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Home , Augustin Schramm, Iron Curtain, Ladislav Adamec, Post Bellum, Prague uprising, Ryszard Siwiec

Review of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes,

Behind the

We Were Unhappy Political Executions Far-Reaching Battle and Have Begun in Communist Over the Secret Not to Know It Policemen’s Files

Interview with Jiří Gruša on Intentional misuse Post- the lack of virtuousness and of the implementation scandal that shook the the threshold of memory of justice government

Cover.indd 1 3/12/09 4:21:27 PM

Internet Portal of 2.2.2009 19:29:07 2.2.2009 Survivor Accounts 1 PN_promo_OB_200x150.indd

.EEU WWW W.W MEM MOMORYOFO NAN TIT ONO

www.memoryofnation.eu is a digital archive of survivor and witness accounts collected on the basis of oral history methodology. The portal collects audio recordings, video clips, photos, texts, archival documents and professional commentaries, allows easy comparison of accounts, and enables the passing on of 20th-century history through the words of those who experienced it fi rsthand.

The goal of the project is to facilitate exploration of the accounts of those who survived totalitarian regimes. The Web site currently exists in 9 language versions. The witness’s story is always in his or her own native language, with a short annotation in English, for universal accessibility. The long-term objective is to make the portal into a digital archive featuring testimonies compiled from oral history projects in all European countries.

This project is the result of cooperation between the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (www.ustrcr.cz), the civic association (www.postbellum.cz) and Czech Radio (Český Rozhlas, www.rozhlas.cz). www.memoryofnation.eu

2 obalka.indd 1 3/12/09 4:21:50 PM Dear Readers,

One of the most important tasks of the Institute for the Study of Totali- tarian Regimes is the presentation of our research fi ndings on an inter- national level. With the passing in the Czech Republic of Act No. 181/2007 Coll. and the creation of the Institute and Security Services Archive, our country fi nds itself in a unique situ- ation providing for the comparative- ly rapid attainment of a similar level of social discourse as in other post- Communist countries which estab- lished parallel institutions in recent years. Research findings in unusually wide open archival collections of the former Communist security services and new digitization technology are making it possible to convey up-to- date knowledge of the mechanisms of Nazi and Soviet totalitarian power from former Czechoslovakia to the wide international research commu- nity in real time. The Institute thus fulfi lls, even in the context of supra- national fora, the legal purpose for which it was established. Reconciling with the totalitarian past is a complex and internally structured process, which over one generation aft er the fall of the Com- munist totalitarian regime in Cen- tral and Eastern is reaching a new phase. Political, institutional and personnel changes in our region no longer fundamentally threaten standards in research, museum and Europe. Not only Nazism, but also the routing to Euroatlantic struc- grant areas, to be applied towards , with which the states tures; nevertheless, a thorough the overcoming of Europe’s 20th cen- and citizens of the former Iron Cur- knowledge of totalitarian mecha- tury totalitarian residue. We expect tain to the East have additional trag- nisms and defenses against them is that the integration of opinions in this ic experiences, deserve detailed and not yet destined exclusively for his- area, commencing with a detailed systematic attention. torians and politologists. The expe- discussion at the workshop organized In order to protect and further de- rience of the post-Communist part in cooperation with the Offi ce of the velop an open, democratic society, the of Europe must be taken into account Government of the Czech Republic in realities of the closed past have to be as an inseparable part of a common November 2008 and culminating in revealed and impartially evaluated. European historical memory. the hearing in the European Parlia- This is the Institute and Archive’s For this reason the Institute, with- ment in the middle of March 2009, specifi c legal mandate, yet it will be in the scope of the Czech Republic’s will not only buttress the sometimes accomplished much more eff ectively presidency of the Council of the Eu- even Sisyphean work of our partner in partnership than alone. ropean Union, has initiated the pro- institutions, but will also unite the cess of establishing a common Euro- occasionally still distinct approach- Sincerely, pean platform intended to ensure es of Western and Central-Eastern Pavel Žáček, Institute Director

Behind the Iron Curtain 3

3 editorial.indd Sec1:3 3/12/09 4:22:24 PM TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial ...... 3 The NKVD/KGB – The Service That Came Table of Contents ...... 4 In For the ...... 43 International conference series expands channels of research and HISTORY cooperation Milestones in Recent Czech History (1938-1989) ...... 5 Coming to Terms With the 20th Century The Far-Reaching Battle Over the Secret Totalitarian Past ...... 8 Policemen’s Files ...... 45 Post-Velvet Revolution scandal that shook the government INTRODUCTION Inception and International Cooperation PRESENTATION of the Institute and Archive ...... 11 Exhibition: Czech Society Between Highlights of Institute Activities ...... 13 Munich and the War ...... 47 Formation and Priorities Exhibition: On the Cold War Front – of the Security Services Archive ...... 16 Czechoslovakia 1948-1956 ...... 49 Educational DVD: 1968: Shattered Hopes ...... 50 INTERVIEW Book: Victims of the Occupation ...... 51 We Were Unhappy and Have Begun Not to Know It .....18 Exhibition and Book: Orwell in Photographs, Interview with Jiří Gruša on the lack of virtuousness Through the Lens of the ...... 52 and the threshold of memory International Conference: Resistance and Opposition Against the Communist ARTICLES AND STUDIES Regime in Czechoslovakia and ...... 54 Getting to Grips With Munich's Painful Legacy ...... 23 The Agreement's long-term eff ects are still a live issue and subject of debate

Wartime Wounds Cast Long Shadow over Czech Society ...... 25 Czechs were among Nazi ’s fi rst foreign victims

Cautious Preparations for the Černínský Palace Revolution ...... 27 February 1948 and persecution of employees of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs Behind the Iron Curtain

Review of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Communist Regime Investigative Czech Republic Aids Help Historians Uncover Secrets ...... 30 Preparation of the Action 48 card index for researchers’ use Editors: Chris Johnstone, Alexis Gibson Graphic design and layout: Petr Puch, Kakalík Political Executions in Communist Czechoslovakia .....33 Language editing: Alexis Gibson, Cóilín O’Connor, Intentional misuse of the implementation of justice Gillian Purves

Behind the Iron Curtain uses images from the ČTK Czech News A Cheap and Dispensable Tool for Uranium Extraction ...... 36 Agency and from the following archives: Security Services “Class enemies” used as forced labor in mines during Archive, National Archives of the Czech Republic, Archive of the the Communist regime Ministry of Foreign Aff airs, and the archives of Přemysl Fialka, Jiří Reichl, Peter Burgstaller, Jiří Gruša, Ladislav Kudrna. Hope, Warnings and Lessons Cover photos of Czechoslovak prisoners who were eventually From Across the Border ...... 38 executed on political grounds, aft er their arrest by the State International impact of the and its crushing Security Service: Karel Bacílek, student - 29 years old (executed Student’s Self-Sacrifi ce Scrutinized in May 1949); Květoslav Prokeš, soldier - 52 years old (executed on Anniversary ...... 41 in November 1949). Czech society reviews ’s act aft er 40 years Published in March 2009 ISBN 978-80-87211-21-2

4 Behind the Iron Curtain

4 obsah.indd Sec2:4 3/12/09 4:22:45 PM Milestones in Recent Czech History (1938–1989)

Czechoslovakia aft er the (October 1, 1938-March 15, 1939).

1938 a new path, limiting parliamentary of medical student on No- September 29. , Neville and trying to ingratiate vember 15, four days aft er he died from Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and itself with . wounds received at an anti– Nazi pro- Édouard Daladier sign the Munich test on the October 28 anniversary of Agreement, ceding the Sudeten bor- 1939 Czechoslovak independence. der regions and much of the country’s March 15. German forces occupy the natural and man–made defenses. remainder of Czech territory left af- 1941 Those regions subsequently decide ter Munich. had declared its September 27. Nazi control is tight- on incorporation into the German independence one day earlier. Adolf ened with the appointment of Rein- Reich. Hitler announces the Protectorate of hard Heydrich as acting protector of Bohemia and the next day Bohemia and Moravia. 1938 from Prague Castle. October 5. President Edvard Beneš 1942 resigns as president and leaves the 1939 May 27. Acting Protector Reinhard country. His position is taken by Emil November 17. Nine students, identi- Heydrich is injured in a Prague sub- Hácha on November 30. In the wake fied as ringleaders in an anti–Nazi urb during an attack by Czechs and of Munich, the government of so– demonstration, are executed. The dem- parachuted in from Britain. called Second Republic embarks on onstration took place at the funeral He dies from blood poisoning on June 4,

Behind the Iron Curtain 5

5-10 history.indd Sec1:5 3/12/09 4:23:08 PM HISTORY

the highest ranked Nazi offi cial to be assassinated during the war. His death unleashes a bloody reprisal.

1943 December 12. Edvard Beneš signs a friendship treaty with the , binding postwar Czechoslo- vakia to closer economic and military links with Moscow.

1945 April 4. Creation of the Košice Na- tional Front government, with Com- munists given key ministries.

1945 . With US forces stopped on the outskirts of Pilsen and the Red , Chairman of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSČ) and Czech- Army still distant, Prague rises oslovak Prime Minister, during his speech from the Kinský Palace balcony, Prague against the Nazi occupiers with ini- Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí), February 1948. Left , in the background, tial help from General Vlasov’s Rus- is Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Vladimír Clementis (later sentenced in the Slán- sian soldiers, who turned against ský trial) and photographer Karel Hajek. Source: ČTK their German masters. Soviet troops enter the city and put down German resistance four days later. resignation of non–Communist min- During the succeeding show trial, he isters and refusing to bring forward is sentenced to death along with 10 1945 general elections due that year. others, with the punishment carried October 28. Four presidential de- out just over a year aft er his arrest. crees announce the nationalization 1948 of large sectors of the economy, in- June 14. Klement Gottwald becomes 1953 cluding key heavy industries, banks president following the resignation March 14. Death of President Kle- and insurance companies. of Edvard Beneš. ment Gottwald. Antonín Zápotocký replaces him on March 21. 1946 1948 May 26. First postwar elections give October 6. Parliament passes Act 1953 Communists a leading 37.93% of the 231, establishing the grounds for trea- June 1–2. The government’s an- vote and 93 seats in the 300–seat par- son, which will form the basis for nounced currency reform sparks a liament, resulting in Communist lead- many political trials. full–scale revolt against the Commu- er Klement Gottwald’s third govern- nist regime by factory workers in Pil- ment, created from a continuing un- 1950 sen. The center of the city is only re- easy National Front coalition. May 31–June 8. Show trial of Milada claimed by authorities with the help Horáková and co–defendants. of more than 10,000 security police 1948 and tanks. February 20. Non–Communist min- 1951 isters from three parties in the Na- July 11. Parliament passes a law giv- 1957 tional Front coalition government re- ing border guards security and mili- November 13. President Antonín Zá- sign following a clash over Commu- tary powers as part of steps to secure potocký dies. Communist Party First nist moves to tighten their grip on frontiers with Western states. Secretary Antonín Novotný becomes the state security apparatus. the new president. 1951 1948 November 23. Former Communist 1960 February 25. President Edvard Party General Secretary Rudolf Slán- The so–called Socialist Constitution is Beneš accepts a Communist–domi- ský is arrested and charged with mas- adopted, with the adjective socialist nated government aft er accepting the terminding an anti–state conspiracy. now appearing in the name of the coun-

6 Behind the Iron Curtain

5-10 history.indd Sec1:6 3/12/09 4:23:10 PM Milestones in Recent Czech History (1938–1989)

try, and the leading role of the Com- (who as of May 1975 also becomes the 1989 munist Party enshrined in the text. president of the Czechoslovak Social- January. Repression is used by the ist Republic). Communist authorities to suppress 1967 “Palach Week,” a series of demonstra- June. The fourth Czechoslovak Writ- 1969 tions to mark the anniversary of Jan ers’ Congress launches criticism of August 22. The so–called truncheon Palach’s self–immolation. Novotný’s leadership of the Commu- law, giving security forces and the nist Party. police reinforced powers to protect 1989 public order, is adopted with imme- June. Publication of “A Few Sentenc- 1967 diate eff ect and signed by Dubček, es,” a call by dissident leaders for the October 31. A protest march by more President Ludvík Svoboda and Prime release of political prisoners, open than 1,500 Prague students following Minister Oldřich Černík. It allows de- and free discussion on all aspects of another blackout in their residence tention for up to three weeks instead public life, including thorny histori- halls is brutally suppressed by the se- of the former 48 hours and dismissal cal issues, and the end of censor- curity police, who beat, kick and use from work or studies (a total of 1,526 ship. tear gas on the demonstrators. citizens are punished under this pro- vision). 1989 1968 November 17. Security police block January 5. Antonín Novotný is re- 1976 and then violently break up a stu- placed by Alexander Dubček as Sec- March 17. Police arrest members of dents’ march in central Prague, spark- retary General of the Czechoslovak the underground rock band Plastic ing the “Velvet Revolution.” Communist Party. People of the Universe and later put them on trial, a move which helps to 1989 1968 rally and unite opposition to the re- November 19. The (Ob- March 21. Antonín Novotný is pres- gime. čanské Fórum) is created to unite op- sured to resign as President in a move position to the Communist regime in which signals the further weakening 1977 the wake of the outcry against the of the hardliners. January 1. Charter 77, a manifesto suppression of the students’ march calling for the Czechoslovak govern- and mistaken reports of one student 1968 ment to respect the human rights ob- death. June 27. Leading newspapers publish ligations of the Helsinki Final Act, is Ludvík Vaculík’s appeal “Two Thou- unveiled with 242 signatures. 1989 sand Words,” which expresses sup- November 20. A university strike port for the democratization move- 1978 starts with a demonstration in ment and cautions against anti–Com- April 24. VONS (The Committee for Pra gue’s Wenceslas Square, attract- munism and outside interference (the the Defense of the Unjustly Persecut- ing more than 100,000 protesters. threat of Soviet occupation). ed) is created to monitor cases of un- The demonstration is the fi rst of many just legal persecution of those who which helped convince the regime it 1968 expressed their beliefs or who became had lost support. August 20–21. Soviet and forces from victims of the arbitrary behavior of four other Pact countries in- the regime. 1989 vade Czechoslovakia to quash the re- November 24. The Communist Par- forms implemented by the Czecho- 1987 ty’s general secretary and its entire slovak Communist Party. December. Gustáv Husák steps central committee step down, open- down as General Secretary of the ing the way for a switch in power. 1969 Communist Party, to be replaced by January 16. Student Jan Palach sets Miloš Jakeš. 1989 himself on fi re in Prague’s Wenceslas December 4. State borders are Square in protest against the Soviet 1988 opened. occupation and retreating reforms. December 10. The fi rst opposition He dies three days later. demonstration is permitted to take 1989 place in Prague’s Škroupovo Náměstí December 29. Dissident leader 1969 on Human Rights Day, coinciding with Václav Havel elected president of April 17. Dubček is replaced as Com- the visit of French President François Czechoslovakia, replacing Gustáv munist Party leader by Gustáv Husák Mitterand. Husák.

Behind the Iron Curtain 7

5-10 history.indd Sec1:7 3/12/09 4:23:11 PM Coming to Terms With the 20th Century Totalitarian Past

1990 January 4. The ČSSR government presidium detaches the III. Direc- torate of the Security Police (Nation- al Security Corps – SNB), covering military counterintelligence, from the control of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, and incorporates it into the Ministry of National De- fense.

1990 January 31–February 16. Selected sections of the SNB are dissolved un- der orders of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and their staff withdrawn from active service.

1990 April 23. The Federal Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Federal Repub- lic (FS ČSFR) passes Act No. 119/1990 Coll. on judicial rehabilitation, un- der which sentences are cancelled across the board and the rehabilita- November 17, 1989 student demonstration on Národní třída in Prague just before tion of over 230,000 people is deter- the brutal police intervention commenced. Freedom! (“Svobodu!”) is written on the mined, especially for those with con- banner. Source: ČTK victions of a political nature. The state also compensates victims for 1945–1947 cases, from which 33,463 individuals time spent in detention and pris- Retribution courts are established on are sentenced. 713 of these receive on. the basis of the presidential decrees the death penalty, while the verdict of June 19, 1945 regarding the pun- of life imprisonment is delivered to 1990 ishment of Germans, collaborators 741 (of which 50% are Germans, 35% May 21. The ČSFR government issues and traitors and pursuant to the May Czechs and Slovaks and 15% of other Act No. 212/1990 Coll. on the forfei- 15, 1945 decree No. 33 of the Slovak nationalities). ture of state property which had been National Council, in connection with in long–term use by the Czechoslovak the eff ort to punish war criminals. 1989 Communist Party (KSČ), pursuant to Active membership in Nazi and Fas- November 29. The Federal Assembly Article 79 of constitutional law No. cist organizations, participation in abolishes Article 4 of the Constitu- 143/1968 Coll. the elimination of domestic and for- tion of the Cze choslovak Socialist Re- eign resistance, informing, etc. are public (ČSSR), which had established 1990 punishable. Special People’s Courts the leading role of the Communist June 8–9. Free parliamentary elec- and the National Court try 38,316 Party. tions are held.

