Osudy prachatického kurýra Josefa Ludvíka na pozadí zpravodajských operací čs. exilu
The story of Josef Ludvík, a courier in Prachatice, against a background of intelligence operations of the Czechoslovak exile

Author(s): Petr Mallota
Subject(s): Political history, Security and defense, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
Published by: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů
Keywords: Czechoslovakia; Josef Ludvík; courier; exile; 20th century; security; intelligence; Communism; Nazism; resistance;
Summary/Abstract: The study maps the extraordinary life story of Josef Ludvík. Born in South Bohemia, he served in the police force and during the occupation he joined the anti-Nazi resistance movement. After communists had seized power in Czechoslovakia, he acted in a similar way. As a member of the National Security Corps he defected from his place of service in Prachatice to West Germany in the summer of 1949. After crossing the border he went through several refugee camps, including the famous Valka camp near Nuremberg, and later he joined the anti-communist resistance organized under the auspices of American and British intelligence services. As a courier (so called agent-walker), he crossed the border in the area of the Šumava mountains and fulfilled commissioned intelligence tasks in the border zone and inland of Czechoslovakia. In the course of almost two years he undertook five missions on which he met or cooperated with many outstanding exile figures, such as the legendary “King of Šumava”, courier Josef Hasil, the prominent senior intelligence officer Major Karel Černý, or Ludvík’s relative, courier and leading executive, Jaroslav Kaska. His fifth mission in May 1951 ended up a disaster for both Josef Ludvík and his colleague Vladimír Palma after they were detained by a Border Guard patrol near Bučina. In February 1952 they stood before the tribunal of the State Court in Prague which sentenced them to death in a monster political show trial. The sentence was executed on 8 July 1952 in the Pankrác execution room. The research studies Ludvík’s anti-communist resistance activities carried out from behind the border in a broader context of intelligence operations of the Czechoslovak exile.

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