Today is the 90th anniversary of the Dyja tragedy. 31 children drowned during a school trip from Rakvice.

Just today, 90 years have passed since the tragedy on the Dyja near Nový Mlýnů. That day, schoolchildren from my native village Rakvice went on a school trip to Pálava. Around 7:30 in the morning, a total of 109 pupils set off, most of them in the 4th or 5th grade. They rode in 8 horse carriages and enjoyed the trip. After a journey of about 7 km, they had to cross the river Dyji near the village of Nové Mlýny.

At that time there was no bridge, but only a ferry with a punt. The river was very swollen that day after the previous rains. The first two cars crossed the river safely. When the third wagon went across the river, the punt began to sink in the middle of the river and the wagon full of children and horses ended up in the water. 31 children and one coachman drowned in the turbulent water within a few minutes amid terrible horror and lamentation, who managed to save several children before he himself remained under the water.

The tragedy made headlines and thousands of people flocked to the funerals. The investigation eventually showed that the punt was in very poor condition and was overloaded. On September 16, 1936, the regional criminal court in Brno handed down a sentence: ferryman Leopold Schuster was sentenced to 10 months without parole, miller Josef Veverka (ferry manager) was sentenced to 5 months parole, teachers Jindřich Novotný, Zdeňka Žáková and school administrator Bohumil Horňanský were acquitted.