Just twenty years ago, we lived in a regime that suppressed fundamental human rights and freedoms, and that held political prisoners. Time and again we are reminded how short the human memory is in recalling our bloody past. During 2009, we would like to take the public back to that era and recall its heroes and architects. One of the devices enabling us to do this is the website at www.nezapomente.cz (“Don’t Forget”), a project by the non-profit organization Opona, which takes the view that the past 20 years of freedom are a cause for both celebration and reflection.



The aim of Nezapomeňte.cz is to recall the aspects of totalitarianism – so difficult to comprehend today – which pervaded our daily lives at the time. We believe it is important for everyone to understand why it is necessary to oppose the return of Communists to political power. We would like to kindle interest in the younger generation and encourage them to start asking their elders how they lived under totalitarianism and why their actions were contrary to their beliefs. The point is not to elicit apologies from them, but for them to explain the circumstances of their actions and for young people to understand them better. This is the only way we can cope with the past and learn from it in the future. 



The principle of the Nezapomeňte.cz project lies in its open format – the core content is shaped by visitors and users themselves. The active involvement of the general public is a priority. It is up to each visitor how successful the project will ultimately be. We are constantly searching for photographs from the Communist era, film records (which we can digitize free of charge) and other materials that can shed light on the everyday life of totalitarianism, on various major events and on the culture. Those offering the most interesting materials will not go away empty handed! For more information, see the different sections of the site.