297:
362:
604:, and which was later published in English). According to Bilík, Rudolf Slánský allegedly discovered that his daughter had been abducted by the wife of a high-ranking Soviet official, and was said to be too intimidated by the power of such people in the Soviet system to try and retrieve his daughter. This apparently fourth hand account is published online at
315:, Slánský became the second most powerful man in the country after Gottwald. At that point Slánský was blamed for economic and industrial troubles, costing him popular support. But he was also awarded the Order of Socialism, a top decoration, on 30 July 1951. Publication was planned for a book of his speeches in support of socialism, to be titled
337:
of
Yugoslavia broke with him, Stalin decided to "purge" the Communist parties of the satellite countries of the Soviet Union in order to deter any further revolts against his rule. Most historians think that, fearing arrest and death, President Gottwald of Czechoslovakia decided to sacrifice his best
373:
Other historians, though, say that the rivalry between Slánský and
Gottwald escalated after the 1948 coup. Slánský began consolidating his power within the party secretariat and placing more of his party supporters in governmental positions, encroaching on Gottwald's position as president after the
251:
In 1943 in Moscow, Slánský's infant daughter, Naďa (Nadia), was forcibly abducted from her baby carriage by a woman. The infant was in the company of her eight-year-old brother, Rudolf, who put up resistance. The woman revealed details about their mother, Mrs. Slánská, including her job with Radio
439:
Slánský was the most powerful politician to be executed during the rule of the
Communist Party in Czechoslovakia and under the influence of Stalinism. Afterwards the treatment of leaders who had fallen out of favour with the government was more moderate; they were stripped of power and ordered to
216:
From 1929 to 1935, Slánský lived in hiding due to the illegal status of the
Communist Party. In 1935, after the party was allowed to participate in politics, both he and Gottwald were elected to the National Assembly. Their gains were halted, however, when Czechoslovakia was carved up at the
338:
friend, Rudolf Slánský, in order to save himself. On
November 24, 1951, at 1 a.m. Slánský was arrested and imprisoned. During the following year he was tortured into confessing his "crimes". Bedřich Geminder and Jarmila Taussigová were also arrested the same day. Official
369:
Some historians say that Stalin desired complete obedience from leaders of the so-called "People's
Democracies" (that is, Eastern bloc countries), as well as at home. He threatened to conduct "purges" of the "nationalistic communists".
252:
Moscow. Neither Nadia nor the perpetrators were ever found. In her 1969 memoir, Josefa Slánská, Slánský's widow, recounted that written inquiries were made to the police and to Stalin himself, all of which went unanswered.
1016:
374:
resignation of Beneš. Stalin backed
Gottwald because he was believed to have a better chance of building up the Czechoslovak economy into a position where it could start producing useful goods for the Soviet Union.
1026:
349:
Party rhetoric asserted that Slánský was spying as part of an international western capitalist conspiracy to undermine socialism and that punishing him would avenge the Nazi murders of Czech communists
1041:
428:
Reflecting changes in
Czechoslovakia, in April 1963 Slánský and other victims of the purge trials were cleared under the penal code. They were fully rehabilitated and exonerated in May 1968. After the
1061:
248:
against the
Germans during the winter of 1941–42. His experience in Moscow brought him into contact with Soviet Communists and the often brutal methods they favored for maintaining party discipline.
1036:
389:. Slánský and his allies were also opposed by old-time party members, the government, and the party's Political Bureau. In prison after his arrest, Slánský was tortured and he attempted
1031:
1046:
31:
526:
In the West prior to 1990, the "Communist countries" east of
Germany, Austria, and Italy, and west of the Soviet Union, were collectively known as "Eastern Europe".
1071:
255:
While in exile in the Soviet Union, Slánský also organized Czechoslovak army units. He returned with them to Czechoslovakia in 1944 to participate in the
166:
in November 1952, charged with high treason. After eight days, 11 of the 14 were convicted and sentenced to death. Slánský was executed five days later.
277:, Slánský and other Czechoslovak leaders returned from exile in London and Moscow, holding meetings to organize the new National Front government under
597:
853:
946:
916:
885:
213:. At the Fifth Party Congress in 1929, Slánský was named a member of the party Presidium and the Politburo, and Gottwald became General Secretary.
