Post by John Green on Apr 9, 2018 0:49:23 GMT
"It was among the most notorious show trials of the 20th century, the prosecution and sentencing to death of Czechoslovakia’s leading communist, who had been arrested in a brutal purge ordered by Stalin.
For decades, events surrounding the revolutionary tribunal that resulted in the execution of Rudolf Slánský, general secretary of the Czechoslovak party, and 10 other defendants was shrouded in mythology – with most visual and verbal evidence apparently lost to posterity.
But an event that has fascinated historians could soon be seen in graphic detail after footage and audio recording of the 1952 trial was found. Hours of film and voice recordings, much of it mould-damaged, believed to cover most of the eight-day procedure were found stashed in metal and wooden boxes – along with millions of classified Czechoslovak Communist party documents – in the basement of a bankrupt former metal research business in Panenské Břežany, near Prague."
"The material – consisting of six hours of 35mm black-and-white film and 80 hours of audio – is now with the Czech National Film Archive, which is asking the government for an estimated 12m koruna (£410,000) to fund delicate restoration work that would make it fit for public viewing." www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/rudolf-slansky-czechoslovakia-show-trial
For decades, events surrounding the revolutionary tribunal that resulted in the execution of Rudolf Slánský, general secretary of the Czechoslovak party, and 10 other defendants was shrouded in mythology – with most visual and verbal evidence apparently lost to posterity.
But an event that has fascinated historians could soon be seen in graphic detail after footage and audio recording of the 1952 trial was found. Hours of film and voice recordings, much of it mould-damaged, believed to cover most of the eight-day procedure were found stashed in metal and wooden boxes – along with millions of classified Czechoslovak Communist party documents – in the basement of a bankrupt former metal research business in Panenské Břežany, near Prague."
"The material – consisting of six hours of 35mm black-and-white film and 80 hours of audio – is now with the Czech National Film Archive, which is asking the government for an estimated 12m koruna (£410,000) to fund delicate restoration work that would make it fit for public viewing." www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/rudolf-slansky-czechoslovakia-show-trial