8 Behind the Iron Curtain

5-10 history.indd Sec1:8 3/12/09 4:23:11 PM Coming to Terms With the 20th Century Totalitarian Past

Ladislav Adamec (left ) greets Václav Havel at the November 28, 1989 negotiation between delegations representing the then Communist government and the Civic Forum. Source: ČTK

1990 (SSM) property to the people of the vestigation of State Security Service October 2. The Federal Assembly ČSFR. (StB) activities at the Federal Minis- passes Act No. 403/1990 Coll. on try of the Interior, pursuant to that property rehabilitation, which aims 1991 Ministry’s Order No. 95/1991. The De- to alleviate the consequences of February 21. The Federal Assembly partment’s director answers direct- property violations and facilitates passes constitutional law No. 87/1991 ly to the Interior Minister. the return of moveable and immov- on extrajudicial rehabilitation, aimed able property confiscated after at redressing the consequences of prop- 1991 1955. erty and other violations resulting from The Federal Assembly passes Act No. civil, workplace and other administra- 451/1991 on conditions for holding cer- 1990 tive acts which took place between Feb- tain positions in state bodies and or- November 16. The Federal Assem- ruary 25, 1948, and January 1, 1990, and ganizations (the “big lustration law”). bly passes constitutional law No. which were in confl ict with the basic This and later acts (nos. 279/1992, 496/1990 Coll. on the restitution of principles of a democratic society. 422/2000, 424/2000) establish the cri- Communist Party property to the teria for fi lling certain top state posts people of the ČSFR and constitu - 1991 and excluding members and collabo- tion al law No. 497/1990 on the re- September. Creation of the Depart- rators of the State Security Service turn of Socialist Youth Association ment for the Documentation and In- (StB), People’s Militia, military coun-

Behind the Iron Curtain 9

5-10 history.indd Sec1:9 3/12/09 4:23:11 PM HISTORY

terintelligence and pre–November munist regime is denounced as crimi- terials from the former Central Com- 1989 members of the Communist Par- nal, illegitimate and condemnable, and mittee of the Communist Party Ar- ty from occupying these positions. thus resistance by citizens against this chive and the Archive of the Ministry type of government deemed legitimate, of the Interior are declassifi ed dur- 1992 just, moral and deserving of recogni- ing the following year. June 4. An unoffi cial and incomplete tion. The state is also obliged to abolish list of StB collaborators is released or reduce penalties not addressed by 2002 in Petr Cibulka’s “Uncensored News- the law on judicial rehabilitation if it March 8. Parliament amends its 1996 paper.” can be shown that the condemned was law with Act No. 107/2002, distinctly acting to protect basic human and civ- widening the range of accessible fi les 1992 il rights and freedoms through clearly and comprehensively changing the ap- October. The Constitutional Court de- proportionate means. The position of proach to StB documents. Public ac- cision nos. 14/1992 Coll. and 351/1991 this law within the legal system of the cess is granted to at least part of the Coll. confi rm the right of a democrat- Czech Republic is problematic, to say intelligence and military counterintel- ic state to take necessary measures the least, as it is purely declaratory, and ligence fi les, and theoretically also to to avoid the risk of subversion, the re- has thus not been rigorously applied in the files of the Surveillance, Intelli- turn of totalitarian rule, and to take individual cases. gence Technology, and Passport and steps to reduce these risks. Visa directorates, as well, with access 1995 rights extended to foreign citizens. 1992 January 1. The Ministry of the Inte- October. The Federal Ministry of the rior, in its order No. 83/1994 Coll., cre- 2002 Interior orders the creation of the Of- ates the Offi ce for the Documentation April 9. Act No. 172/2002 Coll. is fi ce for the Documentation and In- and Investigation of the Crimes of Com- passed, granting compensation for vestigation of StB activities, under munism (ÚDV). The Center for the Doc- citizens deported to the Soviet Union the control of the Czech Police’s in- umentation of Illegalities Committed or to camps established by the So- vestigation unit. by the Communist Regime, which came viet Union in other states. into being in January 1994 under the 1993 direction of the Chief Prosecutor’s of- 2004 February 23. The Chief Prosecutor fi ce, is incorporated into the ÚDV, now June 30. Parliament passes Act No. of the Czech Republic creates the Co- answerable to the Czech Police and 499/2004 Coll. on archival science, ordination Center for the Documen- with investigative authority. under which the absolute majority of tation and Investigation of Violence archival documents from the period against the Czech People from May 1996 of the Communist regime – from re- 8, 1945 to December 31, 1989, in com- April 26. Parliament passes Act No. pressive services as well as organi- pliance with an agreement with the 140/1996 Coll., rendering some StB fi les zations of the National Front – are Ministry of the Interior. The Center, accessible. This law opens up around rendered accessible without limit. governed by the Chief Prosecutor’s 60,000 fi les from the former counter- offi ce, is tasked to help implement the intelligence service of the StB, although 2005 law on judicial rehabilitation. only to Czech citizens, and with sensi- May 3. Act No. 203/2005 Coll. is tive material thoroughly blacked out. passed, granting compensation to 1993 some victims of the occupation of July 9. Parliament passes Act No. 1997 Czechoslovakia by the armies of the 198/1993 Coll. on the illegal nature of June 22. The Government of the Czech Soviet Union, German Democratic the Communist regime and on resist- Republic passes Act No. 165/1997 Coll. Republic, Polish People’s Republic, ance against it. The law states that the on lump–sum fi nancial compensation Hungarian People’s Republic and Bul- Communist Party leadership and mem- for the unjust actions of the Commu- garian People’s Republic. bership were fully responsible for the nist regime with respect to condemned actions of the Czechoslovak government individuals, those retained in custody, 2007 between 1948 and 1989, including the and individuals sent to forced labor June 8. Parliament passes Act No. destruction of traditional European val- camps or interned. 181/2007 Coll., on the Institute for the ues, the abuse of human rights, break- Study of Totalitarian Regimes and ing the law and international obliga- 1998 Security Services Archive. The law tions, using repressive measures against May 20. Parliament passes Act No. comes into eff ect on August 1, 2007, its own citizens, and conducting judi- 148/1998 Coll. on secret information, and the institutions begin operation cial murders and staged trials. The Com- under which most of the archival ma- on February 1, 2008.

10 Behind the Iron Curtain

5-10 history.indd Sec1:10 3/12/09 4:23:12 PM Inception and International Cooperation of the Institute and Archive

Chairman of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance Janusz Kurtyka (left ) signed a three-way cooperation agreement with the Institute and Archive in Prague. Source: Jiří Reichl

The creation of the Institute for the about the need, remit and shape of date for fostering or furthering his- Study of Totalitarian Regimes fol- such an institution abounded in the torical research. The ÚDV, which falls lowed a prolonged and arduous path, Czech Republic. under the Police Presidium, is a pure- with the outcome unclear only months Backers of the Institute’s creation ly investigative body, charged with ahead of its February 1, 2008 launch. argued that the body dealing with examining fi les and recommending While inspiration for the creation of the security fi les of the former Com- whether criminal proceedings should an independent body dedicated to ex- munist regime, the Offi ce for the Doc- be brought against former Commu- amining the recent totalitarian past umentation and Investigation of the nist functionaries. Its management came from already operational insti- Crimes of Communism (ÚDV), did not of the archives housed within the tutes in neighboring Germany, adequately fulfill its role as an ar- Ministry of Interior was primarily fo- and Slovakia, diff ering perspectives chives custodian, and had no man- cused on processing and interpreting

Behind the Iron Curtain 11

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:11 3/12/09 4:23:34 PM INTRODUCTION

them for its own direct needs. Histo- The new institution’s responsibil- Practical benefi ts include the pros- rians complained they had no clear ity for independent, objective research pect of easier access to archive docu- picture of what was in the various was laid down in its founding act, ments from institutions in other coun- collections and that they were only with its ruling seven-strong council tries and the possibility of study given partial access to them. These selected according to a procedure in- placements or stages abroad for re- criticisms persisted even though some tended to diversify input. Council searchers. The Institute is also seek- symbolic steps were taken to improve members are nominated by the Pres- ing to share its know-how with other access, including the publishing of ident of the Republic; the lower house post-Communist countries, such as some of the pre-1989 civil intelligence of Parliament; and civic associations Albania, which are in the initial stag- fi les on the internet. focused on history, archival science, es of creating bodies dealing with The creation of the Nation’s Mem- research, education and human their authoritarian past. Such coop- ory Institute in Slovakia in 2002 was rights, as well as groupings represent- eration increases individual insti- a particularly poignant catalyst, as ing former political prisoners or re- tutes’ chances of achieving their it increasingly resulted in historians sistance and opponents of Commu- shared goals. “We will be stronger and researchers being off ered better nism and Nazism. The upper house together than when we act alone,” ex- access to the past in one part of the – the Senate – votes to fi ll the Council plains ’s Institute former Czechoslovakia than the oth- from the list of nominees. The Coun- of National Remembrance, Janusz er. Further, a newly created body cil appoints the Institute’s director, Kurtyka. would centralize all the records con- who in turn names the director of the The Institute also cooperates with cerning the security services, then Security Services Archive. Criminal a series of museums, organizations spread around diff erent ministries, investigation into Communist crimes and institutions, mostly in Central and give a much needed impetus to remains the responsibility of the and , dedicated to the weak attempts so far to research ÚDV. shedding light on the recent totali- and come to terms with the recent Since opening their doors in Feb- tarian past. totalitarian past, and in particular ruary 2008, the Institute for the Cooperation at these diff erent lev- its key security apparatus. Study of Totalitarian Regimes and els has helped the Institute stage a While historians contended over the Security Services Archive have series of international conferences the size and scope of a newly created taken a lead in forging internation- and seminars putting the spotlight institute and its archives, they were al links. on key moments or themes in the generally agreed that one of its key From an historical viewpoint, the countries’ shared history. missions would be to remedy the pub- logic of close cooperation between Europe-wide moves to break down lic’s – and especially schoolchildren’s Central and Eastern Europe insti- the vestiges of the Cold War divide – acute ignorance of their recent tur- tutions created around security ser- that still hover over the continent are bulent history. vices archives is compelling. Simply being promoted by the Institute. In They further concurred that a new put, these countries share a com- November 2008, the Institute hosted body would boost international his- mon totalitarian past that cannot a working group aimed at establish- torical cooperation, particularly be- be fully understood at a national ing the framework for a European tween like-minded institutes and or- level. platform of memory and conscience ganizations in Central and Eastern All were subject in varying degrees which would foster cooperation and Europe. to Nazi domination with the strings a common approach to tackling Eu- The precise format of the new body immediately, or soon after, being rope’s totalitarian past. Representa- was thrashed out by politicians. Ini- pulled from Moscow. tives from 19 countries backed the tial proposals counted on the creation Through a series of bilateral agree- concept of such a platform, to exist of two separate bodies, with a sepa- ments with counterparts in Germany, side by side with national institutions rate security services archive being Poland, Slovakia, and , and and provide a forum for encouraging born alongside the institute. That sce- a wider six-nation international ac- joint research and education projects, nario was eventually dropped in favor cord taking in and Bulgar- increasing public awareness of the of a single body, with largely autono- ia, the Institute is advancing the goal continent’s collective history and bol- mous archives still under institute of creating an institutional frame- stering democratic values. The Insti- control, and the latter responsible for work encouraging cooperative re- tute seeks to build on this foundation overseeing the major task of digitiz- search. A similar agreement has been during the Czech Presidency of the ing the collection. The institute’s re- signed with the US Holocaust Memo- EU Council during the first half of mit was also widened to cover the so- rial Museum, while a further bilat- 2009, with a European Parliament called era of non-freedom – the period eral agreement with Ukraine is un- hearing over the platform proposal of Nazi occupation, from 1938-1945. derway. scheduled on March 18.

12 Behind the Iron Curtain

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:12 3/12/09 4:23:35 PM Highlights of Institute Activities

RESEARCH A third line of investigation looks nist regime, the Ministry of Justice, Achieving a better understanding of at direct and indirect links between and its transformation into an agent the Nazi and Communist totalitarian the two totalitarian regimes, either of “class justice.” Today, more is regimes through unbiased research regarding the persons and structures known about the victims of Commu- is an integral part of the Institute’s used to gain and maintain power or nist justice than the individuals who broad mandate. The main research the methods adopted. The breadth of staff ed the apparatus and to what de- themes focus on how and why pre- the archives collections, oft en allow- gree they determined punishments and post-WWII were un- ing the activities of individual depart- and helped shape the system. dermined, and understanding who ments to be charted over decades, The development of the prison sys- supported and resisted the totalitar- greatly contributes to this task. tem between 1938-1989 as a key ele- ian regimes that succeeded each oth- Piecing together a fuller picture of ment of repression, and the charting er aft er a relatively short gap. the development and organizational of the fates of political prisoners, is The regimes’ crimes, the anti-dem- structure of the Communist Party of another major theme for research. ocratic and criminal actions of state Czechoslovakia at a central and re- Long-term goals include an encyclo- bodies, in particular the security gional level is one of the Institute’s pedia of prison facilities, study of po- services, the Communist Party, and fundamental goals. litical prisoners’ situation during the organizations which took a lead from The party’s place within the broad- post Prague Spring period of “nor- the party (such as the army, border er Communist international structure malization,” and an exhibition about police and people’s militias), are all and the freedom it had to follow its the prison system. included in documentation eff orts. own path versus accepting direct or- In a diff erent area, research aims Long-term research seeks to un- ders from Moscow, as well as the over- to uncover the life stories, motiva- derstand to what extent the short- all extent of “Sovietization,” is being tions and actions of those people who lived Second Czechoslovak Republic, researched. Descriptions of how the opposed the Communist regimes in born in the wake of the Munich party apparatus evolved and who oc- what has been described as the “third Agreement and lasting until the Nazi cupied top party posts are being resistance” movement. The focus is occupation in March 1939, was a pre- drawn up (the fi rst results have al- divided between the period during cursor to what followed by tracing ready been published on the internet) which the regime gained and con- the penetration of totalitarian and with the fi nal result helping to deter- solidated its power from 1948-1956 repressive tendencies. Study also fo- mine the extent of individuals’ re- and the following period until 1989, cuses on the psychological blow of sponsibility. with extensive research in the secu- “Munich” on Czechoslovak society The same approach will also be rity services archive collection a pri- and its role in undermining democ- used to chart the organization, staff - ority. racy. ing and role of the security machin- Finally, research attempts to shed The apparatus of Nazi repressive ery, mostly housed in the Ministry of fresh light on one of the turning control during the Protectorate of Bo- the Interior, with a bibliographic dic- points in recent history, the Prague hemia and Moravia, collaboration tionary of its hierarchy one of the Spring and its violent demise, in par- with and resistance against it, and planned results. In particular, re- ticular by tracing the non-Communist the way the Communist movement search will try to pinpoint where the roots of the demands for reform and at home and abroad sought to posi- security service took a lead, as op- the way the security services them- tion itself to seize power form a sep- posed to serving merely as a tool for selves reacted to these changes. arate thread of research. The scope repression. The incorporation of the military here is wide, with a final total of Research further seeks to fill in and security intelligence and coun- Czech victims of the Nazi regime still considerable gaps in knowledge about ter-intelligence records within the not fi nalized. another major pillar of the Commu- overall archive is expected to open

Behind the Iron Curtain 13

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:13 3/12/09 4:23:36 PM INTRODUCTION

interviewing some of the few remain- ing Czech survivors who were sent to Soviet aft er the German oc- cupation of what remained of Bohe- mia and Moravia in March 1939 was one of the 2008 priorities. Four survivors who slipped across the border into the Soviet Union, only to be arrested as spies and sent to prison camps, were interviewed. Many Czech occupants of the , now in their eighties, only earned their release by off ering to join the fi ghting on the Eastern Front as part of the Soviet WWII war effort. To complete this project, the Institute has teamed up with a parallel French initiative, “Au- dio Archives of the Gulag,” which col- lects recollections of Gulag victims from the countries of the former So- viet Union and its satellite states. The Institute, backed up by around a dozen external helpers called in to help with the workload, has also sought to gather the accounts of those involved in the so-called “third resist- ance” against the Communist regime, Czech agents recruited by Western governments and groups persecuted by the authorities. Victims of Communist moves to col- lectivize agriculture and confi scate property left in private hands aft er post-war nationalization and the ac- counts of political prisoners during the entire period of the regime’s 41 year rule have also been the focus for the Institute’s initial eff orts, with a Jozef Kycka, survivor of the Barbora, Nikolaj and Rovnost camps in Jáchymov, tells total of around 80 video recordings his story near the former gatehouse of the Rovnost camp, which serves today as a made by the end of 2008. vacation cottage. Source: Adam Hradilek The Institute has also been a lead- ing player in the launch of Europe’s biggest internet portal for historical up the door to studies that will more pects of Czech history, compiling a accounts, Memory of Nation. The clearly establish the role of these digital databank of recollections multilingual portal (www.pametnar- Czechoslovak services within the alongside the existing written oda.cz or www.memoryofnation.eu), a broader context of Soviet-bloc moves records. The priorities of the Mem- joint venture between the civic as- to export Communism and undermine ory and History of Totalitarian sociation Post Bellum, Czech Radio, the West. Regimes Project’s small documen- and the Institute, was launched on tation team are set with one eye on October 28, 2008, aft er two years of ORAL HISTORY the Institute’s research and exhibi- preparations. It draws on accounts Another of the Institute’s aims is to tion needs, but a bigger eye on the that have been collected for almost collect on tape and fi lm the memories clock ticking on the lives of some of a decade, including memories of WWII of those directly involved in key as- the aged witnesses. For this reason, soldiers, those involved in wartime

14 Behind the Iron Curtain

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:14 3/12/09 4:23:36 PM Highlights of Institute Activities

resistance, opponents of Communism behind that of other historical eras of longtime top Communist party in the , political prisoners, and both in terms of the time and qual- leader and minister for information leading offi cials of the regime and its ity of education aff orded. Many young and culture, Václav Kopecký, and a apparatus. people born since the fall of Commu- profi le of Iron Curtain border guards One of the main aims of the project nism in 1989 have only the sketchi- units and escape attempts. The 40th is to provide an attractive and mean- est ideas of what the regime meant, anniversary of the 1968 suppression ingful opening into modern history oft en based on clichés such as queues of the Prague Spring provided the for elementary and secondary school for bananas. impetus for one of the year’s hall- and even university students, with Expert help is offered to history mark publications, Victims of the Oc- the accounts providing primary ma- teachers, mostly those in middle cupation. The book, published in sep- terial and a source for inspiration for schools, offering guidance on how arate Czech and English editions, not further study. they can tackle what is still a highly only updates the death toll of the So- By the end of 2008, 939 witness ac- sensitive subject. This includes the viet-led occupation, but provides new counts had been collected, amount- running of free courses for teachers details and destroys some estab- ing to 2,471 separate sound record- and the preparation of books and lished myths (see article on page ings. A start has also been made on teaching aids, including videos and 52). inputting the accounts of some of the DVDs, for classroom use. For 2009, The Institute’s main periodical, nine foreign partners which have the focus of training will be widened aimed at the general public, is the agreed to help build the portal into to take in the Nazi occupation and quarterly review Pamět a dějiny (Mem- a representative European collection Czech Protectorate as well as the ory and History). Its liberal mix of ar- of recollections. These partners are: Communist regime, with compari- ticles, studies, interviews and reviews the Brücke Foundation, Germany; the sons being drawn between the two has won praise for putting diffi cult International Commission for the totalitarian regimes. aspects of modern history before a Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi The Institute has been quick to mass audience. The bi-annual anthol- and Soviet Occupation Regimes in grasp the opportunities off ered by ogy, Securitas Imperii, off ers more de- ; the Institute for National fi lm and audio archives to compile tailed studies of the evolution and Remembrance, Poland; the Imperial lively and challenging multimedia functioning of the Czechoslovak se- War Museum, Britain; the Nation’s packages which can supplement tra- curity apparatus. Memory Institute, Slovakia; The In- ditional textbooks. Historians and The Institute has taken a fl exible stitute for Information on the Crimes researchers at the institute’s dispos- approach to publishing, in some cas- of Communism, ; The Insti- al help select the medium best suited es acting as the sole publisher, in oth- tute for the Study of Communist to get the message across. er cases acting in partnership with Crimes, Romania; the Museum of Oc- One of the early results of such other institutions or off ering its serv- cupation of ; The Offi ce of the work has been the production of 2,000 ices for parts of the process. That fl ex- Federal Commissioner, Germany. educational DVDs for distribution to ibility has been drawn on for the pro- middle and elementary schools ex- duction of booklets, studies and an- EDUCATION AND PUBLISHING plaining the events of 1968 (see arti- thologies to accompany Institute The Institute’s educational mandate cle on page 50). organized exhibitions and events. represents one of its core activities, A long term goal of the Institute is These frequently cross the boundary and was one of the main reasons for to build up a collection of TV and fi lm between education projects aimed at its creation. The task of informing material that can be used both in schools and the wider public. Seven- and stimulating interest in the recent seminars for students and teachers teen books and studies are planned totalitarian past can be broken down as well as in historical presentations for publication in 2009. into two main areas: those directed for a wider public. Staff also provide The Institute also intends to make at schools and those targeting the presentations in schools on key his- increasing use of the internet, with wider public, albeit with signifi cant torical topics, drawing on the Insti- its Web site (www.ustrcr.cz) constant- overlap between the two. tute’s experts where needed. ly being updated. The results of fresh A special working group has been Within a short space of time, the research into the Czech cultural un- created within the Institute’s re- Institute has established itself as a derground in the 1960s-, a de- search department aimed at improv- signifi cant niche publisher, as well. scription of how the security serv- ing teachers’ ability to teach and pu- Books published in its fi rst year have ices intelligence service evolved, and pils’ capacity to learn. There is little touched on myriad topics, including biographical dictionaries of top Com- doubt about the need being ad- the lifetime account of a Czech pilot munist and Ministry of Interior func- dressed. Surveys show that the teach- forced to fl ee his country because tionaries are expected to be published ing of modern history seriously lags of the Nazi occupation, a biography online this year.

