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Josef Smrkovský as a Victim of Persecution in the Fifties
Novotný, Jindřich ; Koura, Petr (advisor) ; Pokorný, Jiří (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with one phase of Josef Smrkovský's life between 1945-1963. After WW II and his engagement in the Prague Uprising, he was an eminent communist politician who possessed considerable power in the agrarian policy. However, he was arrested in 1951, became a victim of political trials and was sentenced to jail. He was later released due to the order of a rehabilitation committee, but he was not fully rehabilitated. The thesis examines and compares primary sources on Smrkovský's trial, describing methods of the State Secret Police such as surveillance, interrogations and both physical and psychological violence. Reports of Smrkovský's cellmates are also commented on. The thesis concludes with the analysis of rehabilitation committees and the effort of Smrkovský to clear himself. He re-entered political life at the beginning of the sixties. KEYWORDS Josef Smrkovský, politics, persecution, the fifties, The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, State Secret Police, rehabilitation
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