The following tables include the incidents that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic in which the killing of more than five non-combatant people (unarmed civilians, prisoners, or prisoners of war) took place.
The following is a list of massacres and antisemitic pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic before the year 1419:
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Prague 1096 Pogrom | June 30, 1096 | Prague | Several hundred | Part of the massacres committed during the First Crusade; the victims were Jewish; the precise number of victims is unknown. |
Moravia 1096 Pogroms | July 1096 | several towns in Moravia | Unknown | Part of the massacres committed during the First Crusade; the victims were Jewish; the precise number of victims is unknown. |
Prague 1161 Pogrom | 1161 | Prague | 85 | 85 Jews were burned to death outside the city gate to Vysehrad after accusations of poisoning wells, water sources, and even the air within houses. Their ashes were thrown in the Moldau river and the city's Synagogue was destroyed. |
Prague 1389 Pogrom | April 18, 1389 | Prague | More than 3,000 | The victims were Jewish. The massacre took place on Saturday before Easter in the absence of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia from the city. Most sources say more than 3,000 (of a Jewish community of 4,000) were killed (some sources estimate 400–500); Gaon Avigdor Karo (Abigedor Ḳara), a poet and scholar of the kaballah, composed an elegy to commemorate the tragedy which was incorporated into the Selichot or communal prayers recited during the Jewish High Holidays and on Jewish fast days. |
The following massacres and antisemitic pogroms occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic during the Hussite Wars of 1419–c. 1434. During these wars, many atrocities were committed by both Hussites and Catholics. Most Hussites were ethnic Czechs, but there were also German and Polish adherents of this movement. On the other side, most Catholics involved in this conflict were ethnic Germans, but Hungarian, Czech, and Polish Catholics were also killed during the fights and massacres. Jews who sided with the reformer Jan Hus were also victimized during this period. Many killings of the Hussite Wars took place outside the borders of today's Czech Republic; they are not included here.
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Prague 1421 Pogrom | 1421 | Prague | unknown | The Jewish quarter of Prague was looted and many Jews were killed. The pogrom seems to have taken place early in 1421, as sources relate that it happened soon after the battle of Vysehrad which ended on November 1, 1420.[1] |
Lipany 1434 Killing of Surrendered Hussite Soldiers | 1434, May 30 | Lipany | about 700 | After the defeat of the radical Hussites or Taborites in the battle of Lipany, about 700 ordinary soldiers who surrendered after promises of renewed military service were burned to death in nearby barns. Almost all of the victims were ethnic Czechs. |
The following is a list of massacres and pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic between the years 1436 and 1900:
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Prague 1483 Pogrom | 1483 | Prague | unknown | The victims were Jewish.[1] |
Massacre in Běchovice | June 17, 1848 | Prague | 7 (at least) were killed. | At least 50 were injured; this massacre was part of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire. |
The following is a list of massacres and pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic during the 20th century, but before World War II:
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Massacre in Kadaň (Massaker von Kaaden) | 4 March 1919 | Kadaň | 17 | 25 were killed (including those of about 70 injured who later died); part of the 4th of March general strike in World War I and its aftermath in the German provinces. |
Massacre in Šternberk (Massaker von Sternberg) | 4 March 1919 | Šternberk | 15 | Part of the 4th of March general strike in World War I and its aftermath in the German provinces. |
Frývaldov strike (Freiwaldau strike) | 25 November 1931 | Dolní Lipová | 8 | At least 13 more were injured; part of the Great Depression strike movement. |
The following is a list of massacres and pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic in the time of Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia, until the end of World War II on May 8, 1945. The only exception is the biggest single-day mass murder of Czech citizens in history, which was committed at the Theresienstadt family camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in modern-day Poland, on March 8–9, 1944. There were also single-day mass murders of Czech citizens in the Nazi concentration camps outside the Czech lands, such as in Maly Trostenets, 28 August 1942 (999 killed); Riga, 28 August 1942 (1001 killed); Mauthausen, 24 October 1942 (262 killed); Mauthausen, 10 April 1945 (235 killed) etc. If not stated otherwise, the victims were of Czech ethnicity.
