Students are the perennial guardian of knowledge and the desire to excel. The seed of the future is planted in their soul. It is impossible to forget the times when notes and seminars filled the days, when learning became an obligation to grow; and in which a new idea became a realized future.
The winds of Student’s Day touch each letter of this apprentice who tirelessly tries to capture a reality and at the same time, pay tribute to the many in the world who gave their lives as students.
Remembering, because history strengthens us
It is inscribed in memory as an antecedent on October 28th, 1939, the day of the 21st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Czechoslovakia, the day on which the resistance of the Czechs against fascism broke out in large protests in the streets of Prague, a large number of students participated in them.
In the confrontation, several people were injured and two died. The news of their death multiplied the repudiation of the population and became a call to intensify the resistance. By November 15th, the day of the burial, people took to the streets and held acts of protest in universities, student residences in Prague and other cities.
The Nazis’ response was immediate. Hence, on the night of November 16th, they surrounded the student residences, arrested, harassed thousands of students, and shot 9 of them. On November 17th, all Czech higher education institutions were closed and more than 1,200 students were sent to the Sachsenhausen-Oranieburg concentration camp.
Nazi-fascism did not stop at silencing the ideas and patriotic effervescence of the youth. The world echoed the events in Czechoslovakia; for this reason, November 17th became a symbol that inspired the actions of the student body around the world until it became what it is today: a day of solidarity, for peace, freedom and democracy.
From Camagüey
These days the schools multiply the smiles, they turn to colors and dreams to be fulfilled. In Carmen square, the “Martha Abreu” elementary school looks forward to the daily hustle and bustle that surrounds the place. While the “Héroes del Moncada”, where children with autism spectrum disorder find their second home; Teachers have everything ready to hug their students.
The Office of the Historian prepares actions to accompany both educational centers and also has a program of activities to resume classes in heritage classrooms, a quarry of citizenship education and love for heritage.
This November 17th, the desire to learn is resumed, to seek in wisdom a way to be a better person.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
