Trudy Gold
Post 1945 Czechoslovakia and the Slansky Trial
Trudy Gold - Post 1945 Czechoslovakia and the Slansky Trial
- And now we get back to work. And as we finalise, really, this is the end of the Habsburg Empire, which all of us have been looking at. And now I want to look at what happened post-‘45 in Czechoslovakia. And just to give you a heads up, over Pesa, we’re going to call this a festival of freedom. And we are looking at various aspects of freedom. In then next term, it’s going to be Eastern Europe. And we’re going to be on that for about three months. And I’d like to thank all my colleagues for all the brilliant ideas they’ve had in putting this all together for you. So, let’s go back now to Czechoslovakia and 1945. The first part of Czechoslovakia to be liberated was in fact, Bratislava. The Red Army captures Bratislava on the 4th of April, 1945. It takes another month for the push through into Prague. But finally, Prague is liberated on the 10th of May, 1945 by the Red Army. The last few months of the war were, from the Jewish point of view, absolutely horrific. Of course, we’ve spent time looking at Czechoslovakia up to the war. And I want to tell you, we have looked to Theresienstadt, but that was about a year ago. So, it’s important, those of you who need it, once the website’s up, you’ll be able to look at it then. The numbers of victims in Bohemia and Moravia, 77,297 victims of the Nazis now inscribed on the scroll of life in the Pinkas Synagogue, those three synagogues that came together as a memorial. Never forget that what the Nazis wanted in their evil, racist design was to create Prague as a centre, the central museum for the extinguished Jewish race. They failed.
But on the other hand, the numbers were absolutely beyond horrific. And it must be said, the liberation of the Czech part and the liberation of the Slovakian part were of course very, very different. Slovakia had, of course, been an ally of the Nazis, and had paid the Nazis to take away their Jews, because not only was the regime violently anti-Semitic, but also the venality. By paying the Nazis 500 Deutsche marks for every Jew that was transported. It meant that, from then on, the Nazis had no claim over the Jewish property in Slovakia. It was either sold at a very low cost to Slovakians or given away to those who wanted their help. So, Slovakia, but then of course, the Czech part that was so ravaged by the war. And now the war is over and the Red Army is conquered. And what is the world going to be like post-war? The third Czech Republic comes into being in April '45, and it moves to Prague after the liberation on the 10th of May. The Czech government, in exile, of course, was in London. On the 14th of October, a new provisional national assembly voted. Now it’s important to remember, let’s try and look at the real politics of the situation. After the Munich agreement, when the Czech side had certainly been absolutely sold down the river, there was total disillusion for the West. And the communists did very well in the national committees, also in the trade unions, because it was the Red Army remember, that were seen as the liberators. And in the May elections of 1946, the communists won in the Czech part.
They took 40% of the vote. Whereas in Slovakia, it was the anti-communists who were far more successful. And now we come to a very, very difficult situation. Suffice to say that once the war was over, who was the real enemy of the West? And what was Stalin’s real intentions? Should we have a look at his picture, please, Judi? Of course, next term, when we look at Eastern Europe, I’ll be spending a lot more time with you on Josef Stalin. Now, Josef Stalin, a question you have to ask yourself, how much did the average person living in Eastern Europe really know about the horrors of the Stalinist regime? Never forget that, to many people, the Red Army was the liberator. The Soviets had suffered more than anyone else of those actually fighting. If you look at the numbers, as far as the Nazis were concerned, Slav life was absolutely nothing. And they had suffered so, so terribly, tragically. They were also to suffer tragically, terribly under their leader, Josef Stalin. But it’s important to remember that many of those characters who are going to emerge with power didn’t really get a full picture of what was going on in Stalin’s Russia. Now, in terms of the government of Czechoslovakia, how de-Nazified could it be? Bearing in mind that one had to rebuild a nation, Slovakia in particular, how many of those have been total collaborators? How many witch trials are we going to have?
So, I think it’s true to say that Eastern Europe any more than Germany, was it really de-Nazified? And this is an issue that I’m going to be… William has already talked about it in relation to Austria. And I’m going to talk about it later on in relation to Germany, because although the major war criminals were brought to justice, it’s estimated that 90% of those guilty of crimes against humanity were never really brought to justice. So, as far as the new government is concerned, Benes, who of course have headed up the government in exile in London, he is now the president. And Jan Masaryk, the son of Thomas, is the foreign minister. And even though the communist minority had taken control of many of the key positions within the government, internal trade, finance, and the interior, which also included the police apparatus. So, basically it’s still a semi-democratic country, still semi-democratic with a high percentage of communists in key positions. In the summer of 1947, in July, 1947, the Czech government accepted an Anglo-French invitation to attend preliminary discussions in France about the Marshall Plan. Now this of course, was the American plan to rebuild Europe at the end of the Second World War. It’s obvious that one of the reasons that the Second World War occurred was, because of the humiliating defeat of the Germans and their allies at the end of the First World War. And the Americans in particular, wanted to ensure that you’d never again have that complete poverty and horror that they believed could lead again to the rise of extremism. So, consequently, what the Americans wanted to do was to pump money into Europe. And would the Czechs be part of it? Now, what were Stalin’s aims? It’s very difficult to work oneself into the mind of Stalin anymore than it is of Putin.
