Donation to Horáková memorial sparks controversy

A memorial to an icon of Czech resistance to totalitarianism is shrouded in controversy after the present-day Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) donated money to finance its construction.

Milada Horáková, who survived a Nazi concentration camp, was executed on orders of the communist government in 1950 after a show trial. A memorial dedicated to her memory was unveiled on náměstí Hrdinů (Heroes Square) in Prague 4 Oct. 28.

"It's crazy," said Naděžda Kavalírová, president of the Confederation of Political Prisoners. "The cheek of the communists! I don't understand their motivation."

"The communists with their 'Judas penny' are trying to buy off their guilt. Horáková was illegally sentenced and then executed. It is a mockery and an insult to the nation and to all political prisoners of the communist regime, particularly the 245 who were executed, as well as the thousands imprisoned and tortured, the victims of communist malevolence."

Fund-raising for the statue, which cost about 2 million Kč ($111,732), was organized by the Czech Party of National Socialists (ČSNS) and Masaryk's Democratic Party, according to ČSNS spokesman Jiří Pondělíček.

"Three or four years ago, a group of ČSNS members realized a statue to Milada Horáková had to be built," he said. "Because we regard ourselves as her successors, we decided to start raising funds."

He was reluctant to condemn funds from the communists, which amounted to 70,000 Kč.

"If somebody wanted to rectify what happened in the past, they should be allowed to do so. On the other hand, I understand it is a sensitive question. But it is important the memorial stands, because people need it."

Bohdan Babinec, a ČSNS member and the main organizer, detailed the funding breakdown. The municipality of Prague 4 donated 200,000 Kč, the Social Democrats [ČSSD] 100,000 Kč, ČSSD Chairman Jiří Paroubek 111,000 Kč and a friend of Paroubek's donated 1.3 million Kč; the Communists [KSČM] donated 70,000 Kč. The rest was donated by members of the public.

Officials for the KSČM declined to comment for this report.

"Every person should have equal opportunities," Babinec said. "We are democrats. We do not promote the practice that some are more equal than others. Those people [KSČM donors] were not born in the '50s, and they are not responsible for it."

Neither was it a concern to the ČSSD members who donated, and they viewed the communist contribution as a "step forward."

 "We are happy the memorial is there, and we do not differentiate between those who donated and those who did not," said Miroslav Vlček, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies. "I see it as an attempt of a symbolic apology for an act that there is no excuse for. We can only move forward."

Paroubek concurred.

"I was informed by the media that some KSČM representatives contributed to build the statue. Unlike others, I am pleasantly surprised, because the settlement of the past must be a common goal," he said.

Horáková's life was dominated by struggle against tyrannical regimes. In 1939, she joined the underground resistance movement but was arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 and sent to the Terezín concentration camp and then to various prisons in Germany, where she was freed by the Allies in 1945. She returned to Prague and won election to Parliament before resigning when the communists took over in 1948.

Horáková's show trial commenced May 31, 1950, and was similar in format to the political trials in the USSR during the Stalin era. She faced trumped-up charges of trying to overthrow the communist government and was tortured in jail. So sure were the communists of the stage management that they broadcast the proceedings on radio to the nation.

Horáková, defiantly and with grace, presented her defense, but a guilty verdict was never in doubt and June 8, 1950, Horáková, then 49 years old, was sentenced to death. The case was a major international story in the early days of the Cold War, with British wartime leader Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein pleading for clemency. However, these pleas fell on deaf ears, and Czechoslovak President Klement Gottwald signed Horáková's death sentence.

In her last letter to her 16-year-old daughter before her execution, Horáková wrote, "When you realize something is just and true, then be so resolute that you will be able to die for it."

On the morning of June 27, 1950, Horáková was hanged at Pankrác prison, near where her memorial now stands.

- Petr Cibulka Jr. contributed to this article.

Tom Clifford can be reached at
tclifford@praguepost.com