Nitra commemorates 'Action K2' against monasteries

To mark the infamous events of the night of May 3-4, 1950, when the Communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia carried out an operation to forcibly displace monks from monasteries in the country, members of Slovakia's Confederation of Political Prisoners attended a holy mass at the Chapel of Saint Andrew Zorard in Nitra on Wednesday. During operations labelled 'Action K' with 'K' standing for the Slovak word 'klaštory' which means monasteries, a total of 1,180 monks from 76 monasteries were forced to leave their communities and settle in a few pre-selected places. According to the Slovak Bishops Conference (KBS), the regime in these monasteries was governed by rules that resembled the ones applied in prisons. The displaced monks were forbidden to communicate with the outside world, or their contact was extremely limited. it was followed by 'Action R' , which was aimed at eliminating nunneries. 'R' stands for 'reholnicky', or nuns in English. A total of 1,962 nuns were displaced during the operation.