Suffice to say there was a dream, the communist domino principle, that the states would eventually all fall to communism. So, what Stalin wants is Eastern Europe to become completely communist. One just has to think about Poland. When the Poles finally rose up against the Nazis, Stalin’s forces were the other side of the river. They allowed the Polish government in exile and its supporters to fight with the Nazis, because in the end, it meant that Josef Stalin could just roll in. So, his intentions were always, of course, to take it. Now, as a response to this invitation, the Soviet Union summoned Klement Gottwald, who was the leader of the Czech communists, to Moscow. And basically, the Communist Party, which has representatives in the government, but is not in control of the government, comes out against the Marshall aid plan. And then, this is when Stalin begins to plant his people in Prague. And they’re beginning to talk about a reactionary coup. This is going to be an inevitability.
And many of the organs of the police remember, and also the communist press about the importance… As I said before, many of the citizens of Prague saw the communists as liberators. So, consequently, there’s a groundswell of support for communism. And the communist press is now talking about a reactionary coup. And also, of course, in Slovakia, where the forces of reaction have not been quieted, there was this feeling that there could be a right wing takeover. Ironically, it’s at this stage that the Czech government begins to sell arms to the Haganah. But more about that later on, because that’s going to be a very important decision in terms of Jewish history. It’s at this stage that January, 1948, the communist controlled ministry of the interior begins to purge the Czech security forces. And the only minister who is not a communist and not a fellow traveller, in fact, is going to be Jan Masaryk. It’s at this stage that the Soviet deputy foreign minister, a man called Valerian Zorin, who had been Russia’s ambassador to Prague, '45 to '47, returned from Moscow to aid the coup. And what happens is the armed militia and the police working for Gottschalk and the Communist Party take over the Capitol. Anti-communist demonstrations are broken up. Ministries of non-communist leaders are occupied. Now the Army under the defence minister Ludvik Svoboda, he confines the army to barracks, and doesn’t interfere. And in a speech before 100,000 people in Prague, Gottwald threatened a general strike.
And Les Benes agreed to form a communist dominated government. And Zorin offered his services. Zorin at this stage, offers the services of the Red Army who are camped on the border. We’ve heard all this before. The offer was declined, and Gottwald realised that he’s got it all in his hands. Benes knew where the strength was, and it led him to evaluate the situation realistically. And it’s at this stage, Benes capitulates and appoints ministers submitted by Gottwald. And now you have a communist dominated government. And so, now it’s communist dominated with pro-Soviet social Democrats. They take over the state. And as I said, the only minister who is not a communist or a fellow traveller was Jan Masaryk who tragically was found dead two weeks later, outside a third floor window. Now, was Masaryk murdered? And I’m going to talk about Masaryk in a minute. In an investigation of 2021, was it murder, was it an accident, or was it suicide? All are possible. But certainly, the majority of those who are partisan believe, in fact, that he was murdered. What then happens, the communists have a very quick consolidation of power. Thousands were fired from their jobs. Those who were not communists, who were not social Democrats, who were not fellow travellers, they’re fired from their jobs. Thousands flee the country. And on the 9th of May, the Czechs declare the people’s democratic state. And on the 30th of May, there is only a single list for voters. On the 2nd of June, Benes resigns, is seceded by Gottwald. And Benes actually dies in September, 1948.
So, a pretty bloodless coup actually. And the Czechs, Czechoslovakia becomes a communist satellite of the Soviet Union, brave Czechoslovakia that has fought so gallantly between 1919 and 1938 as an independent state. And for so such a long period, was the only democratic state in Central and and Eastern Europe. And now it’s been completely taken over by the communist dream. Now what I’m going to do, I’m going back a little, and I’m going to talk about Jan Masaryk, because it’s important to understand where Jewish history fits into all of this. Now obviously, the majority of Jews have now been murdered. The Czechoslovakian pre-war Jewish population was 357,000. By 1950, there’s only going to be 16,000. And many of them are going to get out to Israel. But before we do that, I want to talk about Jan Masaryk. And also get into a very complicated subject, which is really Stalin’s relationship with the Jews of Palestine and the new state. Now this is Jan Masaryk speaking from London. Remember he is the foreign minister of his government in exile. And this is a speech in 1942, on the 25th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. He says this, “25 years ago, the Balfour Declaration gave the Jewish people hope for the future. None of us could have dreamt then, what was in store for 'em. My government and myself want to assure you of our deep sympathy and understanding. I personally shall never rest until human dignity is returned to these sons and daughters of Israel who will escape alive out of the jeutonic Beelzebub’s clutches. Palestine is almost the only star in the stormy sky of present day inequity.” So, who was Jan Masaryk?
As far as Israel is concerned, he is going to be one of the great heroes. He was born in Prague. And of course, he was the son of Thomas Masaryk and his American wife. And it was his father who was the main thrust behind the development of the Czechoslovak state, if you remember, with Benes. And with Stefanik, the Slovakian, those three dreamers who had believed in an independent Czechoslovakia out of the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. He was educated in both Prague and in America. And in the First World War, he served in the Habsburg Army. And after the creation of Czechoslovakia, he joined the diplomatic service. He was the “charge d'affaires” in the States between 1919 and 1922. And remember his father was a very high ranking diplomat. Not only was he a president, he also had incredible relationships in America. In Britain, he was a really very special man. And in 1921, he becomes the secretary to foreign minister Benes. In 1925, he becomes ambassador to Britain. And he’s going to resign in protest after the Sudetenland. Later on, he’s going to be the foreign minister in the Czech government in exile. Now, he also gives us a very interesting insight into what was happening in Britain in the '20s. His correspondence back to Prague about the situation in London in the '20s and early '30s is absolutely fascinating. On the 21st of June, 1927, Lord Rothermere, who was under the influence of his Hungarian mistress, published an editorial in “the Daily Mail” calling for Hungary to regain lost land at Trianon.