Behind the Iron Curtain 15

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:15 3/12/09 4:23:36 PM Formation and Priorities of the Security Services Archive

The collection of records managed gimes and Security Services Archive by the Security Services Archive, in in February 2008. Files from the min- the process of being opened up to re- istries of Defense and Justice were searchers, is an unrivaled resource simply not open to the public before for understanding the development then. and functioning of totalitarian pow- Legal steps had cautiously been er. taken to open up the Interior Minis- The total collection comprises just try records, but until a change in the under 20 kilometers of records, in- archive rules in 2004, much of the cluding fi lms, tapes, microfi lm reels material available was still heavily and almost half a million sheets of blacked out. That little publicized but microfi che. Around two-thirds of the key change in the rules far from material comes from the Ministry of threw the doors open to research, re- the Interior, but additional material searchers or the public. has been handed over by the Minis- The last step in the process of de- try of Defense (including the fi les from classifying secret material did not military counterintelligence) and the take place until 2007, aft er only start- Ministry of Justice (records about the ing in 1999, with a very cautious operations of the prison system, for swing from the institutional view- instance). point that documents should remain Communist authorities performed under lock and key rather than be sporadic clean outs, getting rid of fi les open. they regarded as no longer operation- Practical problems also existed. al or of interest. For this reason, the The inventories of materials in exis- greatest amount of material relates tence at the Interior Ministry were to the 1970s and 1980s, especially in oft en faulty, especially those dating the case of fi lm material shot by in- back to the 1950s, while in the case stitutions for educational and train- of the fi les at the Defense and Justice ing purposes and fi lms from individ- ministries, no inventories or other One of the depositories of the Security ual surveillance operations mounted research aids existed at all. “Re- Services Archive. Source: Jiří Reichl by the State Security Service. searchers often had no full idea of With the creation of the Archive, what was available. Most got some- this dispersed material relating to the thing, but no-one got everything,” apply to personnel fi les containing operation of the totalitarian security comments deputy archive director sensitive material about the health apparatus has for the fi rst time been Miroslav Urbánek. of individuals and families, and fi les placed under one body. Furthermore, A fundamental change in the ap- which could threaten state security. the Archive has the mandate to ren- proach to archives – from limited and In the latter case, a committee is con- der the greatest possible access to begrudging access to near total ac- vened to decide whether some or all material, not only to academic re- cess – has now taken place. “We have of the requested material can be searchers, but to the general public. one of the most open regimes com- handed over. Both decisions made Surprising as it may seem, many pared with neighboring states with so far have been in favor of the appli- records were only opened up to the Communist security archives. There cants. public with the launch of the Insti- are almost no limits,” Urbánek ex- Archive staff are taking further tute for the Study of Totalitarian Re- plains. The two limits that do remain steps to make material more acces-

16 Behind the Iron Curtain

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:16 3/12/09 4:23:36 PM Evolution and Priorities of the Security Services Archive

Archive documents ready for digitization and conservation. Source: Jiří Reichl

version of which is already in opera- tion at the Czech National Archive – which would allow diff erent search- Conservation was an unknown concept before the creation of the Archive. Documents were stored without es to be keyed in for all material in regard to whether or not they would survive normal wear and tear or aging. the collection. This has resulted in many records, especially those dating from the Protectorate era and the 1950s, being handed Digitization of material, for the over in a pitiful state. In one case, the diary of a rank and fi le anti-Nazi resistance member judged to be of exceptional interest, is in dual purposes of protecting fragile such a fragile state that it cannot be used by researchers or made available to the public before it is stabilized documents and allowing them to be and digital copies of it made for further use. called up electronically, is also tak- One of the main problems Archive staff face is the poor quality, thin paper used by Communist authorities for ing place at the Institute with the their reports in the 1950s, which has made it brittle and easily liable to damage. help of sub-contractors. The massive “Many reports were type-written on both sides of the paper, and over time have become unreadable,” adds task will probably take the best part deputy archive director Miroslav Urbánek. of a decade to complete. Priorities Stopping and reversing the aging process using de-acidifying technology is one of the steps the Archives is taking. It is currently in the process of sealing a broad agreement with the Czech National Archive, a leader in the for digitization are set by the Insti- fi eld of preservation and restoration, for more advanced treatment of valuable documents within the security tute, taking into account the need services collection and the training of Archive staff so that they can carry out more than just basic conservation to conserve material in heavy de- work in the future. mand, such as records from the ma- jor Communist show trial of Milada Horáková, records relating to the self-immolation of student Jan Palach in protest of the Soviet-led crack- sible. Existing Ministry of the Inte- Justice ministries. Inventories have down on the Prague Spring, and fi les rior inventories are being checked been digitized and put on the inter- relating to the dissent movement and and re-written to get rid of mistakes, net. Charter 77, as well as its own re- with new inventories drawn up for Work has also started on the use search, educational and exhibitions the hidden fi les from the Defense and of an electronic database – an earlier agenda.

Behind the Iron Curtain 17

11-17 USTR.indd Sec1:17 3/12/09 4:23:37 PM We Were Unhappy and Have Begun Not to Know It

With Jiří Gruša on the lack of virtuousness and the threshold of memory

Jan Hanzlík, Jiří Reichl

The expression “coming to terms” also the activity of social organisms. which rules out balance, because it with Communism is a favorite There exists such a thing as ideolog- organizes a counter-attack, rather empty phrase. What should we ical AIDS, with fatal consequences. than an antidote, but about a descrip- understand from it? How should Czechs, in contrast with Austrians, tion of beliefs and disease. such a process take place? for example, have always been blind Justice is, together with wisdom, cou- in the left eye. We were the only na- Nineteen years have passed since rageousness and a sense for modera- tion in Europe to ride down Commu- the fall of Communism. How has tion, the foundation of free and crea- nism with a ballot in the hand. It is the Czech perception of the pe- tive societies. The main element of important to know why this happened riod of developed justice is balance, or evaluation of to us. And why exactly this Czech during that time? the diff erence between causes and deed damaged so many Czechs and Seifert, in his recollections of his consequences of human behavior. It of course even Slovaks, including its youth during the First Republic, is an act ensuring immunity, and thus initiators. It’s not about revenge, which also lasted that long (or short),

Source: Jiří Reichl

18 Behind the Iron Curtain

18-22 grusa.indd Sec1:18 3/12/09 4:24:08 PM We Were Unhappy and Have Begun Not to Know It

From the Prague Spring conference at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna: (from left ) Ludvík Vaculík, Peter Huemer, Gerd Bacher, Jiří Gruša, Antonín Liehm and Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi Source: Peter Burgstaller

once wrote: We were happy and have without the presence of Soviet the year 1895, which, with the help begun not to know it.1 Today we could troops. of a translation from Cheb (Eger), say: We were unhappy and have begun transformed into a world label. Com- not to know it. That wouldn’t be so It is said about Austrians that munism is a Rhineland story, which bad if it implied a healthy aging proc- they consider themselves as Hit- we listened to more sincerely than ess. But it implies health as such. ler’s victims, not at all as his fl un- all Germans. In Czech you could say kies – in other words, that they “national socialist” even aft er ‘45 and How actually should the debate have rejected a kind of refl ection vote for the only “bourgeois party” on the past be led, so that it reach- of their own mistakes. Is it re- where it didn’t matter that it had the es the greatest number of prima- ally like that? And if so, what ef- same name as its German enemy. rily young people? fect does it have on contemporary From Austrian “fl unkies,” they be- Debate is a good thing, but a database ? came victims aft er everything that is its prerequisite – and digitalization, If we look beyond the linguistic defi - happened, because they took the of course, plus the greatest possible nition of a nation, that is, from Her- wrong train. Just as in our country number of young researchers. And der and his success, especially in in 1948 two million people thought that’s again a question of scholar- Czech meadows and groves, we are that they were taking the right one, ships. I recommend looking for Eu- actually one nation. By that I don’t when they bought the ticket of the ropean sources, as well. Research mean to say that a linguistic defi ni- Communist Party. For the Austrians on the Czech type of totalitarianism tion is not signifi cant, but it deter- with their Austrianness, it was not is crucial. It was the only one in West- mines the telling – narrative – of a clear aft er 1918 – it was a symbol of ern European society, and again for given collective, not its passing. “Na- defeat. For that reason, many thought almost twenty years it has passed tional ” is a Czech logo from that they would correct this thing if

1 Translator’s note: A reference to the verse of Jaroslav Seifert (1901-1986), Czech poet, author and 1984 Nobel Laureate in Literature.

Behind the Iron Curtain 19

18-22 grusa.indd Sec1:19 3/12/09 4:24:09 PM INTERVIEW

moment when it added to its score Czechs in his camp, whereas in Aus- the modifi er of the German nation, tria in that same period, not even the which in the neo-national sense was ’s presence helped him at- not yet ready. tain his coveted election victory. For that reason, the rest of the century But Hitler was an Austrian. was funnier on the than on But also a typical mutt on promenade, the Moldau. from the Czech-Austrian borderlands. From among his relatives there ap- It almost seems as if there were pears the name Roubal; his best a few dozen individuals respon- friend’s name is Kubíček. Such self- sible for our Communist tragedy. identifi cation with a bigger and more But on average it appears that eve- secure hunting region characterizes ry citizen of the ČSSR had at least Napoleon and Stalin, too. But here it one relative in the party. Where was topped up with the pathological are they all? desire for racial purity of a man who Well, at the election urns! But they did not intend to conceive children, don’t know that with that they will but instead caused human victims on not change the diagnosis of the pre- modern mass front lines. Austrians vious era, nor for a long time the cli- didn’t want him; Vienna vomited him mate of the current one. It was not up. He got fl unkies only as a repre- a chivalrous off ense which one doesn’t sentative of a political epidemic. Sim- speak about in high society, but a fa- ilarly to another old Austrian mutt tal epidemic which must not return. with the classic Czech name Gott- And that, please, even in their inter- wald3. Societies that have lost their ests. Source: Jiří Gruša collective immunity behave like an infection. Czechs are blind in the left By contrast, in Germany, which eye because they had to clamber up you know very well, refl ections they became Greater Germans. Al- from the left – that is, with the help carried on for instance with the ready before that, a relatively solid of social ascent and its ideology. Aus- delay of one generation. Isn’t this number of them maintained that Ohne trians are blind in the right, because time lag necessary? Jud’ und Slav und Rom, bauen wir den they wanted to guard against social There exists something called the deutschen Dom. Without a Jew, Slav slippage, which they themselves threshold of memory. This threshold or Roman, only thus will the cathe- caused with their postponing of so- is necessary to attain in recovery dral of “Germanness” glitter (free cial-political reforms. Thus the Eu- from social traumas. It’s a sixty- to translation of the author). While we, ropean political blind man was cre- eighty-year period, aft er which his- with the aid of our self-importance, ated, reliant on the immoral sooth- tory stops hurting as personal trau- could only embrace that great Rus- sayer of the left and the right. And ma, without ceasing to function as a sian oak tree over there,2 because it something from that tradition has source of experience. It is a three- was clear that the Russians would lasted until today. Look at the latest generation feat. In the first phase not speak Czech to please us, and the election results in our country and you have to learn not to enforce jus- Austrians could forget that the Im- in Austria. But careful! Two small tice as clean retribution. In the sec- perium Romanum, which they had notes regarding our irony towards ond comes refl ection as description so long governed, was successful not Vienna. All Hitler had to do was send of the shock. Here institutes are only as a German-Roman, but – the army to Austria to have his zest founded, like yours. And then the through the Czechs – also Slavonic assured. But in ‘45, Stalin was able third generation sees itself as demos structure, with a proto-federal shape. to withdraw his soldiers from Czech- of democracy, not as a cannibalistic And that its diffi culties began at the oslovakia and still get the jubilating people.

2 A reference to the verse of Ján Kollár (1793-1852), poet, linguist and historian of Slovak origin, in which he depicts Russia as a great oak tree. 3 A reference to Klement Gottwald (1896-1953), long-time leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, later Czechoslovak prime minister and, from June 1948, president.

20 Behind the Iron Curtain

18-22 grusa.indd Sec1:20 3/12/09 4:24:10 PM We Were Unhappy and Have Begun Not to Know It

And when we wait for a similar been an utterly specifi c experi- direction oneself. This has conse- approach, for instance, in Russia, ence. How would you describe quences, however. When you go where to this day the wider pub- it? where you didn’t want to, you main- lic considers the invasion of What doesn’t destroy you makes you tain that the direction was not your Czechoslovakia as brotherly help stronger. It was, however, an era of fault, but you don’t take kindly to it. or doesn’t even have so much as unnatural selection. A parody on Dar- Thus resentment is created, the an idea about it? win, in English: Not the fi ttest won, worst form of human behavior. Russia is authoritarian today, not des- but the faintest. The most competent potic. That is, if you will, progress. was not rewarded, but instead he Informing, it seems, is common If it does not, however, invest in its with the worst ways. This did not Czech practice. Why? social infrastructure or raise its so- end up repaying everyone. The ca- Because we are a non-aristocratic so- cial IQ as the only non-fossil source pable ended up on the waste heap of ciety – viz. virtuousness – and below of energy, its old problems will return. history, as the weeding out of the class it always paid off . At the moment that fossil energy gives unsuitable was called in the jargon out, so will fossil regimes. That mo- of Lenin’s Golden Horde.5 From these, How, with the hindsight of sev- ment is not in the unforeseeable fu- however, grew a splendid biotope of eral weeks, would you describe ture. Getting rid of political fossility new growth. the “explosion” and development is everything. Modern power is not of the “Kundera scandal”? the power to hurt someone, but the How did the Prague intellectual It’s not about an explosion, but a clas- ability not to harm its talented ones. environment look in the period sic act of the ancient Greek goddess As long as Russian bigwigs see in de- between Stalin and Kruschev? of rumors named Pheme. In Czech mocracy the imperial ideology of their Well, like a beach full of Robinsons, we still use the word fáma. The an- rival, and not the imperative of crea- who shipwrecked but didn’t drown. cient Greeks built her monuments tivity, they will have a hard time, and and brought victims, so that where they will not avoid a further implo- From today’s perspective it seems possible she would notice those who sion. practically incomprehensible how didn’t venerate her. Pheme always many intelligent people aligned combines truthful detail about you In the year 1950, you were twelve. unconditionally with a party of a with the benefi t of your enemy. It What kind of memories do you criminal regime, and how long it doesn’t begin if there is not some- have of the 1950s? took some of them to see through thing in it that will scatter. We thus Non-unionist.4 My father, who direct- it. How is something like that pos- do not have a Kundera scandal, but ed a small dairy, refused to join the sible? a scandal of Communist writing af- Party when they came to him with Intelligence means also appraisal of ter the year 1948. And it is “Kunder- the off er that with membership, he threat. The first thing that a de- ized” in that today our only truly would keep his place. Then he had crease in immunity of a given sys- world-renowned literat started as ag- to go to the mines and I with my moth- tem weakens is human fortitude. In itprop. er to Pardubice. There, until the year Latin it’s called fortitudo, or strength. 1950, I went to the oratory of the Sale- And it was esteemed virtuousness. That means that in this discus- sians, who one night were seized and Less virtuousness implied less qual- sion rebound refl ections of our taken away to work battalions. When ity of life. The fi rst thing that then Communist past? dad left the dairy, it stopped produc- plays a role is instinct: one time as No, it means that the shadow cast on ing cheese. And when the Salesians self-preservation, another as aggres- Kundera maybe illuminates the fi rst were away, the boys in Jesničánky sion. And most oft en you get it as a decade of ideologized writing in post- started to fi ght more. not always easil y distinguishable February Czechoslovakia. combination of the two. Self-pres- To live through the years of ado- ervation advised being among the Does that help refi ne the discus- lescence in one of the darkest pe- powerful. Not to look back, to go sion, or relativize and aggravate riods of this country must have forward, and not to designate the it?

4 Gruša refers here to the Československá svaz mládeže (ČSM), lit. Czechoslovak Union of Youth, the umbrella youth organization founded by the Czechoslovak Communist Party in 1949. 5 A reference to the Russian designation for the 13th century Mongol khanate, oft en associated specifi cally with Genghis Khan. 6 Literally, “What is said in joke is with the devil,” or more freely translated, perhaps “Said as a joke, up in smoke.”

Behind the Iron Curtain 21

18-22 grusa.indd Sec1:21 3/12/09 4:24:10 PM INTERVIEW

As said, at the end of the second phase confronted with a similar prob- wouldn’t even work. Achilles fi rst of historical memory comes specifi - lem? runs around in girl’s dresses and cation; however, that does not mean Luckily no. There were two years doesn’t know if he likes boys or girls belittling Kundera’s literary achieve- for sedition the year they jailed me more. It is much simpler to live in the ment. for Dotaznik7; in the 50s, there was unending and chaotic randomness of the rope. And when Böll raised his the everyday as an inconspicuous Did anything in the tone or style voice, they let me go. When Einstein dodger, than to think about whether of the debate which broke out af- protested in the 50s against the in the middle of this refuse there ter the publication of Hradilek’s death sentence of the famous wom- might exist some kind of chancy con- article surprise you? an Horáková, he sped up the execu- nections and to reach for them. But No, it has the classic dimensions of tion. For the paragraph “věděl, only thus are created the contextual post-modern mediality. These, of nepověděl”8 which concerned the pluses of our life and the heightened course, are not always encourag- non-reporting of suspicious things, plane of its inhabitance. And it is also ing. you served up to ten years then. In known about Arnošt that he bravely spite of that, there didn’t exist only came through the hell of the holo- Along with re-discussing the role fi ery young “unionist”9 literatures, caust. of Milan Kundera in the 1950s but also their contemporaries, like comes returning anew to the ques- Kolář, who served time in the 50s, Jiří Gruša, born November 10, 1938, Czech tion of the circumstances of the and Kalandra, who did not survive poet, prosaist, translator, literary critic, author’s life and his work. How that decade, or Zahradníček, who diplomat and politician. He studied at do you perceive this relationship spent it in a concentration camp and Prague’s Charles University (Philosophy in the context of the “Kundera died aft er they had barely released and Literature) and worked as an editor for scandal”? him, as a result of imprisonment. At the magazines Tvář (Face), Sešity No work is created without biograph- that time there were also world-re- (Notebooks), and Nové knihy (New Books). ical sources, but neither is any shield- nowned authors, like Hostovský, who In 1968 he was banned from publishing, ed by them. The Czech proverb: had already had to leave the coun- whereupon he worked for a building “What is said in joke is with the dev- try. Pavel Jánský, my poet friend, contractor and contributed to the il” – co je žertem, to je s čertem6 – is a then a beginning poet, wrote a few dissemination of samizdat literature. He philosophical, not literary science critical verses in ‘48 and vanished was one of the fi rst to sign Charter 77, and sentence. Literary science is never- to jail in Bory.10 He had to wait for was imprisoned in 1978. He was released theless literature about literature. So his fi rst book until the thaw of the upon the intervention of the German writer there is some irony if Kundera’s great 60s, only to be banned again. As Heinrich Böll, was permitted to travel to novel about the 50s, Žert (The Joke), was the case then for all quality au- the USA, and in 1981 was involuntarily suddenly has such a devil connota- thors, without regard for the politi- deprived of his Czechoslovak citizenship. tion. cal accent of their own beginnings. Jiří Gruša lived in the Federal Republic of I met with Kohout already in samiz- Germany 1982-1990. In 1990 he returned What is your personal opinion on dat, and with Kundera in exile. to Czechoslovakia, where he entered the whole thing? diplomatic service. He served as Those who think that they will min- Arnošt Lustig declared that peo- ambassador to the Federal Republic of imize Kundera are mistaken. ple are not born as fi ghters. They Germany (1991-1997) and Austria have to live ordinary, placid li- (1998-2004). From 1997-1998 he was also Have you ever found yourself in ves. But what should their “cor- Minister of Education, Youth and Sports of a situation comparable with the rect” behavior be like when there the Czech Republic. In 1999 he was one in which Milan Kundera per- are not conditions for a placid awarded the Goethe-Medaille. In 2003 he haps found himself? Can you life? became president of the International PEN guess at what your behavior Arnošt is right. Heroika is not a com- Club; since 2005, he is the director of the would have been, if you had been mon commodity. Otherwise it Diplomatic Academy, Vienna.

