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Charter 77 Conference

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of Charter 77, one of the principle documents leading to the Velvet Revolution and ultimately the fall of communism in the Czech Republic. The first day of the conference will be of interest to us, as would the rest however we'll be in Berlin.

Read a brief history, and register to attend the first day's events, which includes a panel discussion around the "movement for human and civil rights in the countries of the Soviet block and the fall of communism" including Václav Havel (first elected President following the Velvet Revolution), Max van der Stoel, Jan Lityński and other signatories at 5:00. The day ends with a concert from the Plastic People of the Universe.

I heard them play at the premier of Tom Stoppard's play "Rock N Roll" which premiered in CZ at the Narodli Divadlo a couple of weeks ago (at left is a scene from the production here) and the band rocked! Read about The Plastic People today here and listen to a clip.

Prague Political History

An engaging collection of links to historical documents and sites concerning Prague Spring, normalization, the Velvet Revolution and more. Includes links to Havel's official site, the Lennon Wall, Charter 77. Of special interest are the videos of CNN footage documenting the change in Czechoslovakia shortly after the Berlin Wall opened in 1989, collected by Columbia University to document and support Havel's residency there in Fall 2006.