Of course, that was land that was now part of Czechoslovakia. He also argued for the Sudetenland being returned to Germany. And Masaryk himself, who I should say at this stage was a bit of a playboy, he supported financially, pro-Czech writers like Wickham Steed and Robert Seton-Watson to write pro-Czech stories in the British press. And when Ribbentrop became the foreign minister, the German foreign minister, he actually sent out invitations in German to welcome all the other ambassadors to a ball in his honour. Now, this was completely unacceptable, because, of course, French was the language of diplomacy. However, Masaryk, he was a man of huge courage, because he replied in Czech, and he persuaded all the other ambassadors to reply likewise in their native languages. And of course, the Germans didn’t have on staff people who knew Japanese, et cetera. So, it was an absolute horror story. The abdication crisis, he was very hostile to Edward VII and to Wallis Simpson. And he actually wrote home that when Edward VII abdicated, Ribbentrop lost in Mrs. Simpson, I’m quoting, “a dangerous ally.”
He also was very well aware of the kind of pro-Nazi’s in high ranking positions very close to the British government. I mean, for example, the Hungarian mistress of Rothermere, actually, she’d married into the Habsburg dynasty. And now what’s interesting about her, she was probably of Jewish birth. She’s one of those mysterious creatures who settled in the Dorchester Hotel, and was very friendly with the Nazi inner circle. So, it was she, by the way, who arranged for Halifax to visit Goring in Germany. And also, all this information is being relayed back to Prague by Masaryk. And he is very, very worried what is going on. And he wrote this, “It’s unwise to place too much trust in Britain, which regards Czechoslovakia as a problem in Europe.” And this is what he wrote at the beginning of '38, “England dislikes us intensely. We are a dead weight for them. They cursed the day on which we were founded.” And as I said, on the day that the Germans went into the Sudetenland. He actually resigned as ambassador in process. And other government ministers also resigned. This is what he wrote on the 30th of December, 1938, “My country was subjected to surgical appeasement with unprecedented vigour and not the slightest trace of anaesthetic.”
During the war, he was in London remember, the government in exile, he becomes foreign minister. His father died in '36. Benes was president. He broadcast to the Czech underground. He broadcast from London calling Czechoslovak Radio. He was by far the most important figure recording in Prague, keeping the spirits alive, et cetera, et cetera, and of course, government foreign minister in exile. Now this is where everything gets very complicated. So, after the return of the Czech government to Prague, when the communists are taking over, nevertheless, Stalin is actually interested in helping the Jews. Now, why? Now we have to get into the mind of a man who’s almost unfathomable. Why was it that Stalin is going to allow, and remember, Stalin has all the power at the moment, why is Stalin going to allow the Czechs to provide arms for the Haganah? Israel is not created remember, until May, 1948, but it’s going to be the Czechs who are going to provide the arms, which many believe, or really that’s what was the main responsibility of giving Israel a fighting chance. So, we already know that Jan Masaryk is very pro-Jewish. But what was it? But of course, no Czech government could have done anything without Stalin. So, why was it that Stalin was in favour at this stage, of actually helping the Jewish state come to be? And I’ll be spending quite a lot of time on this when I look at the liberation in a couple of weeks time. Now, the first point to make, when the United Nations debated the whole issue of partition in November, 1947, the Russian minister absolutely electrified the assembly when he made a statement saying that what had happened to the Jews in the war, the Jews were deserving of a state.
And this is very important, because, of course, the Cold War is already in full swing. By 1947, you needed Russia and America to be voting together. And by that time, think of the great quote of Winston Churchill, “An iron curtain has descended on Europe.” At the end of World War II, people like General Patton who had his army already in Europe, he said, “Well, we’re going to have to go against them at some stage. Why don’t we do it now?” So, what was it that made Russia decide to back the Jewish state? Because Stalin didn’t do anything out of altruism. Gromyko makes this great statement in the United Nations in which, as I said, he says the Jews are deserving of a state. Why was it that Stalin thought it was in his interests at this stage to back a Jewish state in Palestine? Well, the first thing, the British and French empires were on their knees. It’s obvious that the Soviets wanted to destroy any vestige of British power in the Middle East. When William was talking about the collapse of the Habsburg Empire the other week, and he mentioned the chaos at the end of the First World War, never forget it’s the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. It’s the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Czarist Empire that leads us into the model that we’ve never really resolved to this day. And those of you who are fascinated by the Ukraine, it’s very important that you actually study the background to all of this. Anyway, so we know that, of course, a Cold War is on. Soon, it’s going to hot up in Korea. The Russians are totally against any kind of colonialism in the Middle East. What was the political makeup of the majority of Jews in Palestine?