7 Gruša’s experimental novel Dotazník aneb Modlitba na jedno město a přítele (lit. Questionnaire, or Prayer for One City and Friend) was initially published in samizdat in the late 1970s. 8 A reference to the infamous Czechoslovak Socialist Republic legal article, lit. “knew, didn’t tell.” 9 Another reference to the Czechoslovak Union of Youth. 10 Bory is to this day the name for the Pilsen prison, located in the Bory section of the city.

22 Behind the Iron Curtain

18-22 grusa.indd Sec1:22 3/12/09 4:24:10 PM Getting to Grips With Munich’s Painful Legacy

The Munich Agreement was greeted with relief in the West, but stunned Czechs and Slovaks. It postponed war, yet left the truncated Czechoslovak state and its beliefs in tatters. The long-term eff ects are still a live issue and subject of debate.

Czechs, although not only Czechs, re- During the crisis, Czechoslovaks called the 70th anniversary of the did display a determination to de- signing of the Munich Agreement in fend their state. Immediately aft er Autumn 2008, a year crowded with the agreement was signed, future historical anniversaries falling on the anti-Nazi resistance began to take oft en fateful “eight.” shape. Basically, the agreement between For Czech society, Munich was in the four European powers (Britain, fact the starting point of the Sec- France, Italy and Germany) at the end ond World War, which came to rep- of September 1938 resulted in the resent for them the sole chance of staged handing over of Czechoslova- renewing the state’s sovereignty in kia’s border territories to Nazi Ger- its “pre-Munich” form. It was here many. also that their five decade long For many in , the struggle with two totalitarian re- deal relieved international tension gimes began, the consequences of and raised hopes that peace could be which are still being come to terms maintained. For Czechoslovaks, how- with today. ever, it represented a deep disappoint- The fate of some soldiers who re- ment and feeling that they had been fused to accept the Munich capitula- betrayed by their recent allies. Cover from the Institute’s publication, tion is revealing. Some committed The Munich saga severely shook Munich 1938 and Czech Society: suicide; others became active in the the self-confi dence of Czech society, Anthology from the International resistance. Several noble families also which in the upcoming confronta- Symposium on the 70th Anniversa- declared their support for the Czech tions with two totalitarian regimes ry of the Munich Agreement. state within its traditional boundar- of the 20th century, despite brief mo- ies. ments of respite, would be further It was with the aim of tackling some trampled. Munich also opened up discussion of the different questions raised by Many aspects of “Munich” contin- about the possibility of long-term co- “Munich” that the Institute for the ue to infl uence and aff ect Czechs long existence between Czechs and Ger- Study of Totalitarian Regimes convened aft er the event. It posed signifi cant mans. The Sudeten question still re- an international symposium of experts historical and moral questions which mains, mainly at a national level, but on September 18, 2008, in Prague. have continued to be asked by today’s it should be remembered that it was The aim was not to go into the de- generation. The most basic one: part of the much larger question of de- tails of the events of 1938 leading up “Should we or should we not have termining the Eastern borders of the to and following the agreement. Much defended ourselves?” is still a subject modern German state and German has already been written in the in- for debate. identity in the 19th and 20th centuries. tervening 70 years about its causes,

Behind the Iron Curtain 23

23-24 hrazda.indd Sec1:23 3/12/09 4:24:23 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

Neville Chamberlain returns to Britain aft er Munich, promising peace. Czechoslovakia faced a starker reality. Source: ČTK

results and consequences. Contribu- The papers were published by the ation. Together with the start of the tions from participants instead at- Institute at the end of 2008 in the an- Nazi occupation in March 1939, this tempted to refl ect on the long-term thology Munich 1938 and Czech Soci- includes the outbreak of World War impact of “Munich” on Czech society, ety. II. evaluating how this appreciation has The event attracted signifi cant pub- The war, which claimed the lives changed over the last 70 years and lic and media interest. Czech Televi- of millions worldwide, was wel- at the same time focusing on some sion broadcast live interviews with comed by most Czechs in the new- aspects lesser known to the public. some of the speakers. Czech Radio com- ly created Protectorate of Bohemia Contributions to the debate were piled and broadcast an hour-long pro- and Moravia. It launched the pro- made by established, well-known his- gram drawing on edited extracts. cess of overturning the legacy of torians as well as young researchers For the public, the presentations Munich and recreating the Czecho- from Germany and the Czech Repub- provoked what was by Czech stan- slovak state, though the less visible lic. Those taking part included Rob- dards a lively discussion, giving the scars could not be healed so easi- ert Kvaček (Charles University, impression that most of them were ly. Prague), Hans Henning Hahn and his seeking their own solution to “Mu- wife, Eva (Oldenburg University, Ger- nich’s” signifi cance not just for the This article was written by Zdeněk Hazdra, an many), Miloš Trapl (Palacký Univer- Czech Republic but for Europe’s 20th historian at the Institute who specializes in the sity, Olomouc), Václav Kural, and century history. lead up and aft ermath of the Munich Agreement Ladislav Kudrna and Zdeněk Hazdra 2009 brings its own crop of anni- and the Nazi Occupation that followed soon af- from the Institute. versaries that also deserve consider- ter.

24 Behind the Iron Curtain

23-24 hrazda.indd Sec1:24 3/12/09 4:24:24 PM Wartime Wounds Cast Long Shadow over Czech Society

Czechs were among Nazi Germany’s fi rst foreign victims, with Prague the last capital to be freed at the end of World War II. Capitulation, occupation and cast a long shadow which persisted into the post-war period.

Czech and Moravian Protectorate masterminded mass demonstrations were signifi cant shocks for Czech against the occupier on October 28, society that had far-reaching con- the 21st anniversary of the founding sequences. of Czechoslovakia. Aspects of the former democratic The reaction to the demonstrations system gradually began to disappear, was rapid. On November 17, 1,850 sparking a broad-based drive to sal- Czech students were rounded up, vage what remained of Czech sover- with more than 1,200 sent to the eignty in the face of the occupying Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg concen- German administration. This was tration camp. Nine, picked out as displayed in everyday expressions of ringleaders of the demonstration, discontent with the occupying pow- were executed without trial. Czech er and its proclamations of German universities were shut down. The superiority. stepped up arrests of resist- The occupier at fi rst attempted to ance members at the end of Novem- give an impression of continuity by ber and start of December, hitting leaving a Czech government in place the ON and PÚ hardest, although no as a guarantee of some local auton- organisation was immune. omy within the German Reich. Resistance abroad also began to In spite of the parallel Czech and take shape around former president German administrative frameworks, Edvard Beneš. The Czechoslovak Na- real power lay in the hands of the tional Committee was formed in Oc- Reich Protector – the Nazi appointed tober 1939 as the leading organ for governor – and the system created to foreign action. Its target was the res- Adolf Hitler looks out from Prague serve him. The only exception to his toration of Czechoslovakia according Castle over the city soon aft er his sway was the German security sys- to its pre-Munich borders. troops marched into the country on tem, with the Gestapo and intelli- Offi cial British recognition of the March 15, 1939. Source: ČTK gence service, the SD (Sicherheitsdi- London exiles followed the fall of enst), directly answerable to . France. Beneš assumed the role of Organized Czech resistance began President-in-exile, with full powers The Munich Agreement of Septem- to take shape in the Summer and Au- to form his own government and pass, ber 30, 1938 and subsequent cession tumn of 1939, with the creation of change or abolish laws. of border territory, the Second Re- four main resistance groups: Obrana By Spring 1940, the domestic re- public (October 1, 1938 – March 14, Národa (ON), Politické Ústředí (PÚ), sistance had recovered from its ini- 1939), German occupation on March Petiční Výbor Věrni Zůstaneme tial reverses and started to mobilise, 15, 1939 and the creation of the (PVVZ) and the Communists. They albeit facing the fundamental chal-

Behind the Iron Curtain 25

25-26 vlcek.indd Sec1:25 3/12/09 4:25:39 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

lenges of mounting actions in a dense- ly populated country with few moun- tainous areas and a shortage of weap- ons. The main focus for action was therefore intelligence and drawing up an economic and social programme for the post-war period. With these main goals, the three non-Communist resistance organisations created a coordination committee, ÚVOD, at the end of April 1940. Following the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union in the Summer of 1941, talks were launched with the Communist Party to create an umbrella organisation that would coordinate all domestic resistance. These promising steps were dashed by a Gestapo clampdown which re- sulted in the eff ective destruction of ÚVOD in October. Increasing sabo- tage actions and strikes against the occupier had already provoked a switch in German strategy towards the Protectorate, with the hardline head of the Reich Central Security Offi ce, , replacing the more moderate Constantin Von Neurath as Protector. Reinhard Heydrich steps out from his Mercedes Benz in the centre of Prague in Immediately after taking office, April 1942, about a month before the assassination attack which left him mortally Heydrich declared a state of emer- injured. Source: ČTK gency and introduced court martials to provide summary justice without proper trial. During his period in pow- various professional groups, on the took the total death toll to around er, 489 death sentences were handed basis of the reorganised unions, 5,000 by October 5. down, while another 1,673 individu- which would provide the focus for The reprisals contributed to solid- als were sent to concentration public activity. ifying domestic hatred against the camps. The Autumn Gestapo clampdown Germans and the further conclusion The repression formed part of a cut links with the exiled government that their expulsion would be the only greater German design aimed at di- in London, prompting it to parachute solution once Czechoslovakia was re- viding Czech society into diff erent in units to reestablish connections, established. groups more easily manageable for reignite resistance and gather intel- Beneš, who had maintained some war work. The eventual solution of ligence. One unit, Anthropoid, was links with the exiled, mostly Social the “Czech Question” – eliminating given the special mission of assassi- Democrat, Sudeten opposition to the or Germanising the population ac- nating Heydrich. The attack took Nazis, and who held out the possibil- cording to racial criteria – was post- place in Prague on May 27. Heydrich ity of modifying post-war borders in poned until a more favourable mo- died of his wounds on June 4, the high- his early years in exile, swung round ment during or aft er the war. est ranked Nazi to be assassinated to that radical standpoint by the mid- The remnants of Czech adminis- during the war. dle of the war. trative autonomy were swept away Reprisals followed, symbolised by as German offi cials were draft ed in the destruction of the Lidice and This article was written by Lukáš Vlček, who to take over their work. The next step Ležáky villages, with 1,585 executions specializes at the Institute in research on the was to be the depoliticisation of Czech on Czech soil, and thousands more period from 1938-1945 and on the development society through the establishment of killed in concentration camps. These of Czech-German relations.

26 Behind the Iron Curtain

25-26 vlcek.indd Sec1:26 3/12/09 4:25:39 PM Cautious Preparations for the Černínský Palace Revolution

The Communists quickly won control over key ministries aft er World War II to prepare an eventual bid for power. The Foreign Ministry held out against their traditional methods but could not defy the tide.

The Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry, housed in the impressive Černínský Palace, was one of the main bastions holding out against Communist at- tempts to take control until their February 1948 seizure of power. Earlier attempts by the party to win control over the Ministry aft er the end of the war, which met with suc- cess elsewhere, were foiled by the make up of a ministry still dominat- ed by individuals imbued with the democratic values of the First Repub- lic. Their numbers were boosted by those who had served with the exiled government of Edvard Beneš in Lon- don. Diplomats serving abroad formed the basis for the exiled government’s administrative structure and foreign aff airs expertise during WWII. Many of the Foreign Ministry offi - cials who stayed behind were in the forefront of opposition to the Nazi oc- cupation aft er it occupied the remain- der of the Czech state in March 1939. (left ) with his father, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, fi rst president Through their contacts, they were of independent Czechoslovakia. oft en able to provide the exiled gov- Source: Kettner, P. and I.M. Jedlička: Proč zemřel Jan Masaryk, Praha 1990 ernment with key information. Their wartime contribution meant that they were unlikely candidates for the post- As of January 1, 1948, around half non-party son of the First Repub- war anti-collaboration clean outs of the Foreign Ministry’s over 1,256 lic’s founder, Jan Masaryk, headed which the Communists used with staff had already been in place at the the Ministry on his return from such effect to find places for their end of 1938. London. He had a mission to restore friends and to get rid of their enemies A further stumbling block for the the Ministry to its pre-war sta- in other government offi ces. Communists was the fact that the tus.

Behind the Iron Curtain 27

27-29 koutska.indd Sec1:27 3/12/09 4:25:54 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

Aft er the liberation, civil servants representing top, middle and other who had been banished from the For- staff . eign Ministry due to their views fol- Retribution proceedings, which could lowing the Munich Agreement and have allowed the Communists to push under the German-controlled Protec- through their goal of a significant torate of Bohemia and Moravia were shake-up of Ministry staff, did not allowed to return to service if they fi nally bring such changes about. so chose. As of 1945, staff at diplomatic mis- These were supplemented by those sions were already under the watch- who had served at the Foreign Min- ful eyes of the Ministry of the Inte- istry of the exiled government in rior’s intelligence service, who re- London and newcomers, essentially ported on the behavior of individual those who had taken part in the do- diplomats, what relations they main- mestic resistance and foreign armies tained, and whether the subject pre- (for example those assigned to mili- ferred contacts with Soviet counter- tary missions). On the orders of parts. This information ended up in Beneš’s Košice government, based in the hands of the Communist Party the eastern Slovak city ahead of loyalist Foreign Ministry State Sec- Prague’s liberation, 30 percent of all retary Vladimír Clementis. jobs across all pay categories were to Within the Foreign Ministry, Vav- be set aside for Slovaks. ro Hajdů launched the buildup of the Thorny retribution cases were to Communist Party structure in 1945. Vladimír Clementis, the former Slovak poet be solved by a clean-up commission At the time of the February seizure and journalist, used his position as State created under presidential decree. of power, the Party claimed 60-70 Secretary to help win the Foreign Ministry An investigative commission dealt members. over for the Communists. with cases handed to administrative Besides these, preparations for the Source: Archive of offi ces by the Germans aft er March takeover were also in the hands of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs 15, 1939. Representatives of National secret Party members among the Front political parties on the Coordi- ranks of Ministry staff, including nation Committee in the autumn of Karel Dufek and Oldřich Chýle. vered him into being little more than 1946 created a special clean-up com- A degree of Communist infi ltration a fi gurehead, with real power in the mission to check on the records of was aided by the wartime agreement hands of his deputy, Clementis. those holding national and state po- setting aside posts for Slovaks through- On the same day his body was dis- sitions and the political reliability of out the state administration. covered, Masaryk was due to approve all employees. Preparations for an imminent purge a sweeping clean-out at the Ministry Continuity with prewar Ministry of staff by Communists were also un- targeting many of his closest col- practice even meant the return and derway. The Foreign Ministry and leagues and friends. Altogether 90 respect of service rules at all levels Masaryk himself were clearly in the Ministry staff were earmarked for of the hierarchy. sights of the Communists once they removal, 18 of them to be swept from Participation in the resistance, un- took power in February 1948. Masaryk, service abroad. questionable service to the diplomat- dressed in his pyjamas, was found The post-February “purge” was ic service during the republic’s re- dead at the foot of his private Ministry initiated with leading Communists newal, and the functioning of the apartment on the morning of March directing the staff changes. Consul- machinery according to prewar rules 10. tations were held at the Central Com- and procedures helped to preserve In spite of the suspicious circum- mittee of the Communist Party with the Ministry’s personnel structure stances, suicide was the explanation Bedřich Geminder, who headed its along its First Republic lines between jumped upon by the government. That international department. The clean 1945-1948 and safeguard it from a version of events was unquestioned out was facilitated by pre-prepared Bolshevik takeover, although the until a new investigation was allowed lists of undesirable foreign office Communists did their utmost to during the short-lived Prague Spring staff . achieve this. of 1968. Vetting of offi cials stepped up at A single unifi ed union was created That investigation suggested that the end of March to include ques- at the Ministry, answerable to the one reason why Masaryk had taken tions about where they had lived Central Council of Unions, in place his own life was the fact that the since 1938 and their party allegiance. of the three former organizations Communists had already outmaneu- The information was processed by

28 Behind the Iron Curtain

27-29 koutska.indd Sec1:28 3/12/09 4:25:55 PM Cautious Preparations for the Černínský Palace Revolution

The death of Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk in the Ministry’s courtyard symbolized for many the fi nal chapter in the Communist power grab, but the page had already turned. Source: National Archive

the Ministry of the Interior’s Intel- According to Ministry archives, class and ideological credentials did ligence section. two hundred and fi ve offi cials were not fi t well into diplomatic service or In the early stages of the purge, pre- dismissed, retired early or transferred have the language skills that went texts for staff changes were usually from the Ministry between February with the job. found, but by the end, such window 1948 and October 1949, when the ini- Some of the relatives of top Com- dressing was no longer deemed neces- tial purge was coming to a close. munists appointed to foreign posts sary. Legal changes between 1948- The role of the Ministry was also turned out to be public embarrass- 1950, and primarily the act of October reshaped. With Czechoslovakia ments, such as Richard Slánský, who 6, 1948, meant that anyone could be clearly lined up with the Soviet bloc, had to be withdrawn from his Ira- punished for anything, and removal there was no need for a traditionally nian posting and replaced by a dip- could occur without explanation. independent Foreign Ministry push- lomat drawn from the ranks of the Some diplomats staged protests ing national interests. discredited old timers. Such was the against the takeover, with mass res- The Ministry was instead redi- dearth of suitable staff that a workers’ ignations at residencies abroad and rected to act as the intelligence eyes diplomatic school was launched in domestic staff fl eeing the country. and ears of the Soviet Union, with June 1949 to fi ll the gaps. The most prominent protest was foreign based diplomats acting as But for many of the Ministry’s for- made by United Nations ambassador “agents of infl uence.” Around 70-80% mer staff , the worst was not over. Their Jan Papánek, who presented a motion of staff based abroad were earmarked foreign contacts and opposition to the against Soviet interference in Czecho- to be intelligence offi cers, primarily new regime meant many were easy slovak internal aff airs in February 1948. tasked with picking up news of their targets when the regime launched It was blocked by Soviet delegates. host government’s activities from the political trials. The names of most Those who protested were quickly corridors of power. were not cleared until aft er 1989. the target of court proceedings at Problems remained, however, even home, with Papánek on a growing list in the context of the Foreign Minis- This article is based on an original study in the of those whose property was to be try’s curtailed ambitions and scope Institute’s journal Paměť a Dějiny written by confi scated. of action. New staff with excellent Ivana Koutská.

Behind the Iron Curtain 29

27-29 koutska.indd Sec1:29 3/12/09 4:25:55 PM Communist Regime Investigative Aids Help Historians Uncover Secrets

State Security aids for discovering and identifying enemies and opposition, combined with modern computer technology, are providing invaluable assistance to historians trying to map out resistance to the regime.

“KRAJINA’S espionage offi ce” Activity: Entry: – The crime of treason against the republic – The crime of interference with a state (class) company – The crime of non-declaration of criminal acts – The crime of illegal possession of weapons – Military treason Offi cer in the ČSLA (Czechoslovak People’s Army), National Security Corps (SNB) serviceman. Na- tional Socialist (Party) State Court Or I 388/49-15 Highest Military Court Prague P 253/48 An example of the card index details with bare facts and an English translation Supreme Court Brno To 75/49 of the text. Source: Security Services Archive File sequence number Group 1 and 188

The Czechoslovak Communist regime on facilities. Another 248 people were state border. Around 20,000 were sent began to victimize citizens as soon as executed for political reasons, inclu- without trial to forced labor camps,1 it seized power on February 25, 1948. ding twelve prominent Communists and another 20,000 to technical sup- Around 205,000 people passed – among them Rudolf Slánský and port squads. Between 1948-1987, through Communist prisons between Bedřich Reicin. 170,938 Czechoslovaks fl ed abroad.2 1948-1989. Around 4,500 died as a re- At least 270 were shot or mortally The number of victims of Commu- sult of injuries or were killed in pris- wounded while trying to cross the nist despotism calculated so far is

1 Lubomír Blažek: Tábory nucené práce (Forced Labour Camps), p. 76. In Lukáš Babka and Václav Veber’s Za svobodu a demokracii III. Třetí (protikomunistický) odboj University of Hradec Králové, published by M&V, Hradec Králové 2002. 2 Compare: http://www.ustrcr.cz/cs/dokumentace-popravenych-politicke-duvody-48-89; http://totalita.cz/seznamy/seznamy.php where there is an inventory of basic literature on the anti-totalitarian resistance and opposition.

