Brotherhood (sculpture)

Brotherhood (Sbratření) is a sculpture by the Czech artist Karel Pokorný (1891-1962), which became the basis for monuments of the Prague Offensive during World War II. There are such monuments in Prague, Česká Třebová, Saint Petersburg and the Crimea. The sculpture depicts the meeting of a Soviet Red Army soldier and a Czech militiaman in May 1945. Art critics evaluate Brotherhood as one of the best works of socialist realism. This sculpture gained popularity and became a symbol of friendship between the peoples of Russia and Czechoslovakia. Its image was used on stamps, coins, banknotes, etc.

After the dismantling of the Monument to Soviet Tank Crews in 1991 and the Statue of Ivan Konev in 2020, Brotherhood became the main memorial of World War II in Prague.

From the first years after its creation, some viewers of the sculpture saw homoerotic overtones in it.