupied lands will be set free This year *>t similar gatherings the same declarations will be made, but with greater significance, greater purpose, and with the fulfilment of our hopes no longer distant The persecution of teachers in Norway, the murder of professors in Cracow, the massacre of Czech students —and not least, the perversion of teaching within Germany itself—these are characteristics of the attitude of Fascism. This is the attitude against which our common declaration will be made. “In the words of a British pilot decorated for service at Malta: ‘ November 17 gives us our chance to voice our common thought. This year and for many vears to come we students of the United Nations will thank our Czech comrades for their inspiration and their ideals. There are still all over the world students who value those ideals, and who are determined that they shall prevail in the world which it will be our privilege to lebuild.’ ”