Day 3: Museum of Communism

After a wonderful stay in Munich, a German style breakfast was provided to us the morning of our departure to Prague on an overnight train. Before getting on the train, we had prepared ourselves for the long train ride. While on the train, we made friends with a few other Americans, an Italian boy, and some Germans in lederhosen, who turned out to be entertaining dancers. They were very nice, friendly, and made our ride more exciting.
Once arriving in Prague we went to see the Museum of Communism where we saw pictures, displays of original artifacts, and an interesting movie about the Czech citizens fighting against the police and government officials to overcome communism. In class, we had learned that the Czech citizens wanted freedom from the Nazis and later from communism. Watching the movie, you could see those citizens protesting and fighting against the policemen and army for freedom. The movie allowed us to learn from actual news footage rather than learning from a preventing and pictures. The video gave an insight into things and showed how the Czech people had courage in order to get what they wanted - freedom.
Another thing that I found most interesting in the Museum of Communism was the burning of Jan Palach. Jan was a young man who understood human rights, and helped create a very powerful movement that led to a non-communist Czech Republic. Jan Palach lit himself on fire in Wenceslas Square on February 25, 1969, because he felt so bad about communism. I would never have thought that communism was so bad, but after this, not only do I now understand how much it was disliked by the people, I now understand that it was like hell for a lot of people. Then in a message that Jan left behind he asked people to protest against communism, because he thought that "to die in the name of truth and freedom is the ultimate sacrifice a man can make in his life".
Yet another interesting thing that I found at the Museum of Communism was the Marshall Plan, because the Marshall Plan was rejected by Czechoslovakia. The Marshall Plan was named after General Marshall from the United States. In 1947, General Marshall proposed a plan that would help end the economic chaos in twenty- two European countries which were experiencing social and economic breakdown. It would also help the United state's economy. The Marshall Plan was rejected because the Soviet Union had rejected it and pressured other members of the Warsaw Pact to do the same. They wanted to be uniform. Like during many other times in Yugoslavians history, they were not allowed to do something they wanted to do. This made it even more special for them when they finally gained their independence.