Discovering memorials to the 1945 Prague Uprising in the village of Psáry: 2 km to 8 km

• The Prague Uprising of May 1945 against the Nazi occupiers in the dying days of WW2 has become an important symbol of national resistance. Several thousand Czech citizens lost their lives in a spontaneous attempt by partisans and normal citizens to liberate Prague after six years of German occupation. The Uprising took place started on 5th May and ended on 9th May with the withdrawal of the German forces, who attempted then to surrender to the American forces waiting at the Demarcation line near Pilsen. The city was subsequently liberated by the Red Army (in what was described as their ‘easiest victory of the war’ – they lost only ten soldiers).
• The fighting took place across much of Prague and it is estimated that well over a thousand memorial plaques have subsequently been erected to remember fallen citizens. They can be discovered on buildings and street corners in almost every Prague district. What is less well known is that several villages on the outskirts of Prague were also caught up in the Uprising and have their own memorials to those who lost their lives in May 1945.
• One example is the village of Psáry, located a few kilometers to the north of Jílové u Prahy. On 5 May, the villagers became aware that the SS training camp in Lešany (located on the banks of the Sázava river to the south of Psáry) was planning send a convoy to aid the German regiments in Prague. The convoy was likely to pass through Psáry. Trees were felled outside the village to block the road in an attempt to delay the SS convoy.
• The village already may already have had a reputation for partisan activity. A Polish parachutist who was attached to the Red Army and whose code name was ‘Karlík’, had been discovered one month earlier by the SS, hiding in the forest just outside the village. After a firefight, Karlík shot himself. His memorial is just outside the village (at map point 5).
• On 6 May, the convoy was indeed halted, but SS troops forced the villagers to assist in the removal of barricade and then proceeded to execute thirteen village men in retaliation for the road block. Memorial stones to the executed villagers can be found on the memorial road leading out of the village and in the village cemetery (map points 2 and 3 respectively).
• It is less than 1 km to the cemetery from the village center along the road lined with an avenue of trees (as pictured in the header). It is a pleasant walk (on a partly asphalt track) to continue as far as the road junction next to the small pond. Return back the same way. For refreshments try the (seasonally open) pub next to the football field (map point 6).

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• The village can be reached by bus from the Budějovická metro stop
• Take the YELLOW trail from the village center to reach the memorials and if desired continue along this track as far as the Rybník Pytlík junction (reached after 3 km). Return back the same way
• To view the Karlík memorial follow the BLUE trail in the direction of Libeř for 900m.