Madrid has unveiled a memorial to František Suchý, the Strašnice crematorium director who secretly preserved ashes of Nazi and Communist victims.

Among those he helped were several Spaniards who died during World War II in the Hradištko concentration camp near Prague. The statue, designed by sculptor Jakub Vlček, was unveiled on Monday by representatives of the Czech Republic and Spain, the Czech embassy in Madrid said.

The bronze sculpture depicts Suchý with outstretched arms, surrounded by a cluster of faces symbolising the people whose remains he managed to save. Funded by private donors, the work stands more than three metres tall including its granite pedestal and is installed in Madrid Río park, close to the Prague Bridge.

“The statue, while rooted in the past, represents the best of what Czechs and Spaniards share,” Czech ambassador to Spain Libor Sečka said, adding that the memorial looks ahead as much as it reflects history. “It creates a new framework for Czech-Spanish relations, a solid foundation for future cooperation and trust. We have something that unites us.”

Sečka said the unveiling marked the culmination of roughly two and a half years of work. He noted that securing approval from the Spanish side was not straightforward, as Madrid had dozens of proposed monuments awaiting placement at the time.

During World War II, thousands of prisoners passed through Hradištko. The bodies of those who died or were killed there were transported to the Strašnice crematorium in Prague.

Its director, František Suchý, was ordered by Nazi authorities to cremate the victims and ensure their ashes disappeared without record. Instead, he and his son secretly kept lists of the dead and hid urns containing ashes in the crematorium grounds, preserving the memory of more than 2,000 victims of Nazi persecution, including Spanish Republicans.

A documentary titled “Ashes” by Basque director Oier Plaza follows the search by Spanish historians for their relatives and the discovery of the role played by Suchý and his son in preserving the remains. It premiered last year and was screened at the San Sebastián Film Festival in the autumn.

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