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
17 November Raid against universities and colleges | 17 November 1939 | Prague | 9 | Nine student leaders were executed and about 1500 students were sent to concentration camps, where 35 were executed or died later; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
First Martial Law (First Heydrichiada) | 28 September 1941 – 19 January 1942 | Prague | 247 killed outright | The complete toll has been estimated at 1500, including those executed and other deaths in concentration camps; the victims were of various ethnicities, mostly Czech Christians and Czech Jews; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Holocaust. |
First Martial Law (First Heydrichiada) | 28 September 1941 – 19 November 1941 | Brno | 239 killed outright | The complete death toll has been estimated at 1000, including those executed and other deaths in concentration camps); the victims were Czech Christians and Czech Jews; part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Holocaust. |
Massacre in Lidice | 10 June 1942 | Lidice | 181 | 172 men were shot in Lidice, nine more men from Lidice shot in Prague. Complete toll at least 318, with 52 women and 85 children from Lidice being killed in concentration camps, older sources claim 340; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Ležáky | 24 June 1942 | Ležáky | 33 killed outright | The complete toll has been estimated at 44, including deaths in concentration camps; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Liquidation of the Theresienstadt concentration camp | 8–9 March 1944 | Auschwitz-Birkenau | 3,792 | The victims were Czech Jews; approximately 144,000 Jews, most of then Czech citizens, were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp; about a quarter of the inmates (33,000) died in Theresienstadt. When the camp was liquidated, inmates were sent to Poland; although the Polish killings were committed outside the territory of the Czech Republic, this was the largest mass murder of Czech citizens in history; part of the Holocaust; see also the History of the Jews in Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Životice | 6 August 1944 | Životice | 36 killed outright | The complete toll was 44, including deaths in concentration camps; the victims were 35 ethnic Poles, 8 Czechs and one German; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre of downed American airmen | 9 December 1944 | Kaplice | 5 | Five downed American pilots, all of whom were unarmed and had surrendered, were murdered by Karl Lindemeyer and Franz Strasser. Lindemeyer killed himself on 8 May 1945. Strasser was arrested by U.S. officials and put on trial for war crimes. He was found guilty of shooting two of the airmen, sentenced to death, and hanged on 10 December 1945. |
Transport of Death | 24 January 1945 | Brandýs nad Orlicí | 18 | The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.[2] |
Transport of Death | 13–14 April 1945 | Stod | 241 | The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust. |
Massacre in Jablunkov | 13 April 1945 | Jablunkov | 12 | The victims were Polish prisoners murdered by the Gestapo; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Transport of Death | 15 April 1945 | Nýřany | about 100 | The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust. |
Killing in the Mikulov clay pit | 15 April 1945 | Mikulov | 21 | This was the mass murder of Hungarian Jewish prisoners working in a clay pit; part of the Holocaust.[3] |
Murder in Gästehaus | 17 April 1945 | Kyjov | 7 killed outright | The complete death toll was 9, including two men subsequently shot on the street; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.[4] |
Massacre in Ploština | 19 April 1945 | Ploština | 24 killed outright | The complete death toll was 28, including subsequent executions; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Zákřov | 20 April 1945 | Zákřov | 19 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Court-martial in Medlánky | 21 April 1945 | Brno-Medlánky | 15 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Prlov | 23 April 1945 | Prlov | 19 killed outright | The complete death toll was 23, including subsequent executions; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre near Salaš | 29 April 1945 | Bunč | 21 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre near Suchý | 30 April 1945 | Suchý | 10 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Letovice | May (?) 1945 | Letovice | 19 | The bodies of 19 murdered German Gestapo prisoners of war were discovered on 15 May 1945; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Last execution in Theresienstadt | 2 May 1945 | Theresienstadt | 52 | At the request of Karl Hermann Frank, the "most dangerous" political prisoners were murdered; the majority of the victims were Czech communists; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Holocaust. |
