The Prague Trials were a series of Stalinist and largely anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia. On November 20, 1952 Rudolf Slánský, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and 13 other Communist leaders or bureaucrats (11 of them Jews) were accused of participating in a Trotskyite-Titoite-Zionist conspiracy and convicted: 11 were executed, 3 sentenced for life. Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The term show trial serves most commonly to label a type of public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the accused: the actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as an impressive example and... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rudolf Slánský (July 31, 1901, NezvÄ›stice near Kladno – December 2, 1952) was a Czech Communist politician and the partys General Secretary after the World War II. Later he fell into disfavour with the regime and was executed after a show trial. ... The term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa (KSČ) was a political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. ... 1915 passport photo of Trotsky Leon Davidovich Trotsky (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий; also transliterated Trotskii, Trotski, Trotzky) (October 26 (O.S.) = November 7 (N.S.), 1879 - August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist intellectual. ... Josip Broz Tito (May 7, 1892 - May 4, 1980) was the ruler of Yugoslavia between the end of World War II and his death in 1980. ... For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Zionism is a Jewish political movement, developed in response to 19th century anti-Semitism. ... Conspiracy, in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. ...

The trials were the result of a split within the Communist leadership on the degree to which the state should emulate the Soviet Union and was part of a Stalin inspired purge of "disloyal" elements in the national Communist parties in Central Europe as well as a purge of Jews from the leadership of Communist parties. Klement Gottwald, president of Czechoslovakia and leader of communist party feared himself being purged and decided to sacrifice Slanský, long term collaborator and personal friend who was second in leadership of the party. The other persons were picked to convey clear threat to different groups in state bureacracy. Couple of them were brutal sadists conveniently added for more realistic show. Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... Historical lands and provinces in Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... A 1950s Czechoslovak propaganda poster depicting Gottwald and Stalin Klement Gottwald (November 23, 1896 - March 14, 1953) was a Czechoslovakian Communist politician, longtime leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC or CPCz or CPC). ...

People put before the trial were tortured and forced to confess all crimes and ask for punishment, including death, before the court. Slánský attempted suicide when in prison. The court sessions were thoroughly rehearsed before to ensure greatest effect and no suprises. The process was heavily attended by public and covered by media, serving as fine example of propaganda tool. People of Czechoslovakia were ordered to sign petitions asking for death for traitors. Harsh treatment of party's own people was to show that the communist party won't stop at anything and any potential dissidents may expect no mercy.

Though support of Sionism was only one and minor accusation the processes got widely considered an extension of Stalin's 1948-53 anti-Semitic campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans", and took place between the arrests and executions of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union and the so-called Doctors' plot of early 1953. Among other accusations were attempts to destroy socialism and put capitalism back, cooperation with foreign secret services and imperialists and attempt to put vedge between the country and Soviet Union. Rootless cosmopolitan (Russian language: безродный космополит, bezrodny kosmopolit) was a Soviet euphemism during Joseph Stalins anti-Semitic campaign of 1948-1953, which culminated in the exposure of the alleged Doctors plot. The term and the persecutions by the authorities unmistakably targeted the Jews. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... The Doctors plot (Russian language: дело врачей (doctors affair), врачи-вредители (doctors-saboteurs) or врачи-убийцы (doctors-killers)) was an alleged conspiracy to eliminate the leadership of the Soviet Union. ...

These trials were only tip of iceberg. Communist party trying to get absolute control routinely set up mock courts where people were sentenced to prison or even executed as "enemies of new socialist order". Information about such smaller trials was publicised on local level where it could be most effective.

After Stalin's death (1953) harshness of persecutions slowly decreased and the victims of trials quietly received amnesty one by one, including those surviving Prague Trials. Later official historiography of Communist Party was rather quiet on the trials, vaguely puting blame on errors that happened due to cult of personality.

The Prague Trials were dramatised in the 1970 movie L'Aveu (the Confession) directed by Costa-Gavras and starring Yves Montand and Simone Signoret. The film was based on the book of the same name by Artur London, who was a survivor of the trials. Constantinos Gavras (born February 12, 1933, Loutra-Iraias, Greece), better known as Costa-Gavras, is a Greek-French filmmaker best known for films with overt political themes. ... Yves Montand Yves Montand (October 13, 1921 – November 9, 1991) was a French/Italian actor, born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Alto, Italy. ... Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (March 25, 1921 - September 30, 1985), was a French actress. ... Artur London, (born February 1, 1915, Ostrava, Moravia, Austria-Hungary - died November 8, 1986 in Paris, France), was a Czech Communist politician and co-defendant in the Prague Trials. ...

See also

• Solomon Mikhoels
• Itzik Feffer
• Ilya Ehrenburg
• History of anti-Semitism