The Diplomat in Spain

Until next September 16, in the Convent of Santa María la Rica-Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica, in Alcalá de Henares (Santa María la Rica Street, 3), one hundred images are exhibited that capture three moments linked to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, within the program of this year’s edition of PhotoEspaña.

These are the invasion of August 21, 1968; the self-immolation of Jan Palach the following year; and, two decades later, the withdrawal of Soviet troops after the fall of the Iron Curtain. To crush the democratic reforms of the Prague Spring, the Soviet Union launched on August 21, 1968 the largest military operation in Europe since the Second World War. When the Czechoslovaks left their homes in the morning, they were gunned by the sub-machine guns of the occupants and in the streets they patrolled the Soviet tanks.