Book Description

The trial of Czech Communist Party General Secretary Rudolf Slansky and ten other officials in 1952 was distinctive due to its clear antisemitic character: one of the accusations against the defendants was participation in an anti-Soviet Zionist conspiracy. This accusation took shape in the USSR, which was in fact behind this show trial, at a time when its relations with Israel had deteriorated and antisemitism became a component in Soviet internal and foreign politics. From the end of the war, Czechoslovakia had adopted a favorable stance toward the Jewish Yishuv and the State of Israel, providing military support as well; because of this, Czechoslovakia had to be punished by the Soviet Union, to become a scapegoat for the failure of Soviet attempts to penetrate the Middle East through the State of Israel.