They were left wing socialists. Some of them were communists. If you think of some of the kibbutz, they were totally communists. So, what Stalin thought he might have, at the very best, he would have an ally in the Middle East. Think about the Arab countries. Think about Farouk in Egypt. He’s not going to fall until '52. Think about the feudal monarchies in Jordan. Think about Saudi Arabia. Think about the despotic regimes in Syria. What Stalin hoped for in a socialist Israel, at the very best, he would have an ally, at the very worst, he would have a neutral power. So, he at this stage actually believes it’s in Soviet interests to back the Jewish state. Consequently, and he gives permission for the Czechs to sell arms to Israel. And I beg you pardon, not to Israel, to the Haganah. Now there was a problem, because in terms of arms to the Middle East, and there’s an arms embargo from the Americans. And in Czechoslovakia, you have the great Skoda Works. And the first deal is in January, 1948, 50,000 rifles, 6,000 machine guns, 90 million bullets. April, 25 master ship fighters, and also the training of Jewish pilots and technicians on Czech soil. Post-May '48, 56 Spitfires. Now, who were the characters who trained on Czech soil? Mordechai Hod, who later became the commander of the Israeli Air Force. Dani Shapiro, who was the aviation industry’s first test pilot. And of course, Ezer Weizman, who of course was a pilot, but now he’s going to have to learn how to fly German planes, Messerschmitt. So, they only knew how to fly Allied planes. Ben-Gurion later said, “Without these weapons, we would not have survived.” Also, it’s important to remember that Masaryk was also appalled by what had happened to the Jews.
Post-1940s, and I’ll be dealing with this later on in another presentation, one of the first responses of survivors was to go home, to find out, “Who has survived in my town?” Once you actually come back to life, who has survived? And many of them who went back to post-war Poland, and also post-war Slovakia. They were greeted by pogroms. Remember their properties have been taken away. War cheapens life. It also degrades the human spirit. And many of those Jewish properties had either been sold to Slovaks or given to Slovaks. So, pogroms actually erupt in Czechoslovakia. And it was at this stage that Masaryk works with a man called Gaynor Jacobson of the Joint, that incredible American organisation that was so active in helping survivors in Europe. He supplied nine trains to carry Jews through Czechoslovakia to the DP camps in Germany. Because one of the things that’s happening, and I’ll do a lot of this in detail, is as the pogroms are breaking out in Eastern Europe, Jews are being pushed back into Germany, particularly into the American zone by the Jewish soldiers, the Palestinian Jewish soldiers who fought for the British, Bipartisans by Haganah, by the Irgun, why? To the American zone in Germany, to put pressure on the Americans to open up the gates of Palestine. Now that journey was incredibly important. And Masaryk is actually helping them pass through Czechoslovakia by giving trains.
Now this is what he said, “Do you know what my hobby is? Jews, I beg you.” He says this to Zendek Toman who is in charge of the border guards, also a Jew. He says, “Do you know what my hobby is? Jews, I beg you, close your eyes, if some Polish Jews are crossing our borders.” In fact, 90,000 Polish-Jewish refugees make it between July and November, 1946, through Czechoslovakia back to Germany, why? Because tragically, as the communist governments take over in the cities in Poland, there’s fascist reaction in the countryside. There are murders of Jews, and it culminates in a terrible blood libel pogrom in Kielce, which led to this flooding out. And Masaryk is doing everything he can to help. He said about his own father, “If my father did not do in his beautiful life, anything but support Hilsner, he would’ve been, for me, the most celebrated man in the world.” This was the terrible Hilsner Affair back in the Habsburg times, a blood libel in Czechoslovakia. So, we know that already Masaryk is helping with the creation of the state. And we know that Stalin is agreeing. We also know that there were arms dealers in Prague who were also selling to the Syrians and the Egyptians. Masaryk did everything he could to limit that. And these were people who were selling for profit. Moshe Shertok called him Nahum. He said, “Nahum is helping the Jews.” Nahum, of course, was Masaryk. And the point was, the Syrians and the Egyptians were buying with English pounds, whereas the Haganah were buying with dollars. Again, another incredible story.
Golda Meir had gone to America on a fundraising drive for the Haganah, for the Yishuv. At the end of the war, it was obvious we can’t pussyfoot about anymore. We need to create a Jewish state. And Golda Meir was sent to America by David Ben-Gurion. Remember she’d lived much of her life in America, which she was on this incredible whistle stock tour. She had a prepared speech. She tore it up. She went from hall to hall, and basically her message was this, “6 million of us died, and you stood by. There are half a million of his in Palestine. If you don’t help us, we will die.” And they gave as no other group has ever given before. She raised $50 million. And that was the money that was used to buy the arms. And this is something else that Masaryk was up to. Because legally, the Czech government couldn’t sell to an underground organisation, he managed to falsify some Ethiopian documents. So, in theory, it was going to an Ethiopian enterprise. He wrote this, “To make a Jewish state, this is one of the great political ideas of our time. It is such a great thing that our people are missing the imagination to understand it, even many Jews. But for me not, I believe in it. I am a Zionist.” So, an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man who tragically was murdered promptly. I think all the evidences are that he was murdered. He was a great free thinker.
