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Current Affairs1950s trial of "Czech kulak" subject of new radio documentary
Show trials featuring trumped up charges and fabricated confessions remain
one of the strongest symbols of Communist state repression throughout the
former Eastern Bloc. Czechoslovakia's most infamous show trials involved
senior Communist Rudolf Slansky and resistance leader Milada Horakova,
both of whom were given the death penalty. But not all defendants were so
high-profile: a newly discovered recording reflects Communist Party
efforts to use the courts to crush a whole class - relatively wealthy
farmers. More
Current AffairsNational Archive analysing new Milada Horakova documents
The National Archive in Prague recently received new material donated by
Jana Kanska, the daughter of Milada Horakova, the Czech resistance
movement hero in World War II found guilty on trumped-up charges of
treason and plotting to overthrow the government by Czechoslovakia's
Communist regime after the war. Famously, she showed tremendous courage
and calm during a preposterous show-trial that, in the end saw her
sentenced to death. Recent years have seen renewed historic interest in
Milada Horakova's life, and with new material donated by her daughter who
lives in the US, Jan Velinger was interested in learning more. He dropped
by the National Archive just a few days ago. More
Current AffairsCzech Radio uncovers long-lost audio from Milada Horakova's trial
The sentencing to death of Czech MP Milada Horakova on trumped up charges
of treason at the height of the Stalinist regime in the 1950s will always
be one of the most painful and chilling moments in Czech history. A little
more than 55 years ago, she faced her show trial with calm and defiance,
refusing to be broken. Audio recordings - intended to be used by the
Communists for propaganda purposes - were mostly never aired, for the
large
part because for the Party's purposes, they were unusable. After Milada
Horakova's trial and execution, much of the material was subsequently
hidden away and and gradually forgotten. Until now. Not long ago, a
number of reels were uncovered by Czech Radio, dating back to the trial's
last
day. More
Letter from PragueRemembering a woman who was not for turning
It's fifty-five years ago this week that one of the most grotesque
show-trials in Stalinist Czechoslovakia began, a trial that exposed the
cruelty of the regime, but also revealed the true face of heroism.
More
Czechs in HistoryMilada Horakova
It's time now for this week's edition of Czechs in History, and this week Nick Carey takes a look at the life of Milada Horakova, who was executed by the Communist regime in 1950.
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