Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

ple’s Militia was established: these were armed units, which were not supposed to have a place
in democratic systems. These units were right under the direct command of the Communist
Party and its main commander was the General Secretary of the Party. Their munitions were
stored right in the industrial organizations. The one-hour general strike to support Gottwald
happened on February 24. The Prime Minister Gottwald, with his cabinet, refused to resign.
Two Social Democrats and two independent Ministers named Jan Masaryk 7 and Ludvík Svoboda
8 stayed. Gottwald offered to President Beneš that he would fill the missing positions in his
cabinet with members of other parties whose Ministers resigned recently. President Beneš did
not have a clue though, that the Communists had their fellows in these parties as well. Three
parties on the left were relying on the final word of the President to solve this government
crisis. However, President Beneš gave in to the suggestion of Gottwald. Right after the Presidential
signature, Klement Gottwald came to Wenceslas Square where he presented on a stage
to thousands of supporters and said, “I am just coming back from the castle, from the President
of the state. This morning I gave him the suggestions to accept the resignations of several
Ministers who resigned February 20 and at the same time I also recommended to him a list of
people who should replace them and help reconstruct the government. I can tell you that the
President accepted all of my suggestions exactly the way they were put to him.” During this
February revolution the Communist Party opened its way to the full control of the state 9 .
The chasing and locking up of political protestors now started. Many of the soldiers who
fought in the West, politicians, priests, nuns, businessmen, but also farmers and workers were
disappearing behind the gates of prisons and working camps. With internment they were also
punishing people without due process. Many thousands of men and women were forced to
work in forced labor camps for years without charging them with a crime. To get into the forced
labor camp one did not have to commit a crime, suspicion was reason enough to send one preventively
into the forced labor camp. Some of the reasons people were put into the camps include,
“…having contacts abroad, his sister is Austrian, doesn’t have a positive attitude toward
the regime, listening to the foreign radio, didn’t agree to nationalization, was spreading false
messages, owned a luxurious residence, in touch with stockholders, he is a gambler, he is avoiding
work, wife was against nationalization, …” Any one could be sent to the forced labor camps
between 18 and 60 years for a time of 3 months up to 2 years. Many Communists in function
used this as retaliation not just against their political enemies, but other people as well.
Searching for the enemy, political processes in Czechoslovakia
As of 1948 the big wheel of various political processes started spinning. These were also
called, “Monster Trials,” and they were with political elites, clergymen, but also with party
7 Jan Masaryk (1886 – 1948) was a son of the first Czechoslovakian President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. In 1925 –1938 he
was an Ambassador in England, he was a Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Government in exile. After the war he had
the same position. He died on March 10, 1948 of strained circumstances. There are three theories about his death – it was
a murder (he was thrown out of a window), he committed suicide (he jumped out of a window) or the third version is
that he was escaping from his apartment (where enemies were at that moment) and he was climbing on the window sill
and fell down.
8 Ludvík Svoboda (1895 – 1979) was an army general, in 1945 he was a Minister of Defense as an independent and in 1968
he was elected as the Czechoslovakian President.
9 There are various opinions on the situation in February 1948. One says it was just a formal finish to a longterm process
that was directed from the U.S.S.R. that started already during WWII, continuing in the years 1945 – 1947. The Government
crisis was just a catalyst that made things quicker. Results would happen anyways.
Czechoslovak Political Prisoners 11