On the Belgian side, the sacrifice granted in 1945 is that of the 17th Battalion of Fusiliers. It was made up of 7 to 800 resistants essentially in Liège gathered at the end of the war to support the advance of the allies to the east. “It is estimated that they roughly traveled for 2000 kilometers, that they helped imprison thousands of German soldiers. So they really played an active role, perhaps not so much in terms of fighting, but in terms of the collapse of the Germany front mainly and a little bit of Czechoslovakia”, explains the Belgian historian Chantal Kesteloot.
The battalion, established in Péruwelz in Hainaut, crossed the German border on March 11. In three months, the battalion members made more than 11,000 prisoners over 2,000 kilometers. They also seized a large amount of military equipment on their way. The battalion also participated in the release of entities close to Pilsen, including Stribro and Tachov as well as in the dismantling of the Holsov concentration camp, from which 700 women were released.
Pilsen is one of the few Czech cities not to have been released by the Soviet army at the end of the war.
These Belgian and American arms facts in Czeching were ignored throughout the period of the Cold War. It was only since 1990, after the velvet revolution marking the end of the communist regime in the former Czechoslovak, that the liberation is celebrated in this city. 80 years after May 6, 1945, the presence of King Philippe in Pilsen made it possible to honor the combatants, especially Belgians, who released the city.