Execution in Lazce | 2 May 1945 | Olomouc-Lazce | 23 | 21 participants or hostages captured during the uprising in Přerov and 2 local members of the resistance were killed; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Execution in Fort XIII | 2 May 1945 | Olomouc-Nová ulice | 17 | Captured participants of the uprising in Přerov and hostages were murdered; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Transport of Death | 3–6 May 1945 | Olbramovice | 82 | The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust. |
Death March | 4–6 May 1945 | Podbořany-Kaštice | 268 killed outright | The complete death toll was about 600, including those killed outright and those who died on the way from Johanngeorgenstadt to Lovosice); the victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust. |
Massacre in Javoříčko | 5 May 1945 | Javoříčko | 38 | Part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Brandýs Tragedy | 5 May 1945 | Brandýs nad Orlicí | 15 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.[5] |
Death March of Volary | 6 May 1945 | Volary | 95–217 | All of the victims were women, most of them Hungarian Jews. When the march departed from Helmbrechts concentration camp in Germany on 13 April 1945, it comprised 1167 women, 577 of them Jewish and 590 non-Jewish, including 25 German Christian women, all of whom survived.[6] The complete death toll seems to be at least 217 (including about 123 who were killed or perished in Germany before the march passed the border on April 14 near Aš/Asch); 59 of the victims were shot and 158 perished from exhaustion; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust. |
Massacre in Velké Meziříčí | 6 May 1945 | Velké Meziříčí | 58 killed outright | The complete death toll was 60, including subsequent executions; part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Leskovice | 6 May 1945 | Leskovice | 18 | The complete death toll was 26, including 8 insurgents executed or killed in a fight on the previous day; the German SS commander responsible for the massacre of civilians was Walter Hauck; part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia.[7] |
Massacre in Prague, Úsobská street | 6 May 1945 | Prague | 51 | Part of the Prague uprising. |
Massacre in Psáry | 6 May 1945 | Psáry | 13 | Part of the Prague uprising. |
Massacre near Lednice | 7 May 1945 | A village near Lednice (German: Eisgrub) | 22 | Both perpetrators and victims were German. 22 German soldiers were shot as alleged deserters without any trial; the killing was personally ordered by Marshal Ferdinand Schörner.[8] |
Kolín massacre | 7 May 1945 | Kolín | 13–16 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Ordered by Paul Hermann Feustel. |
Massacre in Třešť | 7 May 1945 | Třešť | 34 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Velké Popovice | 7 May 1945 | Velké Popovice | 29 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Lahovice | 7 May 1945 | Prague-Lahovice | 21 | Part of the Prague uprising. |
Czech Hell | 7 –11 May 1945 | Prague | 500–1,000 | Hundreds of Estonian Waffen-SS troops of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) were massacred by partisans; part of the Prague uprising |
Massacre in Masarykovo nádraží | 8 May 1945 | Prague | 53 | Part of the Prague uprising. |
Massacre in Trhová Kamenice | 8 May 1945 | Trhová Kamenice | 13 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
Malín tragedy | 8 May 1945 | Kutná Hora-Malín | 11 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. |
The following is a list of massacres that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic between May 9, 1945, and February 25, 1948 (the day of the communist takeover):
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Killing of Germans in Bartolomějská ulice | 8 May 1945 | Prague, Old Town | 9 | 9 Germans were slain in the Old Town of Prague, (Barthomoläusgasse/Bartolomějská ulice no. 9) in the afternoon of May 8. Three of them were soldiers of the Wehrmacht; part of the aftermath of the Prague uprising.[9] |
Massacre of Germans in Bořislavka | 9 May 1945 | Prague-Bořislavka | 41 | Part of the aftermath of the Prague uprising; the killing of these Germans was ordered by an unidentified person wearing the uniform of a Soviet officer.[10] |
