Czechoslovakia: Silent Observance

For Czechoslovaks—and for much of the world—Aug. 21 will live forever in infamy. On that day two years ago, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia and crushed the country's promising Springtime of Freedom, which was led by Reformer Alexander Dubček. The first anniversary of that event was marked by three days of violent anti-Soviet demonstrations in Prague and a dozen other cities. Last week, on the second anniversary of the Soviet invasion, the dispirited Czechs did not bother to protest.

"What would it change?" shrugged a young mechanic from Kladno. In Prague, some...