872:
151:, the latter instigated a wave of "purges" of the respective Communist Party leaderships, to prevent more splits between the Soviet Union and its
1021:
834:
788:
1011:
1006:
201:, the capital, where he discovered a leftist intellectual scene in institutions such as the Marxist Club. In 1921, Slánský joined the
600:
recounted another version (which Bilík claimed to have been told in prison by Evžen Löbl (Eugen Loebl), a co-defendant in the future
159:" countries. In Czechoslovakia, Slánský was one of 14 leaders arrested in 1951, tortured into confessing their "crimes", and put on
1086:
312:
268:
1051:
396:
The trial of the 14 national leaders began on 20 November 1952, in the Senate of the State Court, with the prosecutor being
536:
404:
of the late 1930s, the defendants admitted guilt in court and requested a death sentence. Slánský was found guilty of "
289:
of the Communist Party. He was the number two man in the party behind party chairman Gottwald, who became leader of a
975:
757:
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689:
670:
282:
202:
110:
970:
781:
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355:
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206:
229:
in October 1938, Slánský, along with much of the rest of the Czechoslovak communist leadership, fled to the
420:
on 3 December 1952. His body was cremated, and the ashes were scattered on an icy road outside of Prague.
774:
296:
1076:
605:
382:
301:
847:
489:
256:
300:
Meeting of the Central Committee of the KSŠ (1948); from left Marie Švermová, Slánský, Gottwald,
565:
179:
494:
378:
140:
828:
1001:
996:
436:, appointed Slánský's son, also named Rudolf, as the Czech ambassador to the Soviet Union.
290:
8:
1081:
136:, he was one of the leading creators and organizers of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
866:
858:
951:
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449:
401:
328:
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218:
129:
106:
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904:
709:
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464:
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245:
210:
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454:
397:
722:
Wash., D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars ("Wilson Center").
334:
156:
144:
55:
433:
305:
278:
910:
839:
646:
From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern Europe Since 1945
474:
152:
88:
77:
416:
activities in the service of American imperialism." He was publicly hanged at
990:
704:
553:
Rudolf Slansky, former secretary general of the Czecho slovak Communist party
148:
940:
351:
175:
51:
898:
606:
Paměť národa (Website), including the sound recording of Bilík's narration.
469:
361:
274:
241:
230:
222:
133:
566:"Rudolf Slánský – nezvěstický rodák – Nezvěstice – oficiální stránky obce"
1017:
Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
386:
226:
209:. He rose within the party and became a senior lieutenant of its leader,
194:
766:
699:
405:
183:
160:
125:
928:
499:
122:
713:
346:. Stalin was intent on keeping power in the Eastern bloc countries.
385:, both populists, tarred Slánský with charges of belonging to the
187:
1062:
People executed by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic by hanging
413:
409:
390:
343:
1027:
Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939)
237:
198:
73:
1042:
Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1948–1954)
1037:
Members of the Constituent National Assembly of Czechoslovakia
725:
Cold War International History Project] Working Papers; 50.
339:
1032:
Members of the Interim National Assembly of Czechoslovakia
30:
731:
Reflections of Prague: Journeys through the 20th century
311:
In 1948, after the Communist Party seized power in the
377:
Slánský was thought to be weakened by his image as a "
240:, Slánský worked on broadcasts to Czechoslovakia over
121:(31 July 1901 – 3 December 1952) was a leading Czech
1047:
People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union
186:and conservative. He attended secondary school in
635:, John Murray (Publishers), London, 2003, page 191
988:
621:. Ohio State University Press. pp. 146–147.
588:Slánská, Josefa 1969: 121–125, cited at Lukeš: 7
1072:Czechoslovak Socialist Republic rehabilitations
747:
728:
262:
782:
682:Report on the Murder of the General Secretary
679:
660:
619:Report on the Murder of the General Secretary
789:
775:
29:
631:Brent, Jonathan and Naumov, Vladimir P.,
796:
360:
295:
700:The Rudolf Slansky Affair: New Evidence
1022:Government ministers of Czechoslovakia
989:
616:
537:"Czech Party Again Ousts Mrs. Slansky"
770:
720:Rudolf Slansky: his trials and trial.
285:in March 1946, Slánský was chosen as
281:. At the 8th Party Congress of the
13:
1012:People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
718:Lukes, Igor. No date (post 2001).
400:. It lasted eight days. As in the
365:Slánský speaking during the trials
128:. Holding the post of the party's
14:
1098:
976:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
684:. London: I. B. Tauris & Co.
617:Kaplan, Karel (January 1, 1990).
203:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
111:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
16:Czechoslovak communist politician
971:Antisemitism in the Soviet Union
381:" figure. Gottwald and his ally
317:Towards the Victory of Socialism
293:after elections held that year.
269:Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
1007:People from Plzeň-City District
708:, Spring 1999, 58(1): 160-187.
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283:Czechoslovakian Communist Party
638:
625:
610:
591:
582:
558:
529:
520:
511:
1:
654:
169:
1052:Executed Czechoslovak people
342:rhetoric had turned against
205:when it broke away from the
7:
443:
432:of 1989, the new president
263:Power in the postwar period
190:at the Commercial Academy.
10:
1103:
326:
266:
963:
821:
805:
665:. USA: Ballantine Books.
102:
94:
84:
62:
37:
28:
21:
1087:Slánský trial defendants
748:Slánská, Josefa (1969).
729:Margolius, Ivan (2006).
505:
490:History of anti-Semitism
322:
257:Slovak National Uprising
244:. He lived through the
207:Social Democratic Party
182:. Slánský's family was
752:. London: Hutchinson.
680:Kaplan, Karel (1990).
661:London, Artur (1971).
366:
308:
1067:Executed Czech people
495:Eastern Bloc politics
364:
358:during World War II.
299:
1057:Executed politicians
750:Report On My Husband
291:coalition government
919:(life imprisonment)
901:(life imprisonment)
895:(life imprisonment)
882:(life imprisonment)
698:Lukes, Igor. 1999.
633:Stalin's Last Crime
517:Lukes 1999: 161–162
180:Plzeň-City District
829:Vladimír Clementis
543:. 28 December 1970
541:The New York Times
402:Moscow show trials
367:
309:
1077:Jewish socialists
984:
983:
733:. London: Wiley.
570:www.nezvestice.cz
430:Velvet Revolution
383:Antonín Zápotocký
302:Antonín Zápotocký
287:General Secretary
246:defense of Moscow
219:Munich Conference
193:After the end of
130:General Secretary
116:
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107:General Secretary
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905:Rudolf Margolius
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867:Bedřich Geminder
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648:. 1996, page 66.
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465:Rudolf Margolius
460:Klement Gottwald
211:Klement Gottwald
153:Central European
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335:Josip Broz Tito
333:In 1951, after
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273:In 1945, after
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221:in 1938. After
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145:Josip Broz Tito
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66:3 December 1952
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103:Known for
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70:(aged 51)
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23:Rudolf Slánský
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813:Josef Urválek
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149:Joseph Stalin
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913:(imprisoned)
899:Artur London
749:
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681:
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612:
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573:. Retrieved
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545:. Retrieved
540:
531:
522:
513:
470:Artur London
438:
434:Václav Havel
427:
424:Posthumously
395:
379:cosmopolitan
376:
372:
368:
356:Julius Fučík
348:
332:
316:
310:
306:Václav Nosek
279:Edvard Beneš
275:World War II
272:
254:
250:
242:Radio Moscow
235:
231:Soviet Union
223:Nazi Germany
215:
192:
173:
163:
138:
134:World War II
118:
117:
68:(1952-12-03)
48:31 July 1901
1002:1952 deaths
997:1901 births
950: [
889: [
876: [
873:Vavro Hajdů
857: [
848:Josef Frank
838: [
835:Otto Fischl
806:Prosecution
598:Ignác Bilík
480:László Rajk
387:bourgeoisie
227:Sudetenland
195:World War I
85:Nationality
1082:Czech Jews
991:Categories
956:(executed)
947:Karel Šváb
943:(executed)
941:Otto Šling
937:(executed)
931:(executed)
925:(executed)
907:(executed)
886:Evžen Löbl
869:(executed)
863:(executed)
850:(executed)
844:(executed)
831:(executed)
822:Defendants
663:Confession
655:References
575:2023-02-25
406:Trotskyite
352:Jan Šverma
176:Nezvěstice
170:Early life
161:show trial
126:politician
98:Politician
95:Occupation
52:Nezvěstice
44:1901-07-31
929:Otto Katz
500:Hotel Lux
178:, now in
157:satellite
141:the split
123:Communist
444:See also
440:retire.
174:Born at
164:en masse
143:between
964:Related
547:9 March
414:Zionist
410:Titoist
391:suicide
344:Zionism
109:of the
800:(1952)
756:
737:
688:
669:
238:Moscow
199:Prague
184:Jewish
139:After
132:after
74:Prague
954:]
893:]
880:]
861:]
842:]
506:Notes
323:Trial
188:Plzeň
754:ISBN
735:ISBN
686:ISBN
667:ISBN
549:2019
354:and
340:USSR
147:and
63:Died
38:Born
710:doi
236:In
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