Czech Republic: Heartfelt Support from Attendees of a Charitable Concert and Exhibition in Moravia

On March 5, Falun Gong practitioners were invited to an evening charity event held in the southern Moravia town of Mikulcice to tell people the truth about the ongoing brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China. The organisers also invited several bands to perform and hosted various alternative and ecological exhibitions.

Falun Gong exercise demo	Torture method re-enactment	Citizens carefully study Falun Gong posters

The band that opened the evening event called upon people to come to see the Falun Gong exhibition. They said, "China tortures its own people in shocking ways." The organisers of the whole event invited people to support our efforts by signing the petition calling for an end of the persecution.

People were constantly coming to our exhibition where they could see our live re-enactment of torture methods and demonstrations of the Falun Gong exercises, read many display boards about the persecution and sign our petitions to express their support.

One of the first visitors was a reporter from the newspaper "Denik Moravia." He interviewed practitioners about their activities to promote Falun Gong and end the human rights abuses against practitioners in China. He was very interested in the on-going workshop in which people learned how to fold lotus flowers from sheets of paper. He wanted to know why people were doing that and if it was a symbol of something. So practitioners explained to him that the lotus flower is symbol of cultivation, that it grows from the mud on the bottom of lakes and rises up as a beautiful flower symbolising the process of cultivation in which people purify their bodies and raise up their moral character. After hearing this, the reporter joined the group and folded a lotus flower of his own.

Dozens of people expressed their gratitude to us for coming to the event and helping them learn about the persecution. Some said, "We are very glad that you have come, otherwise we still wouldn't know about the situation." One lady turned to us and stated, "It is very nice of you that you do such a thing." Another came and said, "It is just shocking! This terrible persecution has lasted for over five years. How come we came to know about it so late?"

People listened to practitioners with undisturbed attention and spent a lot of time at our booth. The practitioners thus had time to explain the facts about the persecution and its evil nature more deeply. People learned how the Chinese Communist Party has been trying to block all information about Falun Gong so the news can hardly get across the Chinese border, and how the Chinese regime spreads lies to defame Falun Gong. They were touched when they heard that in China, an enormous amount of Falun Gong materials have been confiscated, books have been burned, numerous practitioners have been imprisoned, and the only information that Chinese people receive every day are lies spread by the government-controlled media.

So when people heard that practitioners not only explain the truth outside of China, but also try their best to clarify truth to people in China, they wished us all the best and supported our efforts.

Many people compared this persecution to Nazism and used the word "Holocaust". One of the visitors was an elementary school teacher. When she heard about the persecution of Falun Gong, she promised that she would pass on this information. She told us that she taught her students about the Holocaust and she would tell them about this too. She left with many Falun Gong materials. And there were many more people like this teacher who took posters and flyers for their schools, homes, workplaces etc.

Practitioners thanked those who helped distribute information about this persecution. They told us, "It is shocking. People must get to know about it. You must work even harder!"