But now, having honoured a hero, I want to go on to Stalin, and Stalin changing his mind, and also the appalling Slansky trial. So, let’s continue. How come after Stalin allows the Czechs to sell arms to the Jewish states when he publicly backs this Jewish state? And also, I should mention that the ambassador, there was a man called Ivan Maisky, who was Stalin’s ambassador in London, he had been lobbied by both Weizman and Ben-Gurion, also encouraged by Molotov’s Jewish wife. And so, Stalin, he’s also had a lot of… There’s a lot of pro-Zionist support coming through to Russia. So, what goes wrong that is going to lead to one of the most appalling show trials, which becomes an anti-Semitic witch hunt. So, such a short time after the Holocaust, and I’m quoting now, this is from Robert Wistrich, “It’s the first public anti-Zionist spectacle in the Soviet block. And indicated a switch of support from Israel to unbridled vilification.” So, what actually happened? Why was it that Stalin begins to change his mind? And look, of course, Stalin had murdered many Jews along with millions of other people that he had murdered. And although he did exhibit certain anti-Semitic attitudes, nevertheless, he doesn’t turn against the Jews per se, but then something happens. Golda Meir goes to Russia as the first ambassador of the new state of Israel. And there is a show synagogue in Moscow, just as there are show churches. But anybody who wants to have a real role in Russian life, you don’t go to church, you don’t go to synagogue. When she goes to synagogue for Rosh Hashanah, 50,000 young Russians come out to greet her, which shows Stalin, he still has a Jewish problem. 30 years after Jewish sections, we have six years of broken down Jewish life.
I used to teach in Russia under communism. And let me tell you, to live any kind of Jewish life was almost impossible. There was one for the whole of Moscow, and he was 82 years old. So, I want you to try and imagine the bravery of those people. By the time you get to Yom Kippur, Les came out. But it gives Stalin a signal. And then, of course, there is a trial in Hungary, the Reich trial, although he wasn’t Jewish, they start using anti-Titoism, anti-Zionism, and rootless cosmopolitanism. But it’s all going to actually break in Czechoslovakia. It’s going to continue through the murdering of the great poets, many of whom had been to the West to try and help with the Russian war effort. And the situation is then going to exacerbate, so that in the end, the Soviet Union is going to become the centre of anti-Semitic rhetoric. And those of you who are interested in tracing antisemitism through the left, it actually comes mainly out of Russia of this period. And something else that adds to the cocktail, and that is, in 1952, Adenauer does a deal with Ben-Gurion. The Germans desperately needed some sort of rehabilitation. And think about the Cold War. East Germany is now in the communist block. West Germany has to be bolstered up against communism. They need that handshake. And Ben-Gurion needed money for the state. So, an incredibly controversial deal was struck. So, this is another reason that Stalin is very, very, very angry with the Jewish state. And also it’s the beginnings of the toppling of the regimes in the Arab world.
When Farouk falls to be replaced by Nagi and Nasa, it gives an opportunity for the Middle East to become the power play of the Cold War. And of course, the non-aligned lot. So, there are many reasons that make Stalin decide to go against Slansky. Now, who was Slansky? Can we see the next picture please? That’s Klement Gottwald. I should probably mention, Klement Gottwald, he was the chairman of the Communist Party. He came from the people. He was a very interesting man. He was a totally dedicated communist. He actually dies in 1953 when he is summoned back to Moscow for Stalin’s funeral. He obviously couldn’t take the pressure, and he died of an aneurysm of the brain. But can we please have a look at Slansky? That is Rudolf Slansky. The tragedy of the Slansky trial is that of the 13 people who are going to be accused of Zionism, Titoism, and rootless cosmopolitanism. 11 of them are of Jewish birth. And how we come to the other issue, the majority of the leadership of communist parties in Eastern Europe, particularly in the secret police, were people of Jewish birth. Now I can say this until I’m purple, green, and blue in the face, the minute you joined the Communist Party, you’ve thrown away your Jewishness. But who’s doing the definition, who’s defining? And the tragedy was that the outside world, in the end, they’re going to see Slansky and his friends as Jews. So, who was this man? Common to so many of these biographies, he was born in 1901. The family came to Prague after World War I.
Remember he’s born in the Habsburg Empire. He comes from a left wing intellectual background. He joined the Communist Party, and later he becomes number two to Klement Gottwald. And in between 1929 and 1935, he’s in Prague. But the Communist Party was illegal. And so, he’s in semi-hiding. And after the party was allowed into politics, both he and Gottwald were elected to the National Assembly. And after the Nazis occupied Sudetenland, he and many of the Czech communists, they fled to the Soviet Union. And he worked as a broadcaster to the Czech people on Moscow radio. He also organised Army units with which he returned. In 1944, he took part in that incredibly brave and tragically, unsuccessful Slovak uprising. In 1945, after the war, the Czech leaders come back from exile in London. He comes back from Moscow. And of course, you have the government I’ve already talked about under Edvard Benes. And at the eighth congress, he becomes secretary general of the Communist Party. So, he is the second most important official after Gottwald in Czechoslovakia. And he, of course, is in the new communist government. So, what happens is the most prominent Jews in the Czech Communist Party and government leadership are accused of close links with the Zionists for the purposes of espionage and treason. And it’s interesting, because they deliberately targeted Prague, why? Because Prague, the country would’ve sold arms to Israel, ironically, with Stalin’s approval, at a time when the West, as I’ve mentioned before, they’d imposed a strict arms embargo. Czechs were one of the least antisemitic countries in Europe.
