sample images by stefan tyszko / 22prague russian invasion of prague 3/5/02

Jeering at Soviet troops In Wenceslas Square.
Wenceslas Square was the focal point for non-violent resistance against the invasion. It appears from accounts after the event that the Kremlin had utterly misinterpreted the Czechoslovak question, believing initially that the Prague spring was just a manifestation of an intellectual faction and that the ordinary people of Prague would welcome the Russian advance. The Soviets were stunned at the growing wave of defiance. Citizens were urged to engage soldiers in conversation, to write signs ordering them to leave and in some cases to hold out radios as announcers in secret locations up and down the country urged them to go home.