Evening star., 1953-09-13
10 Years Of Liberty
Snatched Away
By Czech Court
Continued From First Page.)

QSIeIlOduG IIlc COuI bIOOII1 1uAO An
eyes front, toward the judges.
But only seven months before.
when a group of Roman Catholic
clergymen was in the dock and !
was in the press section, had
studied another audience that
must have been much like it.
Poker Faces Behind.
And so I thought I knew what I
should have seen if could have
turned around and stared:
Two banks of color. like
fiowerbeds, above and below -
the clothing and faces Of a
crowd. Bright work shirts and
house frocks. Sober woollens -
Office garb. Pale faces, red
faces, poker faces, dull faces.
These were people the author
tiles had favored with passes to
the courtroom. A few were
friends or relatives of us de-
PENDANTS. Two were friends Of
mine-though / did not know then
that they were there, and 1t was
almost two years before found
out. They were observers for the
United States Embassy in Prague
Vice Consul Richard G. john
son and Private Secretary Mary
Horak.
But most Of those in the au-
dience were holidayerS from
factories, cooperative farms or
government Offices. They were
just there for the show. And the
show was drawing to its close.
They were waiting, and we were
waiting. Soon we were to hear
the judgment.
In ancient Rome. people
watched lions maui the Chris
tians. In old London, they
watched the hangman spring the
trap on thieves. In modern
Prague, they watched propa-
ganda trials.
1--WE Ruin" Opponents.
A man could cite other ex-
amples, too. from other times
and other places. But there is no
need for that. because in each
case the spectacle is, in essence.
the same.
1t is the spectacle of people
being understanding that
might bill iteslf, with little ex-
aggeration. as "the greatest
show on earth"
The show was drawing to its
close. On the day OF my arrest,
~ days before, the secret police
had told me:
IF any one opposes US. we ruin
them"
They had done a great deal in
that direction already. on all of
us. Now the court was about to
finish the job.
There we sat, watching the
stage set. Just in front Of us was
the horseshoe shaped witness
stall where we had stood, one
after another. to accuse our
selves. Beside that, to my right,
a well-dreSsed, rosy checked
girl sat as interpreter between
me and the court.
Prosecutor Puts on Act.
Beyond it rose a spacious plat
form stretching clear across the
end Of the courtroom. Now and
then a court functionary entered
from a door at the rear and Put
some papers on a desk.
Gradually the lawyers ;i,ifted
In. The four advocates Of the
accused took their places to-
gether in a box on the right. Sly
faced, In old suits, they looked
less like attorneys than like a
Seedy jury gathered hastily from
among loiterers on the court
house steps.
State Prosecutor Joseph Ur-
Valek strolled in. He was q
youthful looking man with black
hair, a handsome face and a
high, broad forehead. He wore
q long black gown, and he seemed
fond Of playing tricks with it,
shooting an arm out Of the
sleeve abruptly like death point
ing at his next victim.
Finally. the five judges filed
briskly in, trailing their black
gowns. We were prodded to our
feet. while we heard the spec
tators rising behind us, and we
remained standing till the
judges were seated.
They sat side by side, facing
us across the long, brown wooden
bar. On the wall behind them,
larger than life, reared the
golden lion of Bohemia, a symbol
from the days of feudaliSm
strangely surviving in an age of
communism. Its tail was forked
and barbed, like Satan'S.
In the middle of the bar sat
Presiding Judge Jaroslav Novak.
He was Stocky. yellowish and
bald, with buShy browS.
Judges UnprepOssesSing.
His stern stare was none the
less diSconcerting for it's ambi-
guilty. I could never tell whether
Judge Novak was looking at me
or not, he was croSs-eyed.
To his left were two other pro-
fessional judges. One was lit
tie brown man whose face was
wrinkled in a perpetual scowl,
as if he had a hangover. The
other was a big, broad fellow
with a big, broad face registering
only dead calm-a kind of Slav
Buddha.
To Judge Novak'S right sat the
two who had been pointed out to
me as the peoples judges
q bony little gnome of a man with
q sagging mouth. and buxom
woman with a pile of brown hair.
Both looked as if they might
have spent most of their lives
selling stamps in a post Office.
From somewhere Judge Novak
produced a round-topped black