Powojenne rozliczenia w Czechosłowacji 1945–1948. Proces prawny i tło polityczne
Post-war Retributions in Czechoslovakia, 1945–1948 Legal Process and Political Background

Summary/Abstract: The basis for the settling of accounts in Czech lands was President Edvard Beneš’s decreeadopted on 19 June 1945. colloquially referred to as the “Great Retribution Decree”. The decree served as a basis for the creation of 24 Extraordinary People’s Courts. As a supplementto the retribution laws, the so-called “Small Retribution Decree” was passed.Retribution courts were established against the background of spontaneous retributionstaking place in the spring of 1945. A lot of German soldiers and civilians, as well as Czechs accused of collaboration with the enemy fell victim to wild retributions (sometimes in the form of lynches). The “Great Retribution Decree” ceased to be effective on 4 May 1947, marking the end of Extraordinary People’s Courts which had passed judgement on more than 21,000 people. The EPC in Prague judged many German war criminals, e.g. Karl Hermann Frank and Kurt Daluege. Separate legislative measures were adopted to judge high ranking officials of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Based on a decree passed by PresidentBenes, the National Court (Narodní Soud) was established. Since the beginning of retributions, the authorities in Prague were faced with the need to set apart the process of retributions and the displacements of Germans from Czechoslovakia. Based on the legal solutions adopted, bringing to justice a lot of people, particularly Sudeten Germans, for what they had done was blurred by the post war displacement process. The retribution process taking place in Slovakia was also unique. The retributions were based on a decree passed by the Slovakian National Council on 15 May 1945. As opposed to what happened in the Czech part of the country, the Slovaks distinguished a few categories of the accused, depending on their nationality. The National Court (Národný Súd) was established in Bratislava. It is before this court that the famous trial was held against reverend Jozef Tiso, the former president.Having taken over the power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, the communistsdecided to reactivate the Extraordinary People’s Courts. As opposed to the first phaseof retributions, the “second retribution” was supposed to be based on a vague notion of“people’s justice”. The objective of the new government was to use the retribution processto discredit their political opponents. Similar measures aimed at instrumentalisation ofthe retributions had been adopted by Czech and Slovak communists even before the coupd’état of February 1948

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