Druhá kniha o vraždě v Ratajském lese
The second book on the assassination in the Rataje Forest

Summary/Abstract: Tichý, Martin: Smrt bez spravedlnosti: Mrtví Ratajského lesa. Prague: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, 2017, 439 pp., ISBN 978-80-87912-90-4. The book "Death without Justice: The Dead of the Rataje Forest" deals with the assassination of Anna Kvašová, a village activist of the Communist Party, in the Rataje Forest in the region of Kutná Hora, in the eastern part of Bohemia, in January 1952, which prompted extensive security and court repressions. The perpetrators were, however, identified and sentenced to death only five years later. The reviewer appreciates the author’s thorough knowledge of the case, well-built text, and vivid language. The author meticulously reconstruct the assassination story, as well as the search for and delayed identification of the perpetrators, unveils the investigation structure based on assumed existence of “class enemies” in villages, provides a differentiated insight into reactions of local functionaries to the pressure from above, and also examines the propagandistic exploitation of the case, while keeping a distance from “easy” ideologizing interpretations. However, the reviewer claims there are still unanswered questions in the case, in particular those concerning the motives and true intentions of the perpetrators.

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