Champion of Freedom, Enemy of the State
Milada Horáková (1901–1950) is not the first name that comes to mind in international circles when historically significant Czechs are mentioned. However, within the Czech lands she is a national hero who stood firm in her convictions of social justice and equality for all in the face of two despotic regimes. For her ideals, she was imprisoned twice and ultimately paid for them with her life.
Early Years
Born Milada Králová in Prague on December 25, 1901, she took an interest in social issues early in life and showed concern for helping her countrymen rebuild their lives and the newly independent Czechoslovakia that had emerged from the ashes of the First World War.
In 1926, she graduated from Prague’s Charles University with a degree in law and began working for Prague City Council’s social services authority. Her work focused on public housing, unemployment, and women’s issues, including the status of single and divorced mothers. She was also a member of the Czechoslovak Red Cross and the Czech National Women’s Council, spending considerable time touring Europe on behalf of Czech women. In 1927, she married Bohuslav Horák. The couple had one child, a daughter named Jana, in 1933.
German Occupation and First Imprisonment
The couple became members of the Czech resistance movement in 1939, keeping lines of communication to London open and assisting in securing safe passage out of Czechoslovakia for others before they were arrested by the Gestapo in 1940.
Milada spent two years in Gestapo-run prisons in Prague before being transferred to the Gestapo prison at the Small Fortress in Terezín in 1942. By 1944, she had been moved through prisons in Leipzig and Dresden and was eventually sentenced to eight years’ hard labour in October of that year, a sentence that had been reduced from the death penalty. Her sentence was cut short when American forces liberated the prison in Aichach, Bavaria, where she was being held. In May 1945, she returned to Czechoslovakia. For her actions against the Nazi regime during the war, she was awarded two medals by then-President Eduard Beneš.
Communist Takeover and Second Imprisonment
Horáková’s return to her family and professional life was initially optimistic. Encouraged by then-President Eduard Beneš, she joined the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and served as a Member of Parliament. She was also active in the Union of Liberated Political Prisoners and continued to champion social justice, equality, and humanitarianism. She firmly believed in a fair justice system and the principle that a person was innocent until proven guilty.
These principles placed her in direct opposition to the Communists, who seized power in the February 1948 coup d’état. While many members of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party accepted the new regime, Horáková and a handful of others resigned in protest.
Despite the urging of many friends to leave Czechoslovakia while she still had the opportunity, Milada refused. Drawing on her experience resisting the Nazis during the war just a few years earlier, she helped establish a resistance movement against the Communist regime, setting up safe houses and escape routes for those wishing to leave the country.
On September 27, 1949, Horáková was arrested in her office by the StB, the Czechoslovak secret police. Her husband placed their daughter in the care of Milada’s sister and went into hiding until December 1949, when he successfully crossed the border into West Germany.
Milada Horáková was one of a group of 13 people whom the Communist regime regarded as threats to its authority. Fabricated charges of treason, espionage, and other offences were brought against the group, and a public show trial, with direct Soviet involvement, was arranged to make an example of them.
Standing Resolute
On May 31, 1950, after extended interrogations involving both physical and psychological torture, coerced confessions, and the forced memorization of the trial script—including the prosecutors’ questions and the expected replies—the trial began.
Of the 13 defendants, Horáková was the only one to stray from the script and openly challenge the prosecution, remaining steadfast in her belief in democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. In doing so, she undoubtedly made matters worse for herself, but she also deprived the Communist regime of valuable propaganda, as much of what she said during the trial had to be censored to the point of uselessness.
Ultimately, Milada and three other defendants were sentenced to death. Four others received life sentences, while the remainder were handed prison terms ranging from 15 to 28 years.
On June 27, 1950, Milada Horáková, along with Jan Buchal, Záviš Kalandra, and Dr. Oldřich Pecl, was executed by hanging at Prague’s Pankrác Prison.
Although a small number of prominent international figures, including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Eleanor Roosevelt, appealed for clemency, the Western powers mounted little effective opposition to the verdict.
Justice Delayed
The first opportunity to clear Horáková’s name came during the Prague Spring of 1968. Steps were taken to address the injustice done to her, but the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia brought those efforts to an abrupt end. It was also during the Prague Spring that Horáková’s daughter, Jana, was able to escape Czechoslovakia for the United States.
True justice and a full pardon would not come until after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. In 1991, former President Václav Havel posthumously awarded Horáková the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, First Class.
Named after the first president of independent Czechoslovakia, this honour is awarded by the Czech Republic to individuals who have made notable contributions to democracy and humanitarianism. It is bestowed in five classes, with First Class being the highest.
In November 2006, Horáková’s daughter accepted the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom on her mother’s behalf. Presented by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, the award recognizes individuals and groups who demonstrate a lifelong commitment to democracy and opposition to totalitarian regimes.
A final measure of justice came in 2007, when the last surviving member of the prosecution team, Ludmila Brožová-Polednová (1921–2015), was charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Convicted in 2008 and sentenced to six years in prison, she served roughly one year in a special correctional facility for elderly and infirm inmates before receiving a presidential pardon from Václav Klaus in December 2009 on humanitarian grounds.
Legacy
Today, many municipalities across the Czech Republic have streets bearing Horáková’s name, along with schools and parks dedicated in her honour. Since 2004, the Czech Republic has marked the anniversary of her execution as the Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime.
In 2009, a bronze and granite monument to her was placed near Pankrác prison in Prague.
Further Reading
- A Radio Prague article published in 2000 to mark the 50th anniversary of Horáková’s death remains an excellent introduction to her life and legacy.
- A second Radio Prague article, published on the 73rd anniversary of her death, offers a more recent perspective.
- The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation website provides information about the organization, its activities, the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom, and its recipients.
Beyond Prague 