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One on OneJiri Jes - veteran broadcaster looks back on Czechoslovakia's dark century
My guest on this week's One on One is Jiri Jes, a journalist and
broadcaster who still appears regularly on Czech Radio at the age of 80.
Prevented from writing during the Communist era, Jiri Jes began his
journalist career in the early 1990s, when he was already in his sixties.
When I met Jiri on a snowy Sunday afternoon in Prague's Bila Hora
district, I began by asking him for his memories of childhood in pre-war
Czechoslovakia.
More
Current AffairsUnion of Communist Youth face ban for advocating workers' revolution
The Czech Communist Party has been slowly regaining respectability in
recent years. It is the third biggest force in the Chamber of Deputies,
with around 15 percent voter support. But while the Communists seem to be
going strong, the party's youth wing could soon find itself outlawed.
What's more, the Union of Communist Youth say they are prepared to ignore
any ban and continue illegally.
More
PanoramaFrantisek Zahradka - from boyscout to 'class enemy' and a lifetime underground
Political prisoners had been forced to work the mines of Czechoslovakia
long before the Communists seized power in the "bloodless" coup
of February 1948. Under the direction of the hard-line Stalinist leader
Klement Gottwald, however, securing workers to unearth weapons-grade
uranium became policy; a top priority. The camps served two purposes: a
way to purge the land of "class enemies" and to build up the
atomic arsenal of the Soviet Union, when few could have guessed the
ideological
war with the West would remain a "cold" one. More
Current AffairsCzech WWII resistance fighters' remains may still be in use at German medical faculties
The corpses of some of Czechoslovakia's most celebrated war heroes may be
serving as models in anatomy classes in Germany and Austria to this day.
Thousands of political prisoners were murdered at the Ploetzensee
detention and execution centre outside Berlin during WWII. Among them were
nearly seven hundred Czech and Slovak resistance fighters, whose bodies
were immediately sent on to medical universities and institutions within
the Third Reich. 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
Current AffairsDiscontent on streets as Czechs remember November 17th 1989
Czechs and Slovaks marked the 16th anniversary of the start of the 1989
Velvet Revolution on Thursday, a time when people remember the overthrow
of Communist rule and reflect on the changes that have swept society since
then. But discontent is growing with the current political situation, and
that discontent was reflected in the mood on the streets of Prague. Radio
Prague's Rob Cameron has this report.
More
Current AffairsPM Jiri Paroubek: Communists no threat to democracy
Views expressed by politicians and participants of the gatherings in the
streets of Prague on Thursday do not necessarily reflect the overall mood
in Czech society. The Communist Party is the third strongest party in the
Czech Republic, a cause for alarm for some. For his part, the Czech Prime
Minister, Jiri Paroubek, has said the Communists are not a threat at all.
More
Current AffairsBarbara Masin tells the story of her family's fight against dictatorship
"The greatest story of the Cold War" - that's how the story of
the Masin brothers who shot their way out of Czechoslovakia in the 1950s
is often described. The sons of a Czech WWII hero decided to fight the
Communists the way their father fought the Nazis, and in 1953 they escaped
from Czechoslovakia to West Berlin. Two of their friends did not make it
and the group shot six people during and before their escape. More than
fifty years on, the story still provokes controversy in the Czech
Republic. The debate is no doubt going to be rekindled by a newly
published book called "The Testament" by the daughter of one of
the Masin brothers, Barbara, who presented it this week in Prague. More
Current AffairsSixteen years after Velvet Revolution few communist relics remain
Sixteen years ago this week 40 years of communism in Czechoslovakia
dramatically
came to an end, rapidly dismantled by massive public protests in the city
streets. Almost overnight, the old structures collapsed and with it the
symbols of a decayed system: countless red stars, party banners, statues
of revolutionaries, and 'eternal' monuments to the country's communist
presidents - were carted off to unknown 'graveyards' - usually the
dustbin. More
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