30 Behind the Iron Curtain

30-32 akce 48.indd Sec1:30 3/12/09 4:26:21 PM Communist Regime Investigative Aids Help Historians Uncover Secrets

not, of course, fi nal. It goes without The totalitarian state permeated the border and staging acts of sabo- saying that this toll does not convey everything, and together with pro- tage. Among the exceptional the material and, above all, psycho- paganda, as the historian Václav Ve- instances of opposition were the at- logical damages that still have to be ber wrote, gave birth to a special type tempts to strike fear into Communist dealt with by further generations. of person untrained for life in truth offi cials, for instance by liquidating Czechoslovaks did not accept the and freedom.4 individuals, albeit mostly low rank- violence of the newly constituted Just as we are unable to deduce the ing members of the Communist Par- Communist power with bowed heads. precise total of victims of the Com- ty apparatus.6 Democratic-thinking citizens began munist regime, we have not yet been The regime’s violence against citi- to react, within the bounds of possi- able to map out the full extent and zens was applied across the board, af- bility, during the February power strength of anti-Communist resis- fecting the whole spectrum of society, grab, developing opposition against tance and opposition. This is a com- without targeting specifi c sociologi- moves to impose the new order and plex question with, on the face of it, cal or professional groups. Basically, a growing resistance that took on a many facets; it will take much time every citizen felt that his or her fate wide variety of guises. and eff ort to answer.5 was bound up with the “new” Com- Even members of the State Secu- We know that members and offi - munist ideology, which invaded every rity Service (StB), fi nancial inspec- cials of political parties from the 1945- area and aspect of human life.7 torate and prison service joined the 1948 era were engaged in acts of re- The machinery of repression and resistance. Such activists had one sistance, along with members of instrument for the Communist Par- thing in common, by the standards groups and organizations mostly dat- ty’s application of violence was the of the day – their actions were illegal, ing from the First Republic (1918-1938) State Security (StB) apparatus,8 with- even if they were rooted in the expe- or earlier, including Sokol, the Scouts, out which it is impossible to imagine rience of the anti-Nazi struggle. Junák and Orel (respectively the the diffi cult 1950s and 1960s. It was Pitted against them there was not, Czech scout group and Christian precisely the StB whose actions drove however, a clearly defi ned enemy, but youth group). Demoted army offi cers the wheels of repression, on the di- rather citizens from their own state.3 also joined the ranks of the regime’s rections and guidance of the Com- For this reason, we oft en encounter opponents, as well as other members munist Party leadership.9 instead of the terms anti-Communist of the Czechoslovak armed services. Apart from violence, its essential and anti-totalitarian, the Communist Priests in their actions and sermons brutality was marked by rigorous and expressions “anti-state” and “against took a stance against the Communist systematic work in which it is pos- the people.” It is a testimony to the regime, and attempted to use their sible to distinguish further compo- enduring success and strength of authority to stem the spread of evil. nents of the push to take control of Communist propaganda that this ter- The scope of opposition ranged society. minological pulp and confusion en- from the printing and distribution of Proof of the systematic work of the dures in a substantial part of the pop- leafl ets and other anti-state publica- StB, notably the 2. Department of the ulation even today. tions to guiding individuals across I. Special Section of the Ministry of

3 Václav Veber: Místo úvodu. Komunismus – totalita – odboj, s. 16 In Lukáš Babka and Václav Veber’s Za svobodu a demokracii III. Třetí (protikomunistický) odboj. University of Hradec Králové, published by M&V, Hradec Králové 2002. 4 Ibid. 5 More on this can be found in Tomás Bursík’s: Protikomunistický odboj v českých zemích – několik poznámek. Pokus o stručný nástin problému. The paper has been prepared for publication in an anthology of the presentations made at the international expert conference on the anti-Communist opposition and struggle in Slovakia 1948–1989 (, Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Slovak National – May 2008). 6 Tomáš Bursík: Osud odbojové organizace Černý lev 777. Příspěvek k historii ozbrojeného odporu proti komunistickému režimu v Československu. OABS MVČR, Prague 2007. 7 From the wide range of material it is possible to select Vilém Hejl: Zpráva o organizovaném násilí. Univerzum, Prague 1990; Otakar Liška et al: Tresty smrti v Československu. Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu, Prague 2006; Jaroslav Vorel, Alena Šimánková: Československá justice v letech 1948–1953 v dokumentech I. až III. Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu, Prague 2003/2004. 8 Karel Kaplan: Nebezpečná bezpečnost: Státní bezpečnost 1948–1956. Brno, Doplněk 1999. As above StB o sobě: výpověď vyšetřovatele Bohumila Doubka. Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu, Prague 2002. 9 Jiřina Dvořáková: Státní bezpečnost v letech 1945–1953 (Organizační vývoj zpravodajských a státně bezpečnostních složek). Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu, Prague 2007.

Behind the Iron Curtain 31

30-32 akce 48.indd Sec1:31 3/12/09 4:26:22 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

Evaluation of archive collection V-5621 MV. In 1946, Dr. Krajina had already created a secret (espionage) offi ce within the central committee of the National Socialist Party that was supplied with secret information from diff erent central ad- ministrations, the Czechoslovak armed forces, and the National Security Corps (SNB). His clos- est collaborators were the lawmakers Čížek, Hora and Bartoš. Čížek collected information from the Ministry of the Interior, Hora gathered material in the country and Bartoš was a “specialist” in attacks on nationalized industry. His espionage activity was spread across the whole of Czecho- An example of the card index evaluation and an English translation of the text. slovakia. On January 21, 1948, they held an infor- Source: Security Services Archive mation meeting with an StB (State Security) and army confi dant (40-50 people took part) at which the Interior, and from April 1966 the To make work on the evaluated ar- the direction of future espionage was agreed. A 2. Department of the Statistic-Regis- chival collections easier, between series of highly placed people in this offi ce were tration Section of the StB Main 1965-1968 a card index of the collec- able to fl ee abroad. A total of 128 were charged Directorate,10 can be found in the spe- tions was created. This index facili- with criminal off ences. cially created overview of individuals tates a concise overview of “anti-state” and groups which were to have car- activities carried out by specifi c in- ried out so-called anti-state illegal dividuals and groups. caveat that applies to the evaluation acts between 1948-1955. The mostly two-sided cards have records, as well), but they amount to Using the contents of documents serial numbers relating to the archi- thoroughly abbreviated archival ma- lodged with the courts (the Supreme val collections on illegal individuals terials which were – and still are – in- State Court, State Court, regional and groups, together with basic per- tended only for basic orientation. courts, and the Supreme Military sonal details and the code name for We should not forget that the con- Court), and from the investigation their “anti-state” act. ception for its use – within the scope documents of the StB, in 1965 staff at With the aid of a computer database of propaganda aimed against “enemies the Ministry of the Interior started developed using the ACCESS program, of the regime” (which manifests itself to carry out an evaluation of the ar- the Institute has been able to extract in processing methods, language used, chival collections devoted to the “an- data from the Action 4812 card index and the viewpoints of “evaluators”) – ti-state” activities of individuals and and categorize it into seven tables. So undermined the work on Action 48, groups sentenced during the 1950s. far, around 380 dual-sided cards have although the results might appear pro- The aim was to survey and document been processed in this way. The re- fessional from period and historical so-called anti-state behavior. sults will allow faster reference of the perspectives. At the same time, it This evaluation, for the most part individuals and groups involved in so- should be noted that contemporary in the form of reports typed out on called anti-state actions, and the na- historians can discover in the Action A4 paper, maps out “anti-state” be- ture and location of their acts. Al- 48 material period characters who are havior in Czechoslovakia through though we can appreciate the evalu- interesting in and of themselves, and 1955. Individuals and groups are or- ation records and card index as an who are rightly becoming the subject dered numerically, according to a se- exceptional and important fi nding aid, of historical research. In short, the Ac- rial account. By the end of 1966, Min- one pitfall should not be overlooked. tion 48 card index represents an im- istry of the Interior staff had pro- It does not cover all aspects of resis- portant aid for researchers and his- cessed around 1,255 investigative tance activity or indicate all those who torians. documents containing the details of took part in it. Not only are the con- more than 7,890 convicted individu- tents of the materials in the Action 48 This article was written by Institute histori- als using this method.11 card index a product of their time (a ans Martin Tichý and Olga Bezděková.

10 Compare: http://www.abscr.cz/cs/seznam-utvaru-snb 11 Security Services Archive, f. A 34, inv. j. 2928. 12 Security Services Archive, card index in the collection of investigative documents including the evaluative documents of Action 48.

32 Behind the Iron Curtain

30-32 akce 48.indd Sec1:32 3/12/09 4:26:22 PM Political Executions in Communist Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia experienced not one but two totalitarian regimes in the 20th century that intentionally misused the implementation justice.

Political executions in Czechoslova- gimes were very similar. Both calcu- kia during the period of the Commu- lated on the necessity of disposing of nist regime were one of the many the morally most mature part of the forms of persecution which this de- population and paralyzing the re- humanized totalitarian power used mainder through actively creating against its own citizens. At the same and diffusing an atmosphere of time, it is necessary to say that this fear. fact was neither an error nor a mis- Judicial murders of Communist or- taken version of “Communist dogma,” igin in Czechoslovakia have their out- nor an expression of unsettled aff airs set in February 1948. This is when during the period of the beginning the Communist putsch, which marked of the Cold War. Political executions the defi nitive farewell with the dem- were fi rst and foremost a refl ection ocratic traditions of the First Repub- of a perverse ideology that called for lic, took place. Aft er a bloody six-year the necessity of “class struggle,” and German occupation and almost three they formed an integral part of Czech- years of truncated post-war democ- oslovak Communists’ plans to seize racy, the Communist Party of Czech- and maintain power. Success, with- oslovakia forced its way through. In out which the local dictatorship line with demands from Moscow, the would not last long, fi gured as a nec- Party was not about to allow any re- Milada Horáková in the dock at her essary condition. Finally, it is by no turn to the “old order,” and thus be- show trial. means a coincidence that absolute gan with political trials very early Source: ČTK/ Novák Rostislav punishments motivated in this way on. Instruments were used in their were the reality in other Communist preparation and realization which countries, as well, and above all in had no match in their arbitrariness es of the Gestapo, as well, of course, the Soviet Union. and brutality, if we leave out the as the methods of its Soviet comrades From the perspective of political aforementioned years of the German in the NKVD. Their motto became executions, the case of Czechoslova- protectorate. The imprisoned were that the interrogated himself would kia is unusual in one regard. Within psychologically and physically tor- serve as evidence enough; no addi- a short period there alternated in this tured by the State Security Service tional evidence was necessary. country two totalitarian regimes – (the Communist secret police – StB) The independence of judicial pow- the Nazi (1939-45) and Communist or organs of military defense intel- ers, common practice in democratic (1948-89) ones – for which the cyni- ligence. Many did not survive the in- countries, ceased to exist in Commu- cal and programmatic liquidation of terrogations and harrassment con- nist Czechoslovakia. During this pe- actual and potential opponents was nected with their detention; others riod, justice became a dutiful instru- common practice. It is a sad truth that preferred to commit suicide. The StB ment of the Communist Party, fulfi ll- the motives and methods of these re- took its inspiration from the practic- ing its wishes and instructions.

Behind the Iron Curtain 33

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Boris Kovaříček aft er his arrest by the State Security Service. Source: Security Services Archive

Sentences of a political nature were on this gallows, as it did not break method. In some cases, it is quite dif- determined well before the trial even his neck, but instead gradually suf- fi cult to diff erentiate between crimes began. It is therefore possible to reli- focated him. Their bodies were taken of a political and criminal nature. ably say that the trial itself was aft erwards to autopsy, later cremat- A further ethical problem sets in with merely a pretense of true unbiased ed and buried in a mass grave. The the classifi cation of executed Com- decision-making – in fact, theater. remains were not given to the be- munist functionaries. Although these This doubly applies in the case of so- reaved; at the most they were – in people themselves eventually became called show trials – large trials in some cases – permitted to participate victims of terror, they were also its which the ruling nomenklatura had in the cremation, during which they active co-creators, and thus bear di- particular interest. These include, for were vigilantly guarded by the StB1. rect responsibility for the deaths of example, the well-known trial of the A similar approach was taken with many of those slain. Nor is it possible lawyer Milada Horáková, in which the farewell letters written by the to leave out those condemned in the she and three more people were sen- victims in the last hours of their lives, re-established retribution courts, who tenced to the death penalty and ex- in their death cells. These letters, for certainly would not have been exe- ecuted on June 27, 1950. “security reasons,”2 were never deliv- cuted had the Communists not seized The very method of execution ad- ered to their addressees. power and re-established these courts ministered by the Communist power An important question is that of in time. These people, however, were was exceedingly cruel. A primitive how many politically motivated ex- sentenced for acts committed during gallows was used for the execution ecutions actually took place in Com- the Second World War. We come itself; almost every regional prison munist Czechoslovakia. It is neces- across the number 2483 or the number was equipped with one. sary to say that various fi gures come 2624, although both of these include spent 10-15 minutes dying in agony up here, diff erentiated by selection those who were sentenced for utter-

1 In this context it is worth mentioning that on the basis of laws valid at that time, this did not concern only physical liquidation of the condemned. In addition, the executed was confi scated of all property (including the clothing he was wearing before the execution, or his wedding ring). Because of this, the families of the executed found themselves at rock bottom, fl at broke. 2 The bereaved were able to read them only aft er the collapse of the Communist government in November 1989. Some of the letters wait to this day in the trial or investigation fi les, never read by those to whom they were addressed. 3 LIŠKA, O. a kol.: Vykonané tresty smrti. Československo 1918-1989 (Death penalties performed, Czechoslovakia 1918-1989). Praha, ÚDV 2000.

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ly fabricated criminal acts, as well as those who were condemned for ac- tual anti-Communist resistance. Even in this case, the diff erence between these two groups is complicated; the sentences most oft en allege the crim- inal act of treason, military perfi dy, espionage and sabotage. Vladivoj Tomek, whose life was taken at Pan- krác in Prague on November 17, 1960, is most oft en considered the last of those executed for political rea- sons. František Havlíček aft er his arrest by the State Security Service. BORIS KOVAŘÍČEK (1927–1949) Source: Security Services Archive 22-year-old student of the Law Fac- ulty at Charles University in Prague. During the Second World War, he was old daughter. During the Second during that period). She was later imprisoned by the German Gestapo World War he was imprisoned in a awarded several decorations for her for his resistance activities. Aft er the German concentration camp for lis- resistance activity. Aft er the war she Communist coup in February 1948, tening to foreign broadcasts; his fa- became a Member of Parliament and he founded the student resistance ther-in-law and brother-in-law were engaged in women’s issues. During group “Šeřík,” aimed against the Red executed for the same off ense. As of the rise of Communist totalitarian- dictatorship (focused on the distribu- 1948 he was a member of the anti- ism, she did not cease in her eff orts tion of anti-Communist pamphlets Communist resistance group which to defend fundamental democratic and the maintaining of contacts with transmitted reports abroad on con- principles; for this reason, as well, like-minded people). In the course of ditions inside Czechoslovakia and she was selected for the biggest po- illegal activities, he unwittingly linked helped persecuted Czechoslovak cit- litical trial of the Communist era. In up with a provocateur of military izens escape to the West. an abnormally fabricated trial that armed intelligence. On December 18, He was arrested on August 23, 1951, tried to stir up mass hysteria, she was 1948, he was arrested and subjected and in the trial that followed, sen- sentenced to the death penalty for to brutal interrogations (aft er which tenced for the alleged crimes of trea- alleged treason and espionage, and he was neither able to stand or sit). son, espionage and sabotage to the in spite of the protests of the world The main trial in the State Court took death penalty and confi scation of all public and eminent personalities, was place over fi ve May days (May 12-16, property. He was executed at Prague’s executed in Prague’s Pankrác prison 1949) and resulted in the death pen- Pankrác prison on November 12, 1952 on June 27, 1950, at 5:45 a.m. Her fi nal alty and confi scation of all property at 5:25 a.m. His wife was sentenced words were […] “I leave this world for the alleged crime of treason and to a twenty-year heavy jail term. without hatred towards you.” She espionage. Aft er the denial of his ap- thus became the only woman execut- peal by the Supreme Court on May 23 MILADA HORÁKOVÁ (1902 – 1950) ed by the Communists for political and the refusal of a pardon, he was Politician and lawyer, mother of a 16- reasons in Czechoslovakia. executed early on the morning of May year-old daughter. Aft er the breakup 24, 1949 in the courtyard of Prague’s of democratic Czechoslovakia and its This article was written by Petr Mallota, an Pankrác prison. occupation by the Germans, she Institute historian specializing in the crimes linked up with the anti-Nazi resist- of communism in Czechoslovakia. He is FRANTIŠEK HAVLÍČEK (1908 – 1952) ance and was imprisoned from 1940 currently compiling the documentation 44-year-old colonel of the National to the end of the war (the death pen- project People executed on political grounds Security Corps, father of a 13-year- alty was recommended for her already 1948-1989.

4 RÁZEK, Adolf: Seznamy popravených: Vykonané tresty smrti z politických důvodů od 25. 2. 1948 do 29. 12. 1989. Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu [online], 14. 11. 2005 [cit. 30. 6. 2008]. The number 262 includes high-ranking Communist functionar- ies (13 people) and those executed in the re-established retribution courts (22 people).