And the trial we know was totally orchestrated by Soviet advisors who, they started using the most vile, antisemitic language. And you’re going to see it appear in Pravda, in Izvestia. And it’s also going to explode into the doctor’s plot. So, what we’re going to see is the beginning of a series of show trials when Zionism, rootless cosmopolitanism, and being a Jew is somehow about being an enemy of the Russian state. Now this is the Soviet advisor, Likhachev. He was sent to advise. Now what happens is 13 people are put on trial. They are all going to be tortured. It’s not just Slansky. I’m going to give you the level of the characters. Vladimir Clementis, who was the foreign minister. Otto Fischer, the deputy minister of finance. Josef Frank, the deputy general secretary. Mildred Frazier, who was the chief of the Economic Committee. Bedrich Geminder, the chief of the international section of party. Hai Ju, who wasn’t Jewish, he was deputy minister of foreign affairs. And his wife, Erza Lobel, deputy minister of foreign trade. Rudolf Margolius, deputy minister of foreign trade. His wife wrote a very interesting book about it, by the way. Andre Simon, who was an important newspaper editor, Otto Katz, another editor, and Otto Slani, who was the regional secretary of the party. And of those 13, 11 of them are born Jewish.
And it wasn’t just that. Families, they were arrested, they were tortured, families were taught to tell on them, they were drugged. It was the most appalling show trial. And this is what Likhachev said to Lobel who actually survived, “You are not a communist and you are not a Czech-Slovak, you are a dirty Jew, that’s what you are. Israel is your real fatherland, and you have sold out socialism to your bosses, the Zionist imperialist leaders of world Jewry. Let me tell you that the time is fast approaching when we will have to exterminate the lot of you.” “The Kremlin,” and this is all in Pravda and Inveztia. They inform the Czech prosecutors who is behind this international Zionist block. And isn’t it fascinating, because the protocols are also brought up at the trial? And those of you who know the history of the protocols, they’re meant to meet in that extraordinary graveyard in Prague. And according to “The Kremlin,” Rothschild and the other bankers are behind the treasonous activities of Rudolf Slansky. It took an incredible propaganda campaign. Ironically, all of those under attack were ardent advocates of pure communism. And what did communism say? It’s about Zionism. There was a reactionary nationalist movement. In fact, when we look at Eastern Europe, I’m going to look in a lot of depth at the infighting in Eastern Europe between Jewish communists, Jewish Bundists, and Jewish Zionists. They were all fighting over the soul of the same people, because they were all left wingers. But they all wanted different things. And if you were a committed, card carrying communist as far as you’re concerned, you want an international world where all the divisions between people fall away. And what they had done is they had turned their back on the Jewish world.
And it’s important to remember this, and this is from Max Lerner, writing in the New York Post of 1952 about it. “The fact that the men on trial never were Zionists didn’t bother a Red commissar. The idea of the big lie is that, the bigger the lie, the better. And this is Mordechai Oren. He later related what one of the interrogators said, "You, Slansky, the Jew that Slansky smuggled into the party, and government machinery, and all the others, you are the scum of the Earth, the human race.” And so much antisemitism came out of the trial. And remember, you have a communist press. Any society that doesn’t allow freedom of speech is so very, very dangerous. And of course, it infected Czech public opinion. And this is again, the New York Times. The Jews are in a great danger throughout the communist block as Stalin seeks to emulate Hitler. This is the 23rd of November of '52. Here we have the infamous protocols of the Elders of Zion again, but a Stalinist version for which the ground was laid four years ago in Soviet Russia’s campaign against cosmopolitanism, and a campaign whose victims were primarily Jews. The Prague trial may well mark the beginning of a major tragedy as the Kremlin swings further and further towards anti-Semitism masked as anti-Zionism.
The Prague trial exhibited a new kind of antisemitism, which puts Israel and world Zionism at the centre. Zionist were spies, subverters, and saboteurs. And what happens is, of course, it’s a total show trial. They were drugged. As I said, they were tortured. And the communist press called for the death sentence. And the kind of epithet, they are cosmopolitan Jews. This is where the term “rootless cosmopolitan Jew” comes from. They have no homeland. They are all Trotskyites. Don’t forget what happened to Trotsky. Stalin so hated him that he had finally been executed by one of Stalin’s agents in Mexico. They were also accused of Titoism, the other enemy of Stalin, Zionist war criminals, swindlers, and also Gestapo agents. This is another comment. This is from Izvestia. “The fat was exploited by Jews owning shady businesses, factory owners, bourgeois elements of every variety to infiltrate our party. The emphasis on the suffering of the Jews in the period of the Nazi rampage served these elements as armour against any criticism, as a mask covering their true faith.” So, you cannot single out the Jews as victims of Nazism. This is a lie. When the Czech nation raised its voice against Zionism, they cried anti-Semitism in order to cover the help that they were giving to the class interests of the Jewish bourgeois, and their ties with the imperialists throughout world Jewry.
So, quoting Wistrich, “Only six years after the Holocaust in a public trial, the assertion was made that Israel and Zionism manipulated antisemitism as a mask to cover up their crimes.” And of course, this is just the beginning of an infiltration of the left. In 1948, the daily worker welcomed brave, little Israel, fighting, feudal, the feudal Arab countries. This is where the term begins. It’s signalled mainly by the Slansky trial. It’s going to be the doctor’s plot. The doctors were saved, because Stalin died. But it’s going to become an important marker in Soviet policy. And ironically, it’s going to also infect the Arab world, because as they caught the Arab regimes, many of the Arab leadership are going to be educated in Russian universities. For example, the head of the PLO, he took his PhD at the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where his thesis was on the blood libel. So, a former Syrian foreign minister took his thesis on the protocols of the Elders of Zion. So, in the Arab world, it’s going to come from two prongs. It’s going to come from Nazis who come to work after the fall of the Arab potentate. Nasa welcomes all these Nazis to Syria. So, it’s going to come from two prongs. But much more important, from the story, this is where it’s going to infect the extreme left. And of course, in the wake of the Kastner trial, it’s going to get a lot worse, because in the Kastner trial, the Soviet press in the mid-'50s take matters even further. And they talk about the Zionist leadership actually working with Nazi officials in occupied Europe. And don’t forget this coincides with the courtship of the Arab world. So, what happens is they are accused, and as I mentioned before, they’re tortured. There’s a message from Judi.
