Martin Šmíd was a fictitious Czechoslovak university student who was supposedly killed in the police attack on 17 November 1989 student demonstration in Prague that launched Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution. The rumour of Šmíd’s death was spread by Drahomíra Dražská, a porter at a student dormitory in the city’s Troja district. The dissident Charter 77 activist Petr Uhl believed her story and passed it along to Radio Free Europe, the BBC and Voice of America, who broadcast it. The news of a student’s death shocked many, and the rumour is thought to have contributed to the fall of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
Document: Charter 77 and Solidarity
Dalibor Dědek (born June 21, 1957) is a Czech businessman and cofounder of the Jablotron Group. According to Forbes in 2021, Dědek is the 59th wealthiest Czech, with a fortune exceeding 5 billion Czech crowns.
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Political activity
In May 2022 Dědek launched Gift for Putin (Darek pro Putina), a Czech campaign to raise funds by novel means for the military defence of Ukraine.
Wikipedia: Not in Our Town (NIOT)/International Work
The Not In Our Town project has sparked anti-intolerance activity in hundreds of communities in the United States and in other countries including South Africa, Ireland, Czech Republic and Ukraine. Women groups through Project Kesher started 20 Not In Our Town campaigns across the former Soviet Union starting in 2011. Not In Our Town was introduced in three cities in Hungary in Spring 2013, and was presented to six U.S. Embassies in Central Europe by the State Department. In Fall 2013, concerned Hungarian citizens launched [Nalunknem.org Nalunknem.org], modeled after NIOT.org.
2020: Fascists in Slovak Politics
Outrage and despair led to collective action. In 2014, following numerous discussions among local groups – activists from various sectors supported by the Centre for Community Organising in Banská Bystrica (founded by an American citizen) – a new local civic platform, Not in Our Town (NIOT), was established in Banská Bystrica. The inspiration for this effort came from the Not in Our Town movement of 1995 in Billings, Montana, against hate-crimes, racism and bullying.
The core group of this new movement consisted of 20-25 people including NGO activists, academics, artists, religious, church and minority representatives, and individual volunteers. Within a few months, the NIOT organized its first public debates on the Jewish and the Roma holocaust, and formulated its value statement,“breaking the silence.” Since then, the NIOT has developed and organized numerous activities across the region. Long-term projects such as Schools for Democracy Programme and the annual Human Forum conference, supported also by the US Embassy in Slovakia, represented the initial cornerstones of the movement. All these activities had one objective: to mobilize local people in the regional elections of 2017 in order to remove the fascists in power and elect democratic candidates. The four year battle of the NIOT movement was ultimately successful. Banská Bystrica voted for a democratic candidate and got rid of Kotleba.
NIOT 2014: Fighting Bigotry from West Virginia to Slovakia
Paul Sheridan is an active member of Not In Our Town from Charleston, WV. For many years, he was the head of the Civil Rights Division for the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office, and has experience working for civil rights protection both in courts and at the community level.
In this piece, Sheridan describes his experience in Charleston’s sister city, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, and the work being done there to combat a reemergence of hatred and intolerance toward minorities.
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For many years I led the Civil Rights Division of the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office. I have also been active with Not In Our Town (NIOT), which focuses on promoting and supporting effective local efforts to resist bigotry. NIOT strategies are based on the premise that ordinary citizens can (and inevitably do) play an important role in determining whether (or not) a community is inclusive and tolerant of its diversity.
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While in Slovakia I also met with representatives from the U.S. Embassy, who encouraged this sister city effort. It was apparent that they shared a concern about the election of a neo-Nazi and what it might mean for Slovakia. The Embassy helped secure a translator, which facilitated my visit, and promised additional financial support for the coalition in Banská Bystrica.
Euromaidan 2014 – Orange Revolution – War in Donbass
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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