The Terezín Initiative Institute - as well as the Czech and international public - is shocked by the incredible brutal attack that took place on December 21st on the grounds of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in the centre of Prague.

Our hearts go out to the victims of this attack and we are hard pressed for words to express our condolences and solidarity with their families.

We were also affected by the incident as it took place literally only a few dozen metres from the building where our Institute is located, in places we are used to passing through every day.

All our work has always been aimed at learning from history, at preventing an atmosphere in which evil thrives, situations in which we are exposed to violence to which we do not know how to respond. And this is what has happened. It doesn't matter if it was a deranged individual, it could just as easily have been someone with political motivations or a specific hatred of an individual or group. Either way, the result is tragic and shocks us all.

We can only hope that the high price we have all paid for this memento will be worthwhile. In this case, too, the slogan, constantly repeated by the survivors of the Nazi hell, whose message we carry on - NEVER AGAIN !

JUDr. Tomáš Kraus, Director of the Terezín Initiative Institute