Happy holiday, students of Odessa National Medical University!

Today is International Students’ Day around the world. And although this holiday in our imagination is associated with youth, beauty, hope and romance, it has a tragic history that began in the autumn of 1939 in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. On October 28, 1939, students and teachers took the streets protesting in Prague to mark the anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia. The protest was brutally dispersed, killing medical student Jan Opletal. And on November 17, the Nazis surrounded the dormitories and arrested more than a thousand students. Nine young student activists were killed and others were sent to a concentration camp.

This day is celebrated in memory of the young people who died. At the same time, it symbolizes the continuation of life and the development of the student movement. After all, students are people who are getting get an education, know a lot, are interested in different aspects of life and prepare themselves for their chosen profession. They are one of the most active, creative and ambitious parts of society. And especially – future doctors who have chosen a very important profession for the country!

Dear students! Now you have an incredibly wonderful time in life. It is both a difficult learning and a search for yourselves as a creative, talented people in all senses of the word. These are lectures and exams, sleepless nights before exams, and fun meetings with friends, travel and science, art, sports. These are the first difficulties and the first love…

And on all these life paths I wish you success, good grades, victories in competitions and Olympiads, realization of all dreams and plans.

Happy holidays, friends!

Sincerely, Rector of ONMedU, Academician Valerii Zaporozhan