Let me see, oh, I bet I’m… I’ll stop clicking, sorry. When I get excited, I always click the pen. Sorry about that. So, they all under duress, confessed. Slansky actually tried to kill himself in prison. And what happens is there were petitions asking for the death sentence. And it’s not until the Velvet Revolution that, in fact, they are exonerated. So, an appalling event not long after the Shoah, when the left wing communists, Jews. And as I said before, it’s important to remember many of the leadership of these left wing parties, also in Hungary, also in Poland, they were of Jewish birth. And it’s not surprising, just as in Hollywood, a lot of people turned to the left, because of its anti-Nazism. And this is where it really bites. So, the majority of them are executed. Two of them are given long sentences. And it’s not until after the Velvet Revolution, they are exhilarated. But the damage is done. Not only the tragedy of Slansky, but also the beginnings of the communist world, seeing Israel as its enemy, tiny, little Israel. So, I’ll stop there. I hope my voice has held. And let’s have a look at questions.
Q&A and Comments:
Thank you, lots of nice messages. Joan, I hope I’ll be able to travel. I tested positive today. We just have to wait. Oh, thank you all. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, all of you. Some friends.
This is from Rose. “We, of course, visited the synagogue, and found the names of my spouse’s grandparents in deportation.” Yes, it’s so, so, so tragic.
And this is from Eva who spoke to us last week. “My aunt, Anna Valakava, a survivor of treason, became the director of the Jewish museum. It was her idea to inscribe the names in the Pinkas Synagogue.” Oh, thank you for that, Eva. And it’s extraordinarily moving. Jewish returnees to the Czech region of Czechoslovakia fare badly. The restitution record of the Czech Republic is appalling to this day.
Vivian, you see this is one of the problems. Once these countries become communist, everyone was a victim of the Nazis. So, why on Earth should the Jews be singled out? And this was very much the line. And one of the problems is that the communist block was never really de-Nazified. When William talked about the rise of the fascists in Eastern Europe and also in East Germany, it’s not surprising…
Yoana, have I consulted the book “Governments in Exile, 1939 to 1945” by Eliezer Yapou? Thank you for that, Yoana.
Q: “How is the hero, Masaryk, commemorated in Israel?”
A: He is commemorated now in the Czech Republic. I believe he is commemorated in Israel. I’m sure some of our Israelis will tell us about that.
Q: Rose, “How were there 90,000 Jews in Poland in '47? Were they not murdered in the Shoah? And if not, why did they go back when Poland was so antisemitic?”
A: Okay, Rose, that’s a very important question. Remember there were three and a half million Jews in Poland before the war. About 10% of them survived. Some survived in hiding. Some had fled into the Soviet Union. Some have been pushed into the Soviet Union. And by the communists, some of them were in fact arrested, but survived. It was just, people went back to see, if anyone in their villages had survived. And that’s why people go back. If you think about it, you’ve survived. Surely, someone in my family’s made it. And look, with the hindsight of history, you can say that Europe, I mean, friends of mine always used to say Europe is the graveyard of the Jewish people. That is the problem we have to deal with. And I think those who joined the Communist Party, they believe they hoped for a better world.
And this is from Anita. “My parents returned to Poland, after they finally survived the camps. People came home, as Trudy said, to find my family. My parents reunited in Krakow. They were separated during the war. The Jews had nowhere where to go. Communist Poland allowed them to go to Israel after '48. But to immigrate to other continents or countries took applications, sponsorship, and long waits.” Yes, of course. I mean, in Theresienstadt. Theresienstadt wasn’t emptied until August of '48. There were Jews in DP camps for years after the war. And it was, of course, Israel. Up until the establishment of Israel, the British were blockading the boats. So, it’s a long, dark story.
George, you said that, “How come Prague was liberated when the Germans surrendered on the…” That’s just the day that was announced, I think, George.
Q: Della, “Is it possible that Stalin’s original support for Israel was really, because he thought he could use the existence of Israel to stir up trouble in the area?”
A: How do you get into the mind of a Stalin? A lot of people just say when he was a violent antisemite. I think it’s more complicated than that. Don’t forget, Kaganovich survived 'til the end. If you were an enemy of Stalin, whether you were Jew or Gentile, you died. And he made a bitter enemy. His daughter kept on marrying Jews, and he didn’t like it much. I mean, look, Stalin thought he could use Israel. I think it was a shock to him when he realised that there was still Zionism in Russia.
