Justice in History

Show Time: The Trial of Rudolf Slansky

On the night of July 31, 1951, Rudolf Slansky–general secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC) and the second most powerful man in Prague—left his 50th birthday party, and headed home, a frightened man. Outwardly, nothing was wrong. The CPC had celebrated the day in style. The communist president, Klement Gottwald, presented to Slansky the medal of the Order of Socialism, the highest honor awarded in Czechoslovakia. Telegrams of congratulations poured in from all over the country. But the huge stack of congratulatory telegrams contained no greeting from Stalin. Slansky knew he was in trouble.

Taking It Further

• Lukes, Igor. "The Rudolf Slansky Affair: New Evidence." Slavic Review 58, 1 (Spring 1999): 160–187. Illuminating study of the role of Cold War intrigue in determining Slansky 's fate.
  
  
• Kaplan, Karel. Report on the Murder of the General Secretary. 1990. Kaplan emigrated from Czechoslovakia to West Germany in the late 1970s, with a stack of hidden documents, and wrote this report.
  
  
• http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/chunter/show_trials.html
  Academic investigation of show trials and their power of persuasion.
  
  
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDslansky.htm
  More on the life and times of Rudolf Slansky.