Burning of Lejčkov | 9 May 1945 | Dolní Hořice-Lejčkov | 24 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia; this massacre was committed by German troops after the German surrender.[11] |
Massacre in Běloves | 9 May 1945 | Náchod | 9 | Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia; this massacre was committed by Waffen-SS troops one whole day after the German surrender came into force. |
Liquidation of soldiers of the Vlasov army | after May 9, 1945 | Prague | about 200 | The victims were Russians. On the morning of May 9, 1945, Soviet Red Army troops conquered Prague. Very soon afterwards, about 200 members of the Nazi German collaborationist Russian Liberation Army or Vlasov Army, who had remained in the city, were shot by the Soviets as traitors to Russia.[10] The complete death toll among the "Vlasovci" was much higher, with many of them being killed elsewhere. |
Killings in Prague's Strahov Stadium | May/June 1945 | Prague-Strahov | several hundred | After May 8, 1945, several thousand Germans were interned in Prague's largest stadium for several weeks under extreme conditions. There were repeated executions without trial[10] and high mortality due to a lack of food and shelter; according to the report of a German physician, a total of 25,000 people were arrested there.[12] In the beginning most of the inmates were disarmed German soldiers, after the middle of May most were civilians. The stadium had an average occupancy of about 9,000 persons and several hundred were killed or perished.[13] The stadium was used as a camp at least until June 19, 1945.[14] Part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Lanškroun | May 17–21, 1945 | Lanškroun (German: Landskron) | at least 51 | The victims were Germans; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. |
Massacre in Německý Šicndorf | 19 May 1945 | Dobronín (German: Dobrenz) | 13–15 or more | The victims were Germans, slain with hoes and shovels; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. The mass grave was examined by Czech police in 2010; they found at least 13 human bodies. Survivors claimed that there had been several dozen victims; in May 2011 Czech police found another mass grave nearby.[15] |
Hanke Lager Massacres | 27 May – 12 June 1945 | Ostrava (German: Mährisch Ostrau) | 231 | The victims were German civilians from Ostrava and the surrounding area; most were killed by hanging, several were tortured to death. Massacres happened on 27 May (6 killed), 28 May (18 killed), 29 May (17), 30 May (28) 1 June (12), 3 June (14), 4 June (23), 8 June (18), 9 June (26), 12 June (32). After that the guards were exchanged by Czech authorities and only 5 more people died until 3 July. All victims are known by full name, the event is well documented by Czech historians whose post-1990 findings confirm earlier Sudeten German information.[16] |
Killings in Ivančice | May / June 1945 | Ivančice (German: Eibenschütz) | 30–35 | The "Josef Hybeš" Czech partisan group, under the command of A. Řepka, killed 30 to 35 Germans and alleged Czech collaborators of Nazi Germany. 18 of them were executed after the trial of a "revolutionary people's court" on May 10, 1945;[17] 10 names are documented by a German source, 17 names from Czech documents.[18] |
Brno Death March | from May 30 to June 1945 | Brno (German: Brünn) and villages south of the city | estimated range from 647 to about 4,140 | According to Czech historians, 649 Germans were killed or perished on Czech (Moravian) soil and another estimated 1,050 died in Austria as a consequences of the death march.[19] Austrian researchers claimed 1,950 victims of the march itself, 2,000 victims in the Pohořelice camp and another 190 victims in surrounding villages. In total 4,140 German victims from Brno.[20] plus 1,062 who died in Austria.[21] |
Executions in Nový Bor | 2 June 1945 | Nový Bor | 7 | The victims were Germans; the complete death toll was 8, including one German bystander killed during the executions; the families of the victims were forced to move behind nearby German borders; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia[22] |
Massacres in Tocov | 2, 3 and 5 June 1945 | Tocov (German: Totzau) | 31 | The victims were Germans; three massacres took place: on June 2, 5 were killed), during the night of June 2 to June 3, 6 were killed) and on June 5, 20 were shot. part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia; the event was examined in 1999 by German and Czech prosecutors, who confirmed the facts and identified the perpetrators.[23] |