Vivian, “Zionism should not necessarily be equated with being pro-Jewish. Benes, for example, championed the Zionist green, mainly because he wants to encourage and enable Jews to leave his country in the same breath. He could cultivate support in the US Jewish community, which he like many believed to have disproportionate influence on US policy.” Yes, of course, Vivian, it’s always complicated. You know what I really think? You can’t make people the bete noir of a world for 2,000 years without there being all sorts of ramifications. That’s what I really believe. This notion of Jewish power and influence is such a silly one. And a third of Jews were murdered, because they were Jews. If there was any power in the Jewish world, it would not have happened. And yet post-Holocaust, they still believed in power. The Nazis still believed in the protocols of the Elders of Zion. Even when they’re losing the war, they decide the headquarters must be in New York. Because you can’t ever apply… Sorry, I’m clapping again. You can’t ever apply rationality, Vivian. Don’t look for rationality.
Daisy, “I don’t understand Stalin’s change of mind supporting the stale of arms dogma.” Well, it’s quite simply, look, if you want to be totally pragmatic, he wanted to make things difficult for the British we hated. For the Haganah, who were they using the arms against? Yes, they were going for the war. But don’t forget, between… I’m going to do a whole session on this. Between '45 and '48, there’s a war in the mandate, isn’t there? And Jews are fighting the British Army. So, mixed messages. And then he realised the Jews were a problem.
“The British aren’t a problem there now, but the Jews are, so I’ll go for them now.” “I don’t know why, but your lecture makes me think what Hannah Rent said when she refused to partake in the civil rights movement in the USA. The right to free association, and therefore, to discrimination, has greater validity than the principle of equality.”
Monty, I’ve got to think about that very, very, very carefully. I’m not giving you a glib answer on that. That’s a deep one. “What turns Stalin against Israel?” I hope I’ve answered that.
Q: “Could you please repeat the reasoning behind the Soviet change of heart?”
A: Stalin was a pragmatist. He believed at the very least Israel would be neutral. And he was trying to do everything he could to disrupt the British in the Middle East. Simple as that. Later on, he realises, particularly after they sign a deal with West Germany. West Germany is his enemy. Think of East Germany. And also moving more and more towards the West, Israel. Don’t forget that there was an arms in embargo. The Americans wouldn’t sell arms to Israel. Golda raised the money, but it was Czech arms that had to be bought. To be fair, there were arm shipments being sent to Israel, Palestine from America. But they came from all sorts of strange people like the Jewish mafia and, like, the Mafia, mafia. There’s a lot of incredible stories over all of this. So, you are asking me to be incredibly logical.
Q: “How did antisemitism serve him?” “Why did he turn against Slansky?”
A: He wanted to clean up Czechoslovakia. He wanted a scapegoat. The Jews will always be the best scapegoat, a witch hunt, rootless cosmopolitanism, Titoism.
Q: “Why did he turn against the doctors?” “Did Stalin always need a reason?”
A: Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn’t. Simon Sebag Montefiore has written two brilliant volumes, “Young Stalin” and “Stalin,” I really advise you to read. Also read Robert Wistrich, “From Ambivalence to Betrayal,” which is the story of the left, and how it turns against Israel and the Jews.
Karen is talking about the Republicans using the protocols. You see, the problem with the protocols of the Elders of Zion, in next term, I’m going to do a whole session on them, is people love conspiracy theories. The protocol says every Jew in the world is in league with every other Jew. So, if you’re a capitalist or a communist, whatever you are, you’re in league. And because you’re international, you are subverting everyone. It’s a horrible, ghastly calumet. It’s got no truth in it whatsoever. And what can I say to you?
Veronica, “They were actually rehabilitated after Krivaja.” I think it was only after the Velvet Revolution though, that they started making a big deal of it.
Yes, Alison, “I’m glad and relieved you’re recovering. This reminds me of the doctor’s plot in Russia, which I studied at school. The state of Israel was primarily socialist. When I was at university, the big trend was volunteering in…” Yes, of course. Please don’t forget that Israel was, up until they again took power, very much a socialist state. Thank you, Janice. Thank you.
There are streets named after Masaryk in Israeli cities. There’s a lovely square in Tel Aviv after him. Thank you, Jiya. Isn’t it lovely, the fact that we have an international group? You see, that’s the positive side of it all. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jeffrey.
Yes, kibbutz, Masaryk, where’s that? There are Masaryk streets in many main towns in Israel. Yes, Peter Brice, read “Prague Farewell” by Heda Margolius. Of course, her husband was executed. It’s a wonderful story. Thank you for bringing that to our attention, Peter. For Masaryk, yes, and a village.
Rachel Streep, “There’s a kibbutz north of Haifa.”
This is from Jaca, “My father always told me that the West gave Czechs to Hitler first and Stalin second. Americans could free Prague weeks before Stalin did. They made a deal.” Yes, of course they did. They made a deal, real politic.
“Do private individuals have the same morality of states? Discuss.” “To what extent do I think communist Jews were radically rejecting the influence of the Orthodox?” Interesting story. And I promise you, we’re going to be, it’s not just me, but some of my other colleagues we’re going to be looking at this, the growth of communism in the Jewish world. And I know Dennis Davis is going to be talking about Isaac Deutscher’s book, “The Non-Jewish Jew.”
Thank you, I think that’s all of it, Judi. So, again, Judi, thank you so much.
[Judi] Thank you, Trudy.
How long did I tap for?
[Judi] Oh, a very long time.
I’m so sorry.
You promised!
God bless, everyone.
[Judi] Thank you, stay well, Trudy. And I’ll speak to you tomorrow.
God bless, darling.
Bye-bye!