The Embassy of Slovakia in Bosnia and Herzegovina published on its Facebook profile a commemoration of the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the story of the courage of Kemal Ujkasevic who helped wounded young men.
On the night of August 20-21, 1968, Warsaw Pact troops led by the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia.
“The Czechoslovak army was ordered not to intervene. However, the occupation caused a wave of civil resistance, which was quelled by the presence of about half a million soldiers and 6,000 tanks. What followed was a 23-year military occupation of Czechoslovak territory, which meant the halt and reversal of ongoing democratization reforms aimed at to the establishment of so-called socialism with a human face,” the Embassy reminded.
They also reminded that President Josip Broz Tito supported the Czechoslovak people, solidarity rallies were organized throughout Yugoslavia, and Yugoslavia provided refuge to numerous Czechs and Slovaks.
They told the story of Kemal Ujkasevic from Sarajevo who, risking his own life, tried to help the wounded 16-year-old Peter Legner and the young man Jozef Szvitiel.
The wounding occurred after the Soviet army started shooting at the gathered mass of demonstrators for no reason. Legner was wounded in the back.
“Near them was a citizen of Yugoslavia, Kemal Ujkasevic, who without hesitation came to the aid of the wounded young men, risking his own life. With superhuman strength, Ujkasevic first carried the young men to the local health center, where they could not provide adequate help due to the severity of their injuries. Then he managed to transfer them to the hospital, from where they had to be transferred to a separate surgery department in an ambulance. During the transport, Peter, Legner died in the arms of Kemal Ujkašević. Three months later, Jozef Szvityel also died of his injuries in the hospital,” they wrote.
“Although the fate of these young men ended tragically, the name of Kemal Ujkasevic is still associated with extraordinary courage and heroism,” they said.
