On Tuesday, January 3, 2017, in Prague’s Olšany cemetery in the Czech Republic were forcibly exhumed the remains of the famous Ukrainian poet and writer Oleksandr Oles. During the urgent exhumation his and his wife’s remains fell from completely rotten coffins.
The charge d’affaires of Ukraine in the Czech Republic, diplomat Zinovii Hoshovskyi states the remains managed to see and photograph the Ukrainian side and are kept in the Depository.
“The exhumation was forced. And it explained the General Director of the Prague cemeteries management. Oleksandr Oles was buried in 1944, his wife in 1948, coffins completely rotten, so the remains failed. When they opened the coffin, it turned out. So the remains had to Jack up and move them,” said Zinovii Hoshovskyi.
Oleksandr Oles was buried in Prague’s Olšany cemetery in 1944. Under the Czech laws, after a burial must be paid a rent for a place in the cemetery in the amount of 20,000 krones ($773,05) for a 10-year period.
The rent for the Ukrainian poet’s place in the cemetery paid the native of Ukraine Volodymyr Mykhailyshyn of his own volition. Recently, Mykhailyshyn died, and his son wants to bury him in the grave of Oleksandr Oles.
First decided to find a new place of burial the famous Ukrainian poet’s remains in Canada where his family lives. Ukraine has confirmed its readiness to transport and bury the remains. Although Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko writes on his official Twitter that the poet’s relatives agree to his reburial in Ukraine:
“We found two Canadian great-grandchildren of Oleksandr Oles. The family agrees to his reburial in Ukraine”, – wrote Andriy Shevchenko.
“Let him rest in peace to our land”, – added the Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada.
