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Czech HistoryDetective Karel Kalivoda – the Maigret of Prague
In this edition of Czech History, we look at the life of Karel Kalivoda,
one of the most successful and famous Czech police detectives of the 20th
century. A self-made man in principle, Karel Kalivoda worked his way up
from ordinary rank and file to the head of Prague’s criminal police. He
made a number of compromises to get there – but he always retained a
degree of integrity unusual for the time and place. More
Current AffairsTop court cancels 1973 verdict that sent four writers to jail for anti-Soviet song
The Czech Supreme Court cancelled on Wednesday a 37-year-old verdict of a
communist court which sent four young writers to jail for defamation of the
Soviet Union and public disturbance. The four men, who spent up to a year
in prison, got into trouble in the summer of 1973 in a Prague pub – when
they sang an old song with slightly innovated lyrics. More
Czech HistoryThe rise and fall of the cross border agent
In this week’s Czech History we look at the phenomenon of cross border
agents, people employed by Western intelligence services to cross the
frontier during the early days of the Czechoslovak communist regime to
gather information, create networks and bring back chosen individuals. Some
crossed the border many times, some were caught on the first attempt. For
some the transient phenomenon helped launch them onto a new life, for
others heroic, and not so heroic acts, ended with treachery, death and long
terms of imprisonment. More
Current AffairsGovernment plans to slash communist security officers’ pensions, increase those of dissidents
The Czech government wants to correct some of the injustices inherited from
the communist regime. Twenty years after the fall of communism, coalition
leaders agreed to a plan to slash the retirement benefits of former
communist security service officers and high ranking Communist party
officials. The funds should be used to increase the pensions of opponents
of the former regime. More
MagazineMagazine
Last week was the time to check out Prague’s ghosts, lovers of good food
are having a ball, and set your own price: a café owner finds a way to
drum up business. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova. More
Current AffairsNewly uncovered footage shows how Communists wanted to depict events of ‘89
Historians at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes have
announced they recently uncovered previously unknown video footage in the
archives on the events of 1989. Footage shot – and heavily manipulated -
by the former regime’s secret police, the StB. Carefully presented images
and a propagandistic voice-over in the “documentary” were meant to give
a diametrically different picture of public demonstrations which shook the
country 21 years ago, suggesting they were a provocation and a sham.
Swiftly overcome by events, though, the Communists soon shelved the
material, and it was subsequently forgotten.
More
Current AffairsHistorians, police sceptical over ‘StB plot’ explanation for 1984 gas explosion
The authorities have examining claims by a former intelligence agent that a
fatal explosion in 1984 was the work of the communist secret police, the
StB. Twelve people died when a gas mains exploded in the town of Třinec.
The agent claims the whole thing was a secret police plot aimed at
discrediting dissidents around Václav Havel, but historians and police are
sceptical.
More
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