Behind the Iron Curtain 35

33-35 mallota.indd Sec1:35 3/12/09 4:26:39 PM A Cheap and Dispensable Tool for Uranium Extraction

Long-term imprisonment involving forced labor in mines under inhumane and degrading conditions was one way of getting rid of “class enemies” without attracting too much attention to the Czechoslovak Communist regime.

spiracy of the leadership against ev- erything that separates man from other beings,” recalls former politi- cal prisoner Dagmar Šimkova. “It was not so much about physical destruc- tion as about suppressing a person’s mind, his thinking, so that tons of lies, terror and propaganda could fl ow through… When a person lost self- consciousness, his body was no lon- ger a danger. He could fi nally be used as a cheap working tool. The human The Ležnice prison camp at Horní Slavkov, West Bohemia, in 1950. body needs less maintenance, less Source: Security Services Archive care than some expensive machine. And it can work longer without re- placement parts than a milling ma- According to the regime’s carefully sometimes given the ideological gloss chine, crane or combine.” plotted plans, those condemned for of helping inmates achieve social con- The decision to use prisoners for “anti-state crimes” were not expect- sciousness. work in uranium mines was made at ed to return to a world without bars The labor camps represented an the very beginning of the labor camps’ and barbed wire. eff ective tool for terrorizing the pop- existence. The reason was simple: the All steps, from the original arrest, ulation and isolating “enemies of the basic lack of manpower in the ura- examination and punishment in pris- people’s democratic system” which nium industry as well as the mount- on or labor punishment camp, were could represent a threat to it. Com- ing interest of the Soviet Union in prepared in advance. In this respect, munist steps to gain and consolidate Czechoslovak uranium for the pro- the Communist approach was the power were akin to those taken dur- duction of atomic weapons. Slave la- same as those of the Nazis and other ing a civil war. bor was used under similar condi- totalitarian regimes. Terror was justifi ed as a political tions in other areas of Czechoslovak In its worst forms, the condemned phenomenon of class war, with im- industry. were treated as cheap slave labor, prisonment recognized as one of the For the Jáchymov uranium mines with physical violence infl icted along- most signifi cant weapons in the re- in the far west of the country, the side measures aimed at breaking gime’s repressive armory against its mass infl ux of slave labor also repre- down the victim’s spirit. own citizens. sented a considerable fi nancial ad- In the early stages, at least, the “We were brought face to face with vantage in extracting this strategic prison regime helped bolster the au- something new, until then unknown. raw material. thorities, although the procedure was It was a deliberately thought out con- The camps themselves varied in

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guilt, with sanctions also meted out on families of individual prison- ers. Many of the methods used in the Czechoslovak uranium camps were liberally adopted from the operation of the Soviet gulags; for example, re- warding extra rations to those who exceeded work quotas, and the in- corporation of privileges (letters, packages and visits) and their denial into the system. In other aspects, the model appeared to be the Nazi Pro- tectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and Nazi Germany. In the second half of the 1950s, some attempts were made to redress the shortcomings of the prison sys- tem, although the methods of Social- ist justice were by then already ha- A prisoner shot trying to escape from the Bytíz camp near Příbram bituated and oft en passed on. on December 5, 1963. Source: Security Services Archive As uranium reserves around Jáchy- mov and nearby Horní Slavkov dried up, and more modern methods of min- size and character. Most prisoners Inside, camp commanders played ing were adopted, the overall number were lodged in 42.5 x 12.5 meter wood- a decisive role in setting the tone, as of prisoners used for production start- en barracks, in which accommoda- they held the power to decide on al- ed to ebb. The evolution of a suffi cient tion was sited on the sides of a cen- most every matter that took place be- world market to supply arms produc- tral corridor. Facilities were extreme- hind the barbed wire fence. But a tion needs also cut the price of ura- ly basic. Some camps were formerly tough line with political prisoners nium, while peaceful uses of the ele- used by prisoners of war and were was a matter of course during the ment were only beginning to devel- taken over in a virtually uninhabit- period of heightened Cold War ten- op. able state. sion and “class struggle against re- An overall amnesty in 1960 em- Prisoners were little more than action” at the start of the 1950s. braced many political prisoners, as numbers for camp authorities, with A series of mass escape attempts the Communist regime attempted to the inmates having little or no re- and the camps’ takeover by the Min- come to terms with its former policy course against the conditions they istry for National Security in June 1951 of covert liquidation. But for those endured. Their best hope for improv- sparked a change for the worse. A released then and earlier, no compen- ing their conditions lay in their own climate of fear and heightened repres- sation for their suff ering was off ered. eff orts and cooperation with other sion reigned in most camps where To the state apparatus, these victims prisoners. political prisoners dominated. Hun- still remained enemies, and the se- The camps’ character depended on ger was also a constant underlying curity services continued to pay them a series of factors, including their factor given the short rations, but ba- particular attention. They were size, distance from mine works, and sic survival and the ability to con- banned from returning to their pre- the make-up of the prison population serve some hopes were the main fac- vious professions, and in most cases – for example, the mix of political pris- tors determining prisoners’ fates. were forced to earn their living from oners and ordinary criminals. Authorities imposed a system of in- manual labor. In the early years, from 1949-1953, centives and punishments with in- The burden of being political pris- the technical, equipment and living mates. In practice, these were most- oners lived on, in many cases until and hygiene conditions in camps ly used as an excuse for infl icting fur- today. were in a critical condition. They ther penalties and bolstering the were unprepared for the massive in- control system. This article was written by Tomáš Bursík, who fl ux of the new prison population. Prisoners were not the only ones has authored a book on the work camps used Over time, the state of most camps being punished. The regime sub- to mine uranium from 1949-1961 that is now improved. scribed to the theory of collective being prepared for publication.

Behind the Iron Curtain 37

36-37 bursik.indd Sec1:37 3/12/09 4:26:51 PM Hope, Warnings and Lessons From Across the Border

The Prague Spring of 1968 represented a remarkable social movement aimed at pushing back the boundaries to freedom. Its brief existence, and Moscow’s decision to crush it, led to hope, despair and, in some, a resolve for further resistance at home and abroad. It also shaped the Soviet Union’s stance toward future challenges. The international impact was explored during a three-day conference jointly organized by the Institute.

form in the Soviet bloc, or crushed militarily, in a repeat of 1956. The latter step could, the Hungarian lead- ership imagined, either put their own reforms in peril, or put them in a bet- ter light by highlighting their mod- eration and essentially non-political economic character as a lesser evil. diff ered from Moscow on economic relations with the West in general, and on relations with – its main economic part- ner – in particular. Leader János Kádár, who had helped brutally crush the 1956 rising, is oft en portrayed as a reluctant interventionist in 1968. The fact is that that Kádár totally backed Moscow and the rest of the ’s right to intervene in Czechoslovakia if counter-revolution Street barricades proved no match for heavy armor in the streets of Prague. threatened. His position diff ered with Source: National Archive Moscow in that he did not believe that the precise moment had yet arrived in August 1968. Even so, he recog- Czechoslovakia’s social and politi- outcome could either be that the nised that the potential was there, cal thaw coincided with economic changes in Czechoslovakia would be warning the Czechoslovak leadership reforms in neighbouring Hungary. accepted in Moscow, putting Prague at the Dresden summit: “These events For the Hungarian leadership, the and Budapest in the forefront of re- can turn any one of you into an Imre

38 Behind the Iron Curtain

38-40 1968.indd Sec1:38 3/12/09 4:27:05 PM Hope, Warnings and Lessons From Across the Border

Nagy,” a reference to the executed Hungarian leader of 1956. Kádár’s priority was to avoid any scenario in which Hungary’s own re- forms would be endangered. This was the main motivation behind his cautious warnings to the Czechoslo- vak leadership not to press too far. Even so, he regarded the publishing of the “2000 words” manifesto as an- ti-revolutionary, and was off ended by the publication in Literární Noviny of an article describing the execution of Nagy as wrong and describing him as a martyr. In hindsight, Moscow’s assessment of the scope of democratisation in Czechoslovakia was probably not wide of the mark. The Czechoslovak Communist Party was on the road to fast decay under the pressure of freedoms demanded and conceded, the evaporation of its legitimacy and pent up pressure for change within society. Left alone, Czechoslovakia would probably have taken the same path as that taken by Hungary later, in 1989, when amid reduced fears of Soviet intervention, the Communist “Occupiers! Out of Czechoslovakia,” a German banner protesting the 1968 invasion Party agreed to hold free elections. put up by two youths in a village outside Freiberg, , a few days aft er According to Russian accounts of the event. Source: RHG Berlin their meeting, Kádár said he would support intervention on July 3, al- though Hungarians present said this ’s East Germany was Not surprisingly, Ulbricht was one was still only in the context of an ac- a world away from the newfound free- of the fiercest line critics of the tion of last resort. doms being enjoyed across the bor- Czechoslovak leadership for stepping Kádár’s last bilateral meeting with der as a result of the Prague Spring, out of the socialist line and one of the the Czechoslovaks on August 17 a fact that many citizens sadly refl ect- biggest backers of intervention. showed them unaware of the danger ed upon when they headed home from Hopes among some citizens that they were facing, or unwilling to al- visits. Whereas Czechoslovakia was Ulbricht might relax his restrictive ter course if they were. On the inva- enjoying the rebirth of civic society, policies following the example of sion’s eve, Kádár called for the Czecho- East Germans in 1968 were still get- Czechoslovakia were dashed. East slovak leadership to be given the ting used to the restrictions result- German media were whipped into an chance aft erwards to reestablish or- ing from the building of the Berlin anti-reform campaign, although in- der with minimum Soviet interfer- Wall, a cultural clampdown in 1965 ternal information from the authori- ence, drawing attention to the suc- and a hard line against anything that ties showed many citizens were hap- cess of that policy in Hungary and diff ered from the offi cial stance. pier to rely on Western news sources Poland after 1956. It was a line he In Party terms, a new constitution and were taking up inappropriate stuck to in the wake of the invasion, was put in place, which not only lim- class positions on events in Czecho- and which was broadly backed by ited the role of the Evangelical church, slovakia. Moscow in the face of calls for a more but also enshrined the leading role East Germany’s participation in the dictatorial solution. That at least left of the Communist Party. The move crushing of the Prague Spring cre- the Hungarian leader free to push was interpreted by the local press as ated a wave of protest. The country’s ahead with his non-political, econom- the defi nitive break with imperialist security services counted more than ic changes. West Germany. 2,000 “unfriendly” acts, including ex-

Behind the Iron Curtain 39

38-40 1968.indd Sec1:39 3/12/09 4:27:06 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

plicated by its own student uprising Condemnation of the invasion by and the regime’s repression of intel- Communist movements worldwide lectuals and the anti-Jewish campaign and the birth of the more indepen- that followed – the so-called “March dent strand of weak- events.” In sit-down strikes and meet- ened the Soviet Union and caused it ings, Polish students demanded the to think twice about taking the same same freeing up and democratisation path in Poland. of the Communist system that ap- In distant Lithuania, the events of peared to be taking place in their 1968 had a less immediate impact neighbouring country. than those of Hungary in 1956, but Authorities reacted by launching nonetheless brought about a shift in a cultural clampdown in which many opposition to the Soviet regime and intellectuals and leading profession- the workings of the local KGB. The als were the targets, forced to quit intervention by Warsaw Pact forces their jobs and, in many cases, seek prompted an immediate upsurge of exile. Under the thin veneer of anti- anti-Soviet protests – mostly the tear- , their campaign quickly tar- ing down of Soviet fl ags, daubing of geted the country’s small Jewish pop- slogans on walls and distribution of ulation. Minister of the Interior Mie- anonymous leafl ets. czyslaw Moczar’s aims in leading the There was also a transformation campaign and the puzzle of whether within Lithuanian dissident move- he intended to overthrow Communist ments, with many adopting the for- leader Wladyslaw Gomulka, or just mula of “organization without orga- Polish units from the Warsaw Pact establish himself as second in com- nization.” Individuals and groups invasion force. Source: IPN mand, are still unclear. shared the same aims, but there was The events helped create “the ’68 no real framework for their action, generation,” which, like in East Ger- making outright retaliation against many, became active in anti-Commu- it more problematic for authori- pressions of sympathy with Czecho- nist opposition in the 1970s, and a ties. slovak citizens. Walls were daubed decade later helped shape the Soli- After ’68, the KGB itself became with the slogan “Long live Dubček, darity trade union. more active and repressive, but also Ulbricht is a traitor,” and thousands During the Polish crisis of 1980- tried to learn from the perceived mis- of protest leafl ets were distributed. 1981, the Czechoslovak experience takes of the Prague Spring, which in- The widespread reaction was to helped Solidarity map out just how cluded being out of touch with chang- view the armed intervention as an far it could go in its demands without es in society. The result was increased abuse of international rights, in con- sparking Moscow’s intervention. They use of agents and attempts to wage fl ict with the wishes of the Czecho- had learned from ’68 that the exis- a public relations battle in favour of slovak people. Many drew unfavour- tence of civic organizations indepen- the regime, rather than merely try- able parallels with the Nazi actions dent of the Communist Party, aboli- ing to clamp down on select dissi- in 1938 and aft er and questioned the tion of censorship and the loss of the dents and groups. offi cial media’s two-faced stance in Party’s leading role were steps too upholding the “brotherly interven- far. Only in the fi rst instance did Sol- This article draws from selected lectures tion” while at the same time condemn- idarity’s very existence cross the bor- given during the international conference ing US intervention in Vietnam. derline. “The Security Apparatus, Progandism and For the regime, ’68 had one signif- The Czechoslovak experience also the Prague Spring,” in particular icant hangover. Many of those who demonstrated to Moscow the limits contributions made by Csaba Békés, later came to prominence in the East of an armed intervention policy. While Tomáš Vilímek, Jerzy Eisler, Lukasz German dissident opposition of the the August 21 invasion was deemed Kamiński and Kristina Burinskaité. The 1980s traced their fallout with the a military success, it was not a po- September 7-9 conference was jointly regime to the various anti-invasion litical one. The Moscow leadership organised by the Institute, The Polish protests, with some describing it as failed to immediately install a pup- Institute of National Remembrance, the a milestone removing the Soviets’ last pet loyalist government, and found Institute for the History of the 1956 vestiges of credibility. itself negotiating with Alexander Hungarian Revolution, the Polish Institute Polish reactions to the Prague Dubček and many of the Prague and Charles University’s Faculty of Spring and its termination were com- Spring leaders. Philosophy and Arts in Prague.

40 Behind the Iron Curtain

38-40 1968.indd Sec1:40 3/12/09 4:27:07 PM Student’s Self-Sacrifi ce Scrutinized on Anniversary

Jan Palach’s life and shocking death have come under even greater focus as Czech society looks back aft er 40 years on the act which has become lodged in the nation’s collective memory.

arrange a debate between Milan Kun- a society which had lost the élan of dera and Václav Havel on the theme the pre-invasion period and August of Kundera’s essay “The Czech Deal,” days and sunk into a political and as well as discussions on contempo- general civil lethargy. rary political machinations and ex- According to a letter written on aminations of aspects of the military January 16, Palach himself under- occupation in commemorative pub- stood his act in this way. “Taking into lications, exhibitions and special tel- account that our nation fi nds itself evision broadcasts. on the verge of hopelessness and giv- One event inextricably linked to ing up, we have decided to express the memories of the now 40-year-old our protest and awake the nation’s Czechoslovak reforms and August 21 consciousness…January 1968 started invasion is the self-immolation of Jan from above, January 1969 must start Palach, then a 20-year-old student at from below (if it is to start).” From the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts this perspective, Palach’s was a rad- of Prague’s Charles University. ical political act. Palach’s act on January 16, 1969 is From another perspective, Palach’s perhaps the most well-known sym- decision can be taken as a justifi ca- bol of the beginning of the process tion of the resignation and insipient usually referred to as “normalization,” normalization apathy, as an illustra- the moves by the regime to smother tion that any attempt at resistance the political, social and cultural surge was useless and destined for fail- for freedom. ure. If the Prague Spring and August In this case, Palach’s self-immola- A fl oral tribute at the memorial plaque to response to the invasion, including tion can be understood as a futile ex- Palach on Prague’s Wenceslas Square. most of the population’s backing of pression, a naïve and tragic attempt Source: ČTK the reform leadership and opposition to fi nd an escape from an inescapable to the invaders with available means situation and a confi rmation of the The 40th anniversary of 1968 was in the fi rst weeks of occupation, are impossibility of taking eff ective po- marked last year by an explosion of the source of overwhelmingly posi- litical action in the face of the devel- media, public and expert interest in tive recollections, Palach’s act recalls oping “consolidation.” Such an inter- the resurgence that took place prior a period which scarcely qualifies pretation uses Jan Palach’s gesture to the occupation of Czechoslovakia among the highlights of Czech his- as an alibi for the minimal desire of by fi ve Warsaw Pact powers. tory. most Czechs to continue their oppo- Attention was paid to the intellec- It is possible to interpret this po- sition and as an excuse for the stance tual aspect of the “Prague Spring,” litical suicide in various ways. It can characterized by the phrase: “Every- for example the attempt by the week- be viewed as an extreme expression thing is lost, we are not able to do ly Literární noviny (Literary News) to of resistance, an attempt to shake up anything about it...”

Behind the Iron Curtain 41

41-42 palach.indd Sec1:41 3/12/09 4:27:18 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

Perhaps it is through the tension of Jan Palach. One of the most signifi - of “live torches,” specifi cally with Jan these starkly confl icting interpreta- cant acts has been the publication of Zajíc and Evžen Plocek. The Central tions that Palach’s strong symbolism Jan Palach ‘69, the most exhaustive European dimension of this self-sac- derives. The resounding echo of Pa- work devoted to the subject so far. rifice is dealt with by Łukasz Ka- lach’s act made it one of the most sig- The volume is the work of a collec- miński in relation to the self-immo- nifi cant symbols in Czech history. tive headed by Petr Blažek, Patrik lation of the Pole, Ryszard Siwiec, on The fact that symbols are frequent- Eichler and Jakub Jareš. It was pub- September 8, 1968, in protest of the ly given diff erent interpretations is lished jointly by the Institute for the invasion of Czechoslovakia by War- confi rmed in both normalization pro- Study of Totalitarian Regimes, saw Pact forces. Tomás Vilímek stud- paganda (where Palach was portrayed Charles University’s Faculty of Phi- ies the 1976 suicide of Lutheran pas- as a victim in the counterrevolution- losophy and Arts and the publisher tor Oskar Brüsewitz by the same ary game) and in the strengthening Togga. method to highlight the East German civic opposition at the end of the The more than 600-page volume state’s repression of religion. 1980s (such as the demonstration of includes a wide range of material, Another angle is provided by three the so-called Palach week in January chiefl y historical studies. Petr Blažek studies of the artistic reaction to 1989, on the occasion of the 20th an- closely maps out Palach’s act in what Palach’s act. Jan Kolář examines the niversary of his act). sets out to be a detailed historical fi lm documentary legacy surround- This year’s 40th anniversary of his reconstruction. Patrik Eichler deals ing Palach, Veronika Jáchymová and death has put even greater focus on with the other Czechoslovak cases Michala Benešová look at the liter- ary output related to him, and Eva Nachmilnerová investiges Palach’s echo in Czech classical music. The second half of the collection is composed of essays evaluating Palach’s suicide from different standpoints. Some of the essays were specially writ- ten for this collection; others have been published previously. Authors include Jindřich Chalupecký, Ladislav Hejdánek and Martin C. Putna. Jour- nalist Jiří Lederer’s work Jan Palach. Account of the Life, Acts and Death of a Czech Student, fi rst published in 1982 in , bears a close relation to the collected essays. The volume also includes a large collection of source material put to- gether by Petr Blažek. Many of the 80 documents from the 1969-1974 pe- riod come from the State Security Service (StB) investigation fi les col- lected together under the title “Op- eration Palach.” The book closes with a series of photographs, many previ- ously unpublished, and facsimiles of documents. A DVD of the same name, which includes the Stanislav Milota fi lm, Jan 69, contemporary newsreel fi lms, photographs and documents, accompanies the book.

This article was written by Vítězslav Sommer, an Institute historian specializing in the inte- Jan Palach’s funeral ceremony in Prague’s Old Town Square on January 25, 1969. national context of Czechoslovak Commu- Source: ČTK nism.

42 Behind the Iron Curtain

41-42 palach.indd Sec1:42 3/12/09 4:27:19 PM The NKVD/KGB – The Service That Came In For the Cold War

The three-day international conference “NKVD/KGB Activities and its Cooperation with other Secret Services in Central and Eastern Europe 1945-1989 II” was one of the most ambitious and successful events which the Institute helped stage in 2008. It demonstrated how historians are using the archival materials now becoming publicly accessible to draw a fuller picture of the region’s secret services’ scope, methods, and cooperation.

