The way a communist state handles border control is key to handling internal dissidents. It’s always about tracking who goes out, as well as who goes in. Operation Border Stone in Czechoslovakia took this policy to another level.
Tag: 1950-1959
In western Czechia, there is a grim reminder of how the Communists treated prisoners. This article explains what the Red Tower of Death is, and why it exists.
You may think ‘fake news’ is a modern invention, but you’d be wrong. One of Czechoslovakia’s most famous disinformation campaigns was Operation NEPTUNE.
This article explains why Czechoslovak spies carried out such a nefarious plot.
Czechoslovak communists tortured Czech priest Josef Toufar in 1949 for a miracle which may or may not have happened. This article describes the story and the tragic ending of Father Toufar’s life.
I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t heard of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. The recent Sky drama reanimated people’s memories of those days. Few are aware there almost was a similar disaster in Bohunice, in what was then Czechoslovakia.
You’d think a city of Dublin wouldn’t be the place to hide a castle. Yet many Dublin natives had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned Drimnagh castle. This article describes the history of one of Ireland’s few moated castles.
The Koněprusy cave complex is in the middle of a nature reserve and is 40 km away from Prague. Don’t think this is a mere collection of caves because it is one of the most unique cave networks in the world.
People who speak out against a regime ? are targeted. We think this happens in dictatorships but a democratic society can face the wrath of an angry administration. Under communist rule, Czechoslovakia targeted the resistance fighter Milada Horáková as brutally as possible.
Olga Hepnarová is not a name that is familiar to many people even in Czechia. She is infamous here as the last woman to be executed by the state in 1975 after carrying out a terrorist attack in Prague in 1973.