Slánský was born on July 31, 1901 in Nezvěstice near Pilsen, Bohemia. His father was a Jewish merchant. He studied at a public academy in Plzeň. Slánský joined the Czechoslovak Communist Party in 1921, three years after it was formed. In 1924 he was the editor of the Communist Party newspaper, "Rude Pravo". He rose in the ranks of the Party becoming a member of the Central Committee. He was in hiding from 1929 to 1935 because the Party was illegal in Czechoslovakia at the time. He became a member of the National Assembly and a close associate of Klement Gottwald.
When the Munich Agreement was signed in 1938, Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland was taken over by Nazi Germany. When the German army marched into the Sudetenland on October 1, 1938, Slánský fled. He went to the Soviet Union and stayed there during most of World War II. He returned to Czechoslovakia in 1944 and took part in the Slovak National Uprising.
After the war, he was involved in politics. The Communist Party in Czechoslovakia agreed to accept many of Joseph Stalin's trained Czechs. Slánský was made the Secretary-General of the Party in Czechoslovakia. By 1948, it was clear that Gottwald was following the Stalinist style of politics.
Slánský himself had been in charge of purges of several of his associates. When Gottwald thought he might be next, he had Slánský and 13 others arrested. The charges against Slánský included treason, spying and sabotage. Slánský finally confessed after being tortured. Then he had to memorize a speech for the show trial. All of the 14 had confessed. Slánský was one of the 11 who was given a death sentence. Twice Slánský attempted suicide while he was waiting for his execution. Finally, on December 3, 1952, he was hanged at Pankrac Prison.
After Stalin died in 1953, there were fewer purges. In April 1963, Slánský and his fellow victims were cleared of the charges against them. In May, 1968, Slánský and the others were formally exonerated.
Aero Caribbean Flight 883
Aero Caribbean Flight 883 was a passenger flight from Port-au-Prince to Havana with a stopover at Santiago de Cuba. On November 4 2010, the ATR-72-212 crashed near Sancti Spíritus due to icing. All 68 people on-board were killed in Cuba's 3rd deadliest air-disaster.
Herbert Mies
Herbert Mies (23 February 1929 – 14 January 2017) was a German politician. He joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1945. He was the chairman of the party from 1973 to 1989. He was a winner of the 1985–86 Lenin Peace Prize. He was born in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg.
Mies died on 14 January 2017 in Mannheim at the age of 87.
Ferdinand Peroutka
Ferdinand Peroutka (6 February 1895 – 20 April 1978) was a Czech journalist and writer. He is considered to be one of the most important journalists in Czech history.
From 1919 to 1924 he worked as editor of magazine "Tribuna" (Tribune), then from 1924 to 1939 he was editor-in-chief of revue "Přítomnost" (Presence). His activity was supported by T. G. Masaryk, who also contributed to his magazines. Peroutka was also wrote about politics in "Lidové noviny," where he wrote against Nazis and communists, whose idelogies he saw as dangerous. For this he was frequently attacked by members of those parties. He also openly criticiced Adolf Hitler, for his lies and false promises.
After German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Peroutka was forced to write propaganda for the Nazis. He didn't listen and in April 1939 issue of "Přítomnost" he wrote an article "Dynamický život" (Dynamic life) about the 50th birthday of Adolf Hitler. In this article he acknowledged Hitler's power, but refused that Czechs should listen to him. For this he was sent to concentration camp, but was released after few days. Although, a few months later in September 1939 he was jailed again, along with other potential enemies of Nazi regime.
Peroutka was jailed in concentration camps Dachau and Buchenwald, where he was liberated by American army in 1945.
After the war Peroutka became editor-in-chief of "Svobodné noviny" and "Dnešek," that replaced his previous magazines.
In those years he was repeatedly accused by communists of sympathizing with Nazis. Their proof were articles "Dynamický život" and "Hitler po lidské strance" (Hitler with a human face), that he didn't actually write. Peroutka refused those claims. Many years later in 2015, Czech president Miloš Zeman claimed that Peroutka was fascinated by Nazism and wrote an article called "Hitler je gentleman" (Hitler is gentleman). Although this was never proved Zeman refused to apologize and Ovčáček is still searching for that article
In the years 1945-1946 he was a member of the parliament for Czech National Social Party.
After Soviets assumed control over Czech government in 1948 Peroutka went to exile. First he went to England and later to United States. He worked for Radio Free Europe in Munich and was one of the members of The Council of Free Czechoslovakia.
Peroutka became one of the most important anti-communist personalities and his works were banned behind Iron Curtain. Reading and spreading his work was illegal and Communist government pretented he never existed. Because of this Czechs growing up after normalization had practically no way to find out who he was.
Peroutka died in 1978 in New York. After Velvet revolution he was buried on Vyšehrad in 1991.
Richard Divall
Richard Divall (9 September 1945 – 15 January 2017) was an Australian conductor and musicologist. He spent nine years as a music producer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales.
From 1972, on the invitation of Dame Joan Hammond, he became the music director of the Victoria State Opera in Melbourne, Victoria. He stayed with the opera for 25 years. His teachers included Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Reginald Goodall and Wolfgang Wagner. He was also a professor in Melbourne, London and Malta.
Divall died after a long illness 15 January 2017 in Melbourne. He was 71.
After Eight
After Eight is the name of mint chocolate candies made by Nestlé.
Biberkopf
The Biberkopf is a mountain in the Alps. It is on the border between Germany and Austria. The mountain is high.
The Biberkopf is on the main ridge of the Allgäu Alps. It forms a border between Bavaria, Germany and Tyrol, Austria. It is about 15.5 km southwest of Oberstdorf and about 2.5 km east of the Schrofen Pass. The "Biberkopf" is sometimes called the most southerly point in Bavaria and Germany. However, its summit is 110 metres further north than the Haldenwanger Eck, which is 4,088 metres to the west. The mountain is made of dolomite.
Hornbach chain
The Hornbach chain () is a string of mountains, about 15 kilometres long. They are part of the Allgäu Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol. The Hornbach chain leaves the main ridge of the Allgäu Alps at the Öfnerspitze. It arcs from the north to the east.
In the west another branch goes south, which is where the Großer Krottenkopf (2,656 m) is found. The mountain is the highest in the whole Allgäu Alps.
On the main ridge of the Hornbach chain, the highest peaks are the Marchspitze (2,609 m), the Bretterspitze (2,608 m) and the Urbeleskarspitze (2,632 m). They are all in the ten most important summits of the Allgäu Alps.
Carlos Fernández Gondín
Carlos Fernández Gondín (1 July 1938 – 7 January 2017) was a Cuban politician. He was born in Santiago de Cuba. He served as the Minister of the Interior of Cuba from 2015 until his death in 2017 during the Raul Castro presidency.
In 2015, he suffered a stroke. He died in Havana from complications of a chronic condition on 7 January 2017, aged 78.
Ryszard Parulski
Ryszard Parulski (9 March 1938 – 10 January 2017) was a Polish fencer. He won a silver medal in the team foil event at the 1964 Summer Olympics and a bronze in the same event at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was born in Warsaw.
Parulski served as the vice-chairman of the Polish Olympic Committee from 1990 until 1992.