With the Soviet secret service fi les of political opponents, but also in the largely closed to historians, a picture casting of a new man (being), carry- of its massive network and operations ing out the will of the superior no- at home, in allied countries and menclature. That was one reason abroad can only be pieced together why the selection of members of the by examining operations in individ- secret political police was so strict. ual countries, especially those in sat- International cooperation is need- ellite states which were oft en turned ed in order to reconstruct and pres- to for specifi c expertise. ent the breadth, extent and infl uence “The activity of Soviet security of Soviet security units in our key units, particularly State Security region. In view of the inaccessibility known throughout the world under of primary Russian sources, we must the acronym KGB, remains one of the attempt to piece together the mosaic most important subjects for 20th cen- of information that is scattered tury research in Central and Eastern throughout Central and Eastern Eu- Europe. The functioning and opera- ropean archives.” tion of this apparatus, which sur- Thus Pavel Žáček, Director of the passed the activities of the police in Institute for the Study of Totalitarian countries with democratic systems Regimes, introduced the context and severalfold, had a signifi cant and di- aims of the international conference rect infl uence on the shape of the to- “NKVD/KGB Activities and its Coop- talitarian framework; the actions of eration with other Secret Services in party members of the Communist no- Central and Eastern Europe 1945-1989 menclature; and the form, methods II,” which took place on November and extent of the repression of ‘class 19-21, 2008, as a follow-up to the con- Diploma upon graduation from enemies’ and, in the fi nal instance, ference on this identical subject held a one-month course at the KGB‘s upon innocent representatives of var- in Bratislava in November 2007. That university in the USSR. It was granted ious socio-political groups. fi rst conference was initiated by the to Deputy Chief of the Czechoslovak Additionally, the supranational founder of Slovakia’s Nation’s Mem- National Security Corps‘ I. Directorate elite, created in line with Com- ory Institute, Ján Langoš, who also Vilém Václavek, AKA Kainar, on June munist ideology, were not only sup- played an instrumental role in the 26, 1985. posed to take part in the repression founding of the Czech Republic’s In- Source: Security Services Archive

Behind the Iron Curtain 43

43-44 .indd Sec1:43 3/12/09 4:28:45 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

ern Europe 1945-1989,” the directors of fi ve participating partner institu- tions signed a declaration, which reads in part: “Our common awareness of the im- portance of dealing with the Com- munist dictatorship – on the one hand, in the context of the number of victims of Communism, and on the other hand, as a warning for the pres- ent and the future – brings us to joint eff orts for cooperation. Fully dealing with Communism overruns the pos- sibilities of every individual former . The aims that arise out of Communism’s ideology were Zbysek Brezina (right) of Bethany College, Kansas, USA, who presented his study global – infi ltration, subversion, and on MVD/KGB activities in the U.S. in the 1950s at the conference, in conversation domination of the free and democrat- with fellow conference participant Richard Mariáš, a double StB-FBI agent in the ic parts of the world. Communist 1980s. Source: Jiří Reichl states’ intelligence services, fi rst and foremost the Soviet KGB, played a sig- nifi cant role in meeting this target. stitute for the Study of Totalitarian Satellite Intelligence Services; and The aforementioned founded, domi- Regimes, and aft er whom the Insti- Operations of Communist Intelligence nated, and managed the intelligence tute’s library is named. Services, Joint Operations Managed services of the Communist bloc states, Under the auspices of the Commit- by the KGB. following its own role model. tee on Foreign Aff airs, Defense and The accompanying mini-exhibit, Unfortunately, 17 years aft er the Security of the Senate of the Parlia- on display at the conference entrance fall of Communism, the former So- ment of the Czech Republic, and in in the Wallenstein Palace chambers viet archives are still inaccessible in cooperation with Poland’s Institute of the Czech Senate, mapped out the contemporary Russia. But to under- of National Remembrance and the In- Soviet Secret Services in Czechoslo- stand the events in present-day Rus- stitute of Historical Studies of the vakia through six detailed panels: sia and the situation in Central and Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Agreements With “Friends”; Negoti- Eastern Europe, it is necessary to an- Prague conference “NKVD/KGB Ac- ations With the KGB; Operative Co- alyze Communism in the leading tivities and its Cooperation with oth- operation Between the KGB and Communist power, the former Soviet er Secret Services in Central and East- Czechoslovak State Security (StB); Union. We are led by the common ern Europe 1945-1989 II” attracted the KGB and the StB’s Joint Eff orts; aim to shed light on the whole truth scholar-presenters from Bulgaria, Study in the USSR; and Disinforma- about Communism...In accordance Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, tion and . Partici- with the resolution of the Parliamen- Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the UK pants further had the opportunity to tary Assembly of the Council of Eu- and the USA, in addition to the sig- view Latvian political scientist and rope 1481/2006 on the ‘Need for in- nifi cant contributions of local schol- documentary director Edvins Snore’s ternational condemnation of crimes ars and an attendance of over 100. fi lm “The Soviet Story.” The 2008 doc- of totalitarian communist regimes,’ Over the course of three days, par- umentary, which addresses the ac- we regard our cooperation to be a ticipants engaged in a series of fi ve tions and intent of the Soviet regime contribution to the research and the panels, addressing the following over- and its legacy today, relies heavily on presentation of objective facts on a arching themes: Archives of Securi- recently uncovered archival docu- European level.” ty Services of Central and Eastern ments, and was sponsored mainly by The essence of this declaration European Countries; Establishment the UEN Group in the European Par- formed the foundation on which not of the Security Apparatus in Soviet liament, where the fi lm had its pre- only the 2007 Bratislava and 2008 Satellite States aft er WWII; Central miere in April 2008. Prague conferences were built and and Eastern Europe as a Starting On the occasion of the fi rst Bratis- carried out, but will also inform a Point for Intelligence Infi ltration Into lava conference, “NKVD/KGB Activi- third conference on the same topic, Western Societies; Development of ties and its Cooperation with other planned to take place in the coming Cooperation of the NKVD/KGB with Secret Services in Central and East- year, most likely in Hungary.

44 Behind the Iron Curtain

43-44 kgb.indd Sec1:44 3/12/09 4:28:46 PM The Far-Reaching Battle Over the Secret Policemen’s Files

The “Velvet Revolution” put a new set of inexperienced leaders in charge of a still unreformed political and security apparatus. A scandal over the use of secret police fi les shook the government, but forced it to get to grips with key questions over their management and use.

“Sachergate,” as it was dubbed aft er the fi rst post-Communist Czechoslo- vak Minister of the Interior, Richard Sacher, who was at its epicenter, ex- ploded as the new government’s fi rst scandal surrounding the former re- gime’s secret police fi les, threatening the stability of the government and position of President Václav Havel. The scandal put the spotlight on the StB files, which in the wrong hands could be manipulated to tar- nish the reputations of post-Commu- nist politicians trying to lay the foun- dations for a new democratic state or protect those who had collaborat- ed with it. Above all, it underlined democrat- Federal Interior Minister Richard Sacher (left ) in conversation with the ic leaders’ faltering steps to get to Chairman of the “government of national understanding,” Marián Čalfa grips with the unreformed state po- Source: ČTK/Černík Vladimír lice apparatus and hierarchy by sys- tematically screening the new lead- ership and its inherited Communist up to the fi rst democratic elections lection eff ectively meant that a whole apparatus on the eve of the fi rst dem- in June 1990. top swathe of the new political elite ocratic elections. The fi rst stage was sparked by the could not be practically screened re- The roles of top Ministry of the In- revelation that Sacher had on April 2, garding their Communist pasts. Their terior offi cials, with past records of 1990, given instructions that key StB background, from the perspective of loyal service to the Communist re- fi les on top politicians, including the the available StB fi les, had ceased to gime, in particular raised questions president, members of the Federal Gov- exist. of whether they and the police were ernment and Federal Assembly, Czech Sacher, already under fi re for his working in the interests of their new and Slovak governments and party refusal to clear out former StB offi - masters, their former ones, or them- leaders, be locked away immediately cers from the Ministry, rode out a selves. with instructions that they should not stormy parliamentary debate on April The scandal hit the weak post-Vel- be used without his approval. 4. He defended himself by saying that vet Revolution political scene in two The wide ranging instruction put- the step was part of a battle with the stages in the crucial months leading ting the fi les in the so-called “Z” col- Institute for the Protection of the Con-

Behind the Iron Curtain 45

45-46 sachr.indd Sec1:45 3/12/09 4:29:06 PM ARTICLES AND STUDIES

stitution and Democracy over access Václav Benda, called for all candidates to the fi les. to be screened at forthcoming gen- But the startling revelations fi ve eral elections, without the results be- days later from the deputy chairmen ing made public. Those incriminated of the central screening commission, could face the alternatives of quietly Radovan Procházka and Jan Kozlík, retiring or trying to defend their rep- to lawmakers that some state offi cials utation. As he explained, forcing had already been screened for their members of parliament to resign af- Communist pasts, meant that “Sach- ter being elected was a far worse al- ergate” had erupted in full. ternative than forcing them to retire In the absence of Sacher, First before the vote. Deputy Minister Viliam Ciklamini By mid-May, Sacher also relaxed tried to shed light on the revelations earlier instructions from the start of that deputies themselves had been April, and allowed the screening of checked. He was told by Major One of Sacher’s most prominent Ministry staff to recommence, draw- Václav Novotný, head of the Minis- critics – Chairman of Parliament’s ing on the archives of the key section try’s internal and organizational ad- Defence and Security Committee and for statistical and personal fi les, SEO, ministration, that the orders to car- former Charter 77 spokesperson comprising around 890,000 cards ry out screening had come from Ladislav Lis. Source: ČTK with details of individuals, for the above. most part drawn from StB operations, A phone call from a worried Presi- and including the names of police in- dent Havel to Deputy Minister Andrej formers and agents. But his ban on Sámel calling for guarantees that the and more dangerous than those of providing material for screening out- screening process be stopped and his underlings. side the Ministry without his approv- warning that it could lead to a gov- One of his fi ercest critics, Chair- al remained in force. ernment and parliamentary crisis, man of the Parliamentary Defence An Austrian newspaper’s revela- and perhaps worse, put the event in and Security Committee Ladislav Lis, tion that Deputy Foreign Minister stark context. accused Sacher of doing almost noth- Věra Bartošková and People’s Party It emerged that 137 members of the ing to clean out the StB during his (ČSL) leader Josef Bartončík had col- Federal Assembly had been screened, four months in offi ce. Sacher hit back, laborated with the StB swung sup- fueling unfounded fears that their claiming moves to unseat him were port in favour of screening ahead of “fall” would prompt immediate elec- part of a plot to take over the Minis- the June elections, with the Federal tions and the end of the government try and paralyse the security system Assembly agreeing to the step as long of national understanding.1 and government. as candidates were willing. Sámel went over Ciklamini’s head, Sacher’s skin was saved by a com- Thus one of the main results of Sa- giving orders to district offi ces ban- promise arrived at between leading chergate was an agreed screening ning access to StB fi les for screen- Civic Forum members and Havel, process of candidates on the eve of ing. which in part involved the appoint- the vote. Other questions about the Sacher was only told of the aff air ment of Jan Ruml as a deputy interior ever twisting affair, including the when he landed at the airport on his minister and Jiří Müller as head of main issue of whether its root cause return from an international drugs the Institute for the Protection of the was an attempt by the former Com- conference. He was soon in the midst Constitution and Democracy, one of munist structure and especially the of a battle over his running of the the new democracy’s safeguarding StB, oft en described as a state with- Ministry and acrimonious relations bodies which had been incorporated in a state, to continue exercising pow- with his deputy ministers. within the Ministry. er and infl uence still remain unan- Ammunition for his critics was sup- In the meantime, demands for the swered. plied by a report into the Ministry’s systematic screening of public fi gures workings by former Charter 77 and offi ce holders gathered steam. This article is based on an original study in spokesman, Ladislav Hejdánek, which An open letter from the chairman of the Institute’s journal Paměť a Dějiny found Sacher’s faults more serious the Christian Democratic Party, written by Pavel Žáček.

1 Fears based on the phrase “137 positively screened deputies” were later shown to be exaggerated. A Ministry offi cial revealed that among the fi les were just two police confi dants, one candidate for secret cooperation and one agent.

46 Behind the Iron Curtain

45-46 sachr.indd Sec1:46 3/12/09 4:29:07 PM Exhibition Elaborates on How War Raised the Hopes of the Downtrodden and Disillusioned

The outbreak of WWII and German occupation six months earlier defi ned the issues for Czechs aft er the Second Republic’s slide towards authoritarian government.

Czechoslovak volunteers lining up in front of the Czechoslovak consulate in Cracow (Poland) in 1939. Richard Tesařík, later a hero of the Soviet Union, is fi rst on the left , in the second row. Source: Archive of Ladislav Kudrna

This year the Czech Republic, like the republic – came the Munich Agree- The new forces in power aft er Mu- rest of the world, marks the 70th an- ment, consequent carve up of the bor- nich – primarily the governing Party niversary of the start of the worst der territory, and cruel disillusion- of National Unity (Strana Národní confl ict in world history – WWII. For ment which continued to spread. Con- Jednoty) – attempted to establish an most European countries, September servative forces, the right-wing of the authoritarian political system, and 1, 1939, has a dark signifi cance. The Agrarian Party in particular, stepped designed its foundations so that they war meant six years of horrifi c suf- into power as the former political would meet the demands of Nazi Ger- fering, with many fearing for their elite, the target of fi erce criticism, many and save the “remnant state.” survival. gradually quit the scene. The democ- It was however precisely the ever The Czechs, however, already had racy founded by Masaryk and Beneš increasing pressure from Berlin a tumultuous period behind them. and the political system associated which terminated such attempts. All Following the euphoria of the Sep- with them were identifi ed as the main concessions departing from the dem- tember 1938 mobilization – which was culprits of the national tragedy. Thus ocratic political system and change accompanied by a massive demon- the so-called Second Republic was in the Republic’s domestic political stration of public will to defend the born. make-up in the direction of an au-

Behind the Iron Curtain 47

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:47 3/12/09 4:29:38 PM PRESENTATION

thoritative democracy were not and indeed could not bring the hoped-for guarantee of the existence of a di- minished but still enduring Czecho– Slovak Republic. The new governing elite proclaimed the desire to build relations with the Third Reich based on friendly partnership and did not reject the idea, evoked by contempo- rary media, that this could be a rela- tionship between a “feudal lord” and “dutiful vassal.” One result of these moves was the deepening of the moral crisis which accompanied the deviation from tra- ditional values of national history and culture and the growing disparage- ment of the principles of humanism, tolerance and democracy. The Nazi occupation of March 15 and declaration of the Protectorate of Bo- hemia and Moravia can therefore be regarded, perhaps with some exag- geration, as a certain “liberation” from these totalitarian tendencies. Czech society now had a clearly defi ned en- emy in the form of the German occu- The nation displayed singular resolve not to give in, and to defend democracy and pation administration and gradually freedom. The army was prepared to fi ght, but politicians drew the conclusion that began to pin its hopes on an early war it would be irresponsible to lead the nation into a doomed war. The writing on the which might bring about the defeat storefront reads: “Buy people’s gas masks with fi lter and box.” of Nazi Germany and off er the possi- Source: Lukas, Jan: Pražský deník 1938–1965, Praha 1995 bility of renewing Czechoslovakia ac- cording to its pre-Munich frontiers. The six months which remained un- The occupation decidedly aff ected events, constitutional changes, do- til the outbreak of war were therefore the lives of all citizens. In spite of mestic and foreign resistance and marked by the establishing of illegal that (or perhaps because of it) the out- daily life and shift s in the cultural resistance organizations, distributing break of war on September 1, 1939, sphere. The panels include photo- of illegal printed matter, and staging was greeted by the public with an- graphs, some of which are on public of mass demonstrations (such as the ticipation and hope. display for the fi rst time. transfer of Czech poet Karel H. Má- The exhibition “Czech Society be- The exhibition has been organized cha’s remains and religious pilgrim- tween Munich and the War,” on dis- by the Institute for Totalitarian Re- ages) which clearly showed the Czechs’ play in Prague from March 13-27, gimes in collaboration with the Prague relationship with their occupiers. 2009, aims to give visitors a feel for 6 city district, the civic association In exile, former president Edvard the events and atmosphere from the Post Bellum and Czech Radio’s “Radio Beneš took charge of foreign opera- fateful Munich events through the Česko,” and is open to the public at tions and attempted to coordinate the period of the Second Republic, the Prague 6’s “Pisecká brána” culture work of the developing foreign resist- founding of the Protectorate and the center, located at K brusce 5/208, 160 ance centers. outbreak of the Second World War – 00 Prague 6 – Hradčany, every day The Protectorate’s inhabitants dur- how Czech society experienced these except Mondays from 1– 7 p.m. ing these dark times had to get used months and perceived them. It is di- to Gestapo raids, censorship of the vided into three thematic parts – the This article is based on a report by Institute press and, from October 1939, ration- period of the Second Republic, the historian Lukáš Vlček, who specializes in ing. A further change which impact- Protectorate, and personal memories German-Czech relations and the period ed virtually all citizens was the switch of witnesses of these events. Twen- leading up to and including WWII. to right-hand driving. ty panels are dedicated to political

48 Behind the Iron Curtain

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:48 3/12/09 4:29:39 PM New Exhibition Highlights Resistance Activity During Early Years of Communist Tyranny

On the Cold War Front – Czechoslova- hazard manner. Many documents are kia 1948-1956 is dedicated to thou- yet to be made available – mostly from sands of Czechoslovak citizens who democratic countries’ archives. actively fought against the totalitar- This exhibition attempts to clarify ian regime that was established in what happened during this period their country aft er the Communist while redefi ning its signifi cance, as Party seized power on February 25, well as to answer questions concern- 1948. It focuses in particular on those ing the importance of this resistance who battled tyranny in Czechoslova- activity and emphasize its achieve- kia on both sides of the country’s bor- ments. It recalls the thousands of ders in the years 1948-1956. Czechoslovak citizens who were im- Many of these people worked as prisoned, executed or killed on the cross-border undercover agents or border, and who embarked on a war “couriers” who gathered intelligence against totalitarian power, conscious information from local sources and of the huge risks this involved for both The State Security Service (StB) relayed it to democratic Western pow- themselves and their families. Last succeeded in capturing around 4,000 ers seeking to counter the threat but not least, the exhibition reminds people who participated in intelli- posed to their way of life by the So- viewers of the anniversary of the com- gence operations in Czechoslovakia viet Union and its nascent system of munist coup in Czechoslovakia, which as couriers, foreign coordinators or satellite states. prompted thousands of people to local agents. The contribution made by these in- bravely resist totalitarian power. Approximately 250 couriers were telligence groups in the fi ght against sentenced to long-term imprisonment. communism has been largely forgot- Nineteen couriers were executed. At ten until now. On the Cold War Front least seven died on the border, and – Czechoslovakia 1948-1956 seeks to eleven ended their days in jail. highlight the signifi cance of their ac- Not all of them were textbook he- tivities in combating the spread of roes. They lived in an era that placed Soviet totalitarianism. It also hopes immense demands on each individ- to emphasize how their resistance ual. Yet they risked their lives for helped establish a tradition of defend- what they believed in and deserve ing freedom in this country, which our respect. can be used as a reference point for On the Cold War Front – Czechoslo- future generations. vakia 1948-1956 runs from February Czechoslovakia’s position in the 25 to May 2, 2009 at the Prague City heart of Europe meant that it was des- Museum, Na Poříčí 52, Prague 8. Open tined to witness dramatic Cold War daily from 9 am to 6 pm. (closed Mon- clashes between East and West. Al- days). The exhibition is held under though these did not result in open the auspices of the mayor of Prague confl ict, there is no doubt that the bor- 1 Ing. Petr Hejma and the mayor of der activities of the anti-communist Prague 8 Josef Nosek. The Institute resistance networks were important for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in helping democratic powers contain wishes to thank all those who par- the spread of communism. In acknowl- ticipated in the preparation of the ex- edging their contribution and describ- hibition, especially the Prague City ing their activities, we can begin to ap- Museum (Muzeum hlavního města preciate the value of the sacrifi ces they Miroslav Svatoň, age 22, died on the Prahy) and the Czech Police Museum willingly made. entrenchment barbed wire on May 16, (Muzeum Policie ČR). More than fi ft y years have passed 1953 in the Rozvadov area. He was prob- since the couriers’ operations, but the ably crossing the border from Germany This article is based on an introductory topic is still little known, and histo- to Czechoslovakia. text prepared by the exhibition’s author, rians have dealt with it in a very hap- Source: Security Services Archive Prokop Tomek.