Massacre in Postoloprty | 3–7 June 1945 | Postoloprty (German: Postelberg) | at least 730 | The victims were German men and boys; 822 men from Postoloprty were reported missing after June 7, 1945; in 1947 a total of 763 bodies were found in Postoloprty; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, but some of the mass graves were attributed to the earlier Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust. |
Massacre in Podbořany | 7 June 1945 | Podbořany (German: Podersam) | 68 | The victims were male German civilians; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. The names of all of the victims and most of the perpetrators are known and so are the sites of two mass graves with 32 and 36 bodies, which were investigated by Czechoslovak authorities in 1947. The event is well documented by Czech and German authors, among them Ota Filip.[24] |
Massacre in Švédské Šance | June 18–19, 1945 | Přerov (German: Prerau) | 265 | The victims were ethnic Germans from Slovakia; one Slovakian woman and her boy were spared, the German father was shot; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia.[25] The leading perpetrator of the massacre, Karol Pazúr, was arrested and court-martialed for his involvement. In January 1949, he was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, which was increased to 20 years on appeal. However, in 1951, Pazúr was released early due to a presidential amnesty. He died from liver cirrhosis on 25 April 1976, at the age of 59.[26] |
Massacre at Buková hora | 30 June 1945 | Teplice nad Metují | 23 | The victims were Germans; women, children, and old men were marched to the border to be expelled; as Polish authorities refused thementry, the Germans were killed; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia[27] |
Ústí massacre | 31 July 1945 | Ústí nad Labem (German: Aussig) | 43–2800 | The victims were Germans; the official Czechoslovak investigation confirmed 43 people had been killed, but the actual number is estimated at least 100; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. Before 1990, Sudeten German organisations were claiming 600–2800 victims, or sometimes "thousands."[28] |
The following is a list of massacres that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic between 1948 and 1989:
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Slánsky Trial | 3 December 1952 | Prague | 11 | Eleven leading members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were executed by hanging and three more were sentenced to life imprisonment after an openly antisemitic eight-day show trial inspired by Stalin; 11 of the 14 defendants were of Jewish origin; all 14 defendants were rehabilitated between 1960 and 1963 after internal Czechoslovak investigations (published only much later). |
Jeseník tragedy(cz) | 27 February 1967 | Jeseník | 8 | Mentally ill Josef Svoboda killed his whole family with an ax and then committed suicide.[29] |
Fight for the Czechoslovak Radio station | 21 August 1968 | Prague-Vinohrady | 9 (16) | During the attempt of unarmed demonstrators to defend the Czech radio station building against Soviet invaders, 4 men were shot dead and 5 men were hit and killed by a Soviet military truck; the same day at the same place 4 men died due to the explosion of a Soviet tank which was set ablaze by demonstrators, and another 3 people died after the fire spread to surrounding buildings; in other parts of Prague, 2 people were shot dead and 2 people were crushed by Soviet tanks;[30] part of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. |
Occupation of Liberec | 21 August 1968 | Liberec | 9 | In the early hours of the Soviet invasion, 4 people were shot dead by Soviet troops in the main square and 24 were injured, 2 of whom died later; a few hours after this, a Soviet tank rammed the arcade at the square[31] causing the immediate death of 2 people and injured 9 (1 died later);[30][32] part of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. |
JAT Flight 367 bombing | 26 January 1972 | Srbská Kamenice | 27 | JAT Flight 367 is brought down by an explosion, killing 27 out of 28 onboard except one Yugoslav flight attendant named Vesna Vulović who survives a 10,160 meter (33,330 ft) drop. Officially a bomb was placed on the plane by Ustasa agents, but speculation exists that the plane was downed by two Czechoslovak SA-12 surface-to-air missiles because it had entered a restricted military area without permission. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airplane is destroyed. |
Truck attack at the tram stop | 10 July 1973 | Prague | 8 | The truck-murderer Olga Hepnarová killed 3 people immediately and injured 17, of whom 5 died later.[33] |
