Officers, sentenced to death on trumped-up charges, honoured

A special ceremony was held in Prague 6 on Friday honouring Czechoslovak officers who were sentenced to death after 1948 by the former Communist regime. February 25 marks the 63 anniversary of the putsch that saw the Communists come to power in Czechoslovakia, which they held until 1989. In a speech, the head of the general staff, General Vlastimil Picek recalled the events of 1948 saying that few had anticipated the rise of a second totalitarian regime following the Nazi occupation. After the Communists assumed power in February 1948, more than half of Czechoslovakia’s officers were thrown out of the service, often forced into poorly-paid jobs. In the worst cases, officers were imprisoned to hard labour or were tried on trumped-up charges and murdered by the regime.

Author: Jan Velinger