Mimořádné zprávy Státní bezpečnosti o ohlasech na smrt a pohřeb prof. Jana Patočky
The edition of archival documents releases special information of the State Security Service on responses to the death and funeral of Professor Jan Patočka (1907–1977), a Charter 77 spokesman who died on 13 March 1977 at the hospital where he was taken just several hours after exhaustive questioning by the members of the StB who were interested in his meeting with Dutch Foreign Minister Max van der Stoel. Professor Patočka’s death ended the founding period of Charter 77, on which he impressed a significant moral and civic character. The published reports illustrate the extensive measures taken by the secret police in connection with his funeral, which was held on 16 March 1977 at the Břevnov cemetery. All the documents are published for the first time. The editor has prepared them as part of an extensive book edition of StB documents about Professor Jan Patočka that will be released in 2017, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the foundation of Charter 77.
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