Motorest Kadrnožka shooting | 1 June 1981 | Motorest Kadrnožka, Tachov District | 5 | A soldier Lubomír Bugár with a service rifle shot and killed 4 motorist employees. He killed himself after a police pursuit.[34][35] |
Ústav sociální péče v Měděnci fire](cz) | 1 November 1984 | Mědenice | 26 | Eva Kováčová, a patient, set fire to an institution for mentally and physically disabled women. Kováčová served 9 years in prison and remained mostly institutionalized for the rest of his life. He underwent sex reassignment surgery in the 90s, taking the name René Lízna. He committed suicide in July 2014. The tragedy was depicted in the 1992 film Requiem pro panenku.[36] |
Christmas murders | 22 December 1986 | Předměřice nad Labem | 5 | A drunk father named Vladimír Lulek stabbed to death 4 children, and his wife and wounded a neighbor. Executed in 1989.[37] |
Kolín massacre(cz) | 29 April 1989 | Kolín | 4 | 17-year-old Jiří Popelka shot and killed 4 people with stolen guns (from school and his father). Part of a misguided attempt at escape into western Germany. Served 9 years in prison.[38] |
Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Petřvald shooting | 8 March 2009 | Petřvald | 4 (+ perpetrator's suicide) | Macedonian national Raif Kačar (41) murdered his former girlfriend (25), her parents, and her current partner with an illegally held handgun and then committed suicide.[39]
The perpetrator had previously threatened to kill the victims. |
Široký důl familicide | 2 September 2011 | Široký Důl | 4 | Romana Zienertová(cz) killed her four children with knives and a pillow.[40] |
Frenštát pod Radhoštěm apartment building explosion | 17 February 2013 | Frenštát pod Radhoštěm | 5 (+ perpetrator's death) | Antonín Blažek (57), who was facing imminent eviction, spilled gasoline and opened a natural gas valve in the hallway of an apartment building. He set it ablaze, leading to a large explosion, the collapse of part of the building, and fire. The heavily damaged block of flats had to be demolished in its entirety.[41]
The perpetrator had previously threatened his neighbors. |
Harok family murder | 22 May 2013 | Brno | 4 | U.S. national Kevin Dahlgren (20) stabbed to death 4 members of his distant family.[42] |
Uherský Brod shooting | 24 February 2015 | Uherský Brod | 8 (+ perpetrator's suicide) | Zdeněk Kovář (63) entered a restaurant and opened fire on guests and staff with a legally held handgun and a revolver.[43]
The attack occurred after police ordered him to surrender firearms due to deteriorating mental health. He had committed multiple misdemeanors over the preceding years, which would have allowed police to seize his firearms, however, those were not investigated to the fullest extent of the law. |
Ostrava hospital shooting | 10 December 2019 | Ostrava | 7 (+ perpetrator's suicide) | Ctirad Vitásek (42) shot patients in a waiting room in the University Hospital Ostrava with use of illegal CZ-75 handgun.[44]
The perpetrator had three prior criminal convictions, one of them for a violent crime. The perpetrator had been placed in a mental asylum before. |
Vejprty care center arson | 19 January 2020 | Vejprty | 8 | An unknown person set ablaze a care center for the mentally handicapped in Vejprty, killing eight.[45]
There were two previous minor incidents with fire being set inside the building that had been investigated by police. A care center operator reacted by confiscating all lighters from clients, but authorities deemed that illegal so they had to be returned. |
Bohumín arson attack | 8 August 2020 | Bohumín | 11 | Zdeněk Konopka (54) set on fire his son's flat which was bustling with people attending a birthday party to which he was not invited, killing 11 people.[46]
The perpetrator had four prior criminal convictions, two of them for violent crimes. The perpetrator had threatened his son and estranged wife several weeks before the attack, the police investigation into that incident was still open at the time of the attack. |
Loučka attack | 24 April 2022 | Loučka, Vsetín District | 4 | Father killed his wife and 3 children with a knife. Caused house explosion.[47] |
2023 Prague shootings | 21 December 2023 | Prague | 14 (+ perpetrator's death + perpetrator's father earlier) | An armed assailant opened fire on the grounds of Charles University in Prague hours after murdering his own father. The perpetrator had killed 14 people at the university, before the perpetrator was killed by police; earlier in the day, the perpetrator had killed his father.[48] |