Word: bacilek
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...Russians are worried about the increasingly anti-Soviet tone of Dubček's liberalization. Czechoslovak news papers, for example, openly accused the Russian secret police of engineering the forced confessions and show trials of the 1950s. In fact, the onetime state prosecutor at those trials, Karol Bacilek, charged last week that the man who came to Prague to force Czechoslovak Communists to conduct the purge was none other than Anastas Mikoyan, later the Soviet President...
Last week Old Stalinist Antonin Novotny, President and first secretary of the Communist Party, bowed to mounting pressure from younger party leaders for further liberalization, announced the purge of two oldtime comrades-in-arms. Served up as scapegoats were Karol Bacilek, 66, first secretary of the Slovak wing of the nation's Communist Party and former Minister of Internal Security; and Bruno Kohler, 62, a party member since its founding in 1921 and No. 3 man on the Central Committee Secretariat...
Announcing their downfall, the party mouthpiece, Rude Pravo, deliberately gave no reasons for the ousters, since a full explanation could set off a chain reaction of destalinization that might well cost dour, lackluster Novotny his job. Bacilek was top cop back in 1952 when Rudolf Slansky and ten other Red leaders were hanged in the bloodiest of Stalin's satellite show trials; Köhler also played a key role in preparing the purge. And Czechoslovaks with good memories would recall the day eleven years ago when Security Boss Bacilek publicly and effusively thanked all those who had produced...
...chief aspirants were Prime Minister Antonin Zapotocky, 69, who is old for the job and perhaps not aggressive enough; Defense Minister Alexei Cepicka, 43, who rose to favor by marrying Gottwald's daughter, and is opportunistic and ruthless, but thoroughly disliked by other Communist leaders; Security Minister Karol Bacilek, 57, and Deputy Premier Viliam Siroky, 51, both of whom have the initial disadvantage of being Slovaks in a nation predominantly Czech. Even by Communist standards, there is not much to choose from...
Into office as Kopriva's successor went tough, 55-year-old Karel Bacilek, Moscow-trained son of a Slovak bricklayer, and former Minister of State Control, i.e., Big Brother to all Czech industry. Bacilek's appointment seemed to indicate a new Kremlin policy in Czechoslovakia. Disturbed by the Czechs' failure to deliver their quota of weapons and equipment to the Red army, the Kremlin is getting rid of men like Slansky and Kopriva, who were good Communist theoreticians but sloppy administrators, and replacing them with lesser-known Communists who know how to get things done...