Behind the Iron Curtain 49

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:49 3/12/09 4:29:39 PM Film and History – Institute Publishes New Multimedia Teaching Resource

1968: Shattered Hopes is a three-hour set of educational DVDs prepared by the Institute for the Study of Totali- tarian Regimes. It looks at the tu- multuous events surrounding the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslova- kia, which brutally suppressed the country’s attempts to introduce a less authoritarian form of socialism in the late 1960s. Drawing on news reports and fi lm footage from the period in question, this project seeks to explain the background behind the violent sup- pression of the so-called “Prague Spring”. It provides information on the protagonists who helped shape events, such as the hard-line com- munist president Antonín Novotný and the reformist socialist leader Al- exander Dubček. It also places the 1968 invasion in an international context and looks at how the reform- ist impulses of this period gave rise to an “underground” movement, which ultimately played a key role in bringing about the fall of the Iron Curtain. The DVDs have been produced as part of an initiative by the Institute DVD 1968: Shattered Hopes for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes to provide high-quality materials for teaching modern Czechoslovak his- tory in schools. Fulfi lling an educa- thematic episodes and is accompa- a copy can order it in the mail. They tional role is one of the Institute’s core nied by teaching aids and materials will only be required to pay a small activities within its mandate to in- for instigating debates and discus- handling fee to cover post and pack- form and stimulate interest in the re- sions in class. The second DVD con- aging. cent totalitarian past. There is little sists of a compilation of short fi lms Two more DVDs are currently be- doubt that this is a subject that needs made around the time of the Warsaw ing prepared by the Institute to help to be addressed. Surveys by the Czech Pact invasion, which will give stu- schools teach students about the to- Schools Inspectorate have shown that dents a real sense of the atmosphere talitarian era in Czechoslovakia. The the teaching of late-twentieth-centu- that prevailed in Czechoslovakia dur- fi rst video will deal with the brutal ry history seriously lags behind that ing this period. collectivization of Czech agriculture of other historical eras, both in terms Two thousand copies of the DVD aft er the communists seized power of the time and quality of the educa- set have been produced and these in 1948, while the second will look at tion off ered. will be distributed free of charge to the events surrounding the eventual 1968: Shattered Hopes is the fi rst of secondary and primary school teach- collapse of the communist regime in a number of videos intended to help ers who participate in special train- 1989. As of now, the DVDs are avail- redress this balance. It comprises two ing seminars organized by the Insti- able exclusively in the Czech lan- DVDs. The fi rst is broken down into tute. Anyone interested in acquiring guage.

50 Behind the Iron Curtain

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:50 3/12/09 4:29:39 PM Institute’s First English-language Publication Sheds Light on the 1968 Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia

Newly uncovered information, much of it made public only recently, has enabled the reassessment of the tumultuous turn of events during the second half of 1968.

The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czecho- The book consists of two parts. slovakia in 1968 resulted in several First, a lengthy introduction analyz- civilian deaths and injuries as well as es the political and military aspects considerable damage to property. The of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czech- Communist regime subsequently sup- oslovakia and outlines the events that The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia: 21 August – 31 December 1968 pressed any commemorative events eventually led to the signing of a trea- or research on this subject. Conse- ty permitting the presence of Soviet quently, the fi rst proper attempts to troops on Czechoslovak territory. This quantify the damage caused by the chapter subsequently outlines the invasion began only aft er 1989. crimes committed by the occupying Victims of the Occupation is the Eng- soldiers as well as the eff orts of the lish-language version of the book re- Czechoslovak authorities to prosecute sulting from the relevant research the perpetrators and arrange com- project recently implemented by the pensation for the victims. The second Milan Bárta Lukáš Cvrček Patrik Košický Institute for the Study of Totalitarian part of the book focuses on specifi c Vítězslav Sommer Regimes. It focuses on the events of cases involving the deaths of civil- the invasion of 1968 and uncovers the ians, and describes the occupation circumstances behind the deaths of of individual towns and regions where Czechoslovak civilians00OBALKA-prebalANG.indd caused 1 by War- Czechoslovak citizens died as a re- 16.1.2009 14:31:01 saw Pact forces between August 21 sult of the invasion. ing in a higher casualty count. Fur- and December 31, 1968. Much of this The text is structured according thermore, the authors managed to information had never before been to the regional division of Czechoslo- obtain completely new facts about the published. The text draws inspiration vakia during the relevant period. It deaths of certain Czechoslovak citi- from as many accessible sources as provides details of some of the most zens, which enabled them to clear up possible. The authors worked with ar- notorious incidents of the Soviet-led some lingering doubts and mistakes chives and period newspapers, as well invasion, which resulted in the deaths aft er 40 years. as with the recollections of witnesses, of innocent Czechoslovak civilians in The book is also illustrated with an especially those provided by friends Prague, Liberec, Prostějov and other extensive selection of photographs from and relatives of the victims. locations. Short profi les of all the vic- public archives and private collections, tims are included. In cases where the several of which have remained un- authors managed to obtain survivors’ published until now. This publication recollections, these profi les have been is not only intended as a useful resource extended to include basic biographi- for professional historians, but should cal details about those who died as also be of interest to ordinary readers well as information about their per- who wish to learn more about the tu- sonal life and the impact their death multuous events surrounding the end had on the people they left behind. of the Prague Spring. This includes much data not usually found in offi cial archive materials. Victims of the Occupation, The Warsaw Pact In the course of their research the Invasion of Czechoslovakia: 21 August – 31 De- authors came across many wide- cember 1968 can be purchased from the Victims of a runaway lorry (license plate spread inaccuracies and mistakes Institute for the Study of Totalitarian AB-15-06) near Czechoslovak Radio. (Right which appeared in specialized jour- Regimes’ Ján Langoš Library to left ): Milan Kadlec and Václav Sadílek nals and periodicals published in pre- (www.ustrcr.cz/cs/knihovna-jana-langose) with Jaroslav Kubeš wedged in between. vious years. First and foremost, they or at selected bookstores in the Czech Josef Reichl is lying in the background. reassessed the number of victims Republic. Internationally, it can be Photographer and source: Libor Hajský claimed by the 1968 invasion, result- purchased online at www.kosmas.cz.

Behind the Iron Curtain 51

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:51 3/12/09 4:29:41 PM “Orwell in Photographs”: Telling Images from the Secret Police Photo Archive

Suzette Gazagne (operation “Parisian”) with her son, documented at the Horčičkova bus stop in Prague’s Jižni město district, February 20, 1984. Source: Security Services Archive

One of the most interesting bodies members of foreign diplomatic and cifi c divisions of the political police. of the Czechoslovak Communist po- military staff s and other employees Aft er the submission of a “Surveil- litical police – the State Security of suspect agencies from the West lance Plan,” the operation was as- Service (Státní bezpečnost – StB) – and Third World, but also its own cit- signed to the corresponding surveil- was the Surveillance Directorate and izens, so-called “enemy individuals,” lance section, whereupon the number its predecessors. Its founding nu- especially persons from the ranks of of offi cers and necessary technical cleus, numbering 14 men, came into the dissidence, the church, signato- equipment was determined (trans- being on March 1, 1948, shortly aft er ries of Charter 77 and members of mitters, still cameras, fi lm cameras, the Communist putsch. From small, other “enemy” organizations. means of transport, etc.). specialized State Security units with- Before its ultimate dissolution in Before setting to work, the service- in the Ministry of the Interior, an 1989, the Surveillance Directorate of men elaborated a detailed plan, which independent and comparatively well the SNB operated in the strength of included the code name of the opera- staff ed body – the Surveillance Di- 795 State Security offi cers, capable tion, personal information on the per- rectorate – developed, cooperating of shadowing not only 523 Czecho- son under surveillance, compelling closely with other constituent parts slovak and other state offi cers (some facts, a description of the place of res- of the political police. Until 1956, in even repeatedly), but also a whole idence, workplace and its environ- addition to surveillance, this divi- range of stationery premises, includ- ment, and where relevant, a descrip- sion had the authority to place peo- ing twelve embassies. tion of other places where the person ple under arrest or carry out house According to the directives in ef- under surveillance might appear, as searches. fect at the time, surveillance was a well as a proposal for organizing the The main pillars of the operative type of counterintelligence activity surveillance. Aft er the plan’s approv- activity of the Surveillance Directo- based on the gathering of informa- al, the surveillance group was put to- rate, the surveillance sections, div- tion on people, items, subjects and gether, led by the chief of the opera- vied up their tasks, shadowing both places that were of interest to spe- tion.

52 Behind the Iron Curtain

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:52 3/12/09 4:29:48 PM Alena Hromádková (operation “Ali”) photographed emerging onto Vinohradská Street from the Flora metro station on January 5, 1984. Source: Security Services Archive

In the corresponding archival col- signed as a travelling exhibition, with lection of the Security Services Ar- the expectation that audiences around chive, thousands if not tens of thou- Europe as well as other continents will sands of photographs and negatives have the opportunity to view it over taken in a host of operations remain the course of the year. as enclosures to the 7,693 preserved In connection with this project, this fi les. These photographs serve not spring the Institute for the Study of only as mute witnesses to the lev- Totalitarian Regimes is issuing a book elled-out environment of totalitarian that features a more comprehensive society and to the surveilled “sub- selection of these photographs as well jects” – a violation of their individual as introductory texts addressing the rights – but also as a distinct testi- nature of their origin and related mony to their anonymous authors. technical details. Prague Through the A unique selection of these photo- Lens of the Secret Police – a bi-lingual graphs will be on public display for Czech-English publication with a col- the fi rst time this April in the build- lection of more than 200 pages of pho- ing of the Permanent Representation tographs taken by the State Security of the Czech Republic to the European Service from 1969 until 1989 – is avail- Union in Brussels, in an exhibition or- able at the Institute for the Study of ganized jointly by the Institute for the Totalitarian Regimes’ Ján Langoš Li- Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Secu- brary (www.ustrcr.cz/cs/knihovna-ja- rity Services Archive and the Perma- na-langose) or at select bookstores in nent Representation of the Czech Re- the Czech Republic, and internation- Alena Hromádková and the “contact” RITA public to the in Brus- ally at www.kosmas.cz. (left ), identifi ed as Taťána Holečková, cap- sels. While the exhibition “Orwell in tured on fi lm during a meeting at a pas- Photographs” opens April 9 in Brus- This article is based on introductory sage at Karlovo náměstí on February 10, sels, where it will be on display for the exhibition texts prepared by authors Pavel 1984. Source: Security Services Archive duration of the month, it has been de- Žáček and Anna Pavlíková.

Behind the Iron Curtain 53

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:53 3/12/09 4:29:48 PM Remembering Those Who Defi ed Totalitarian Terror

Upcoming international conference looks at tradition of anti-communist resistance and opposition in Czechoslovakia and Central Europe.

On the occasion of the Czech presiden- 2) CZECH AND SLOVAK OPPOSITION cy of the EU Council, the Institute for TO THE COMMUNIST REGIME the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in The aim of this panel is to discuss and cooperation with the government of the elucidate the numerous forms of civic Czech Republic is organizing a two-day opposition that manifested themselves international conference on the subject during the relevant era which were of active armed resistance and civic op- meant to undermine the authority of position to communist rule in Czecho- the socialist administration and to slovakia and Central Europe. The con- weaken the position of the Commu- ference takes place in Prague in April nist Party in Czechoslovakia. This in- 2009 and will be offi cially launched by cluded the publication of pamphlets, the Czech prime minister Mirek samizdat literature, religious and Topolánek. Martin Vadas’s fi lm Land Church-sponsored activities as well without Heroes, Land without Criminals as public protests against the policies will be screened at the event, which of the communist regime, etc. will also be attended by people who lived through the communist era. 3) CZECHOSLOVAK RESISTANCE The conference will be conducted ABROAD AND RESISTANCE IN in English, Czech and Polish. Discus- INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES sions will take place in three concur- This panel will concentrate on the slovak Socialist Republic (e.g. the rent panels: activities of Czechoslovak émigrés Council of Free Czechoslovakia, Ra- beyond the borders of the Czecho- dio Free Europe, the Voice of Amer- 1) CZECH AND SLOVAK RESISTANCE ica, etc.). In addition to this, it will TO THE COMMUNIST REGIME also look at operations carried out This panel will emphasize the tradi- by Western intelligence services be- tion of active resistance in the Czech yond Czechoslovakia’s borders as lands aft er 1948 and highlight the role well as the activities of Czechoslo- played by those directly involved in this vak citizens who joined foreign ar- activity. Topics covered will include the mies with the intention of helping preparation of anti-communist plots to overthrow the communist regime aimed at forcibly overthrowing the so- in their country. This conference sec- cialist regime, the stockpiling of weap- tion will also focus on other anti- ons with a view to preparing anti-gov- communist resistance activities in ernment operations, the preparation Miloslav Choc (right, born on Jan. 19, the so-called “people’s democracies” of political programs that were meant 1925), a student expelled aft er February of the . to be implemented aft er the fall of the 1948, lived in an exile camp in Regens- The discussions will revolve around communist administration, the activ- burg from March 26, 1948 to April 25, the various types and forms of oppo- ities of foreign intelligence services in 1948. He returned to Czechoslovakia il- sition and resistance to communism Czechoslovakia, and the crucial role legally with resistance and courier as- in Central Europe during the 1940s played by cross-border agents or “cou- signments. On May 27, 1948, he alleg- and 1950s. It is assumed that all those riers.” The panel will also look at ac- edly assassinated Augustin Schramm, participating in the conference shall tions taken against Communist Party an offi cial of the Communist Party’s Cen- jointly prepare an introductory state- offi cials in Czechoslovakia and those tral Committee. Choc was sentenced to ment and closing summaries. who supported its policies. Other sub- death on November 25, 1948 and exe- jects covered by this part of the con- cuted on February 19, 1949. The photo- Resistance and Opposition against the ference will include the publication and graph is from the assassination recon- Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia and distribution of illegal, subversive ma- struction staged by the StB. Central Europe will be held in Prague, terial. Source: Security Services Archive Czech Republic on April 15-16, 2009

54 Behind the Iron Curtain

47-54 section3.indd Sec1:54 3/12/09 4:29:50 PM 1 Politických věznů 20 (called Bredovská 8 Staroměstské náměstí: Communist 10 Vinohradská Street: Czech Radio building. until 1946): Petschek Palace Headquarters of leader Klement Gottwald made his speech The site which sparked the Prague Uprising at the Gestapo during WWII, where thousands of from the square’s Kinský Palace balcony at the the end of WWII. Broadcasts of Czech music and suspects were subjected to questioning and start of the 1948 political crisis on February commentary started on the morning of May 5, torture. 21, announcing his goal of a Communist-led with a bloody struggle for the building erupting government. President Edvard Beneš’ decision when German forces tried to restore control. 2 Bartolomějská 4: An address which to accept the resignation of non-communist Also the focal point for clashes following the became synonymous with Communist ministers and a new Communist dominated Warsaw Pact invasion of repression. As the Prague and regional government four days later spelled the end of Czechoslovakia in 1968. headquarters of the State Security Service, democracy and the start of more than 40 years the StB, it was often the fi rst port of call for of communist dictatorship. 11 Václavské náměstí 36: The Melantrich questioning of regime opponents. The complex building, named after the publishing house of police buildings was also one of the centers 9 Národní třída: The scene of the clashes which used to occupy it, and now partly oc- of resistance at the start of the Prague between students and security forces on cupied by Marks and Spencer, was the scene uprising at the end of WWII. November 17, 1989, that sparked the “Velvet of dissident Václav Havel’s balcony address to Revolution” and the rapid collapse of the the mass of protesters in the square below on 3 Letná Plain: All that is now left of the Communist regime. A memorial can be found November 20, 1989 – one of the landmarks of towering Stalin Monument monument on just before the junction with Mikulandská, the the Velvet Revolution. Letná Plain that dominated Prague are the site where today candles are lit and wreaths foundations and an underground complex. laid on the anniversary, now a state holiday. 12 Nábřeží Ludvika Svobody (formerly Unveiled on May 1, 1955, the 15-meter plinth Nábreží Kyjevské brigády): The site of the 0.5 KILOMETER and 15.5-meter fi gures were at the time the current Ministry of Transport and Czech biggest tribute to Stalin in the world. It’s 0.5 MILE Railways was previously the site of the Central creator, the sculptor Otakar Švec, committed Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist suicide a few weeks before the ceremony and 3 Party. It was here that on August 21, 1968, the work, nicknamed “the meat queue” by Soviet special forces and some Czechoslovak locals because of the series of fi gures lining up security forces captured Party First Secretary behind Stalin, was blown up with dynamite Alexander Dubček and other Prague Spring just over seven years later following the leaders. denunciation of Stalin’s cult of personality. NÁBŘEŽÍ ČECHŮV LUDVÍKA SVOBODY MOST 12 4 Pankrác Prison: The existing prison complex was quickly put to use during the German occupation before and during WWII. REVOLUČNÍ At fi rst the German administration was forced to send prisoners elsewhere for execution, but from April 1943, it set up an onsite execution KAPROVA complex including a guillotine. From that date until April 26, 1945, 1,087 people were MÁNESŮV MOST executed, according to the prison. During the 1950s, the prison was the main site for the execution of political prisoners, 8 including Milada Horáková, and top STAROMĚSTSKÉ communists judged in show trials, such as NÁMĚSTÍ CELETNÁ party secretary Rudolf Slánský. A memorial KARLŮV MOS has been erected at the subsequent execution (CHARLES BRIDGE)T F site behind the hospital building. SIGNIFICANTA LOCATIONS F OF 20th CENTURY PRAGUE 5 Resslova Street: Church of St. Cyril and

Í Methodius. The site where members of the Ž E

Ř Czechoslovak parachutist unit which assas- B Á NA POLITICKÝC N sinated top Nazi Reinhard Heydrich were PER O

V Š TÝNĚ cornered and eventually committed suicide O H

N VĚZŇŮ A A TOLOMĚJSKÁ V on June 17, 1942. T R O E BA 2 N

M O

S S 1 IL 6 Vinohradská 1: Until recently, the head- VÁCLA W NÁRODNÍ 9 11 quarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, VSKÉ and formerly the site of the Czechoslovak NÁMĚSTÍ Federal Assembly building. 6

M 7

7 Václavské náměsti: Site by the National A V S IN A OH Museum where student Jan Palach set fi re R RA Y DS K KÁ

to himself on January 1969 to protest the O V

Vltava O 10

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.

N Á

Fellow student Jan Zajíc followed Palach’s B

Ř E

example just over a month later at the Ž ŽITNÁ Í entrance of a building, number 35, about half 4 way up the square. 5 JEČNÁ V MOST RESSLOVA JIRÁSKŮ O NÁMĚSTÍ

KARLOV

3 obalka.indd 1 3/12/09 4:30:29 PM Contacts

Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes Security Services Archive

Siwiecova 2 Siwiecova 2 130 00 Prague 3 130 00 Prague 3 Czech Republic Czech Republic Postal Address: P.O.BOX 17, 110 06 Prague 1 Postal Address: P.O.BOX 17, 110 06 Prague 1 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Spokesperson: Jiří Reichl Phone: +420 221 008 271 Operator Operator Mobile: +420 725 787 524 Phone: +420 221 008 211, +420 221 008 212 Phone: +420 221 008 211, +420 221 008 212 E-mail: [email protected] Offi ce of the Institute Offi ce of the Archive Phone: +420 221 008 274, +420 221 008 322 Phone: + 420 221 008 277 Fax: +420 222 715 738 Fax: + 420 222 718 944 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

The Institute and Archive’s headquarters building in Prague’s Žižkov district.

4 obalka.indd 1 3/12/09 4:30:18 PM