Interment of the remains of 42 legionaries executed on the Italia

Name: Interment of the remains of 42 legionaries executed on the Italia
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Description: The segment captures the reverential act of depositing the remains of forty-two Italian legionnaires who were executed for deserting from the Austrian army to join the Italian legions in the summer of 1918. The coffins with their bodies were temporarily placed at the military cemetery in Milovice and later unearthed and transported to Prague, where a day-long funeral ceremony was held on 24 April 1921. The camera focuses on military troops lined up on Old Town Square and Italian and Czechoslovak officers. The ceremony is witnessed by Minister of National Defence Otakar Husák and the General Inspector of the Czechoslovak Army, the poet Josef Svatopluk Machar. Shots of speeches given by Josef Rotnágl, a member of the Revolutionary National Assembly, and General Otakar Husák, who delivers a message from the President of Czechoslovakia (silent). This is followed by speeches given by the Senator of the National Assembly, Václav Klofáč, Deputy of the National Assembly František Udržal, and the President of the Italian-Czechoslovak League, Prince Pietro Lanza di Scalea, whose speech is interpreted by diplomat Jan Šeba. Shot of the commander of the funeral procession, General Karel Voženílek, on horseback. General Otakar Husák and Josef Svatopluk Machar receive Italian military honours. After the solemn ceremony on Old Town Square, the coffins with the remains of the executed legionnaires were taken to the military burial ground at Olšany Cemetery.