"Iron Curtain" on the border of the Czech Republic
The phenomenon of illegal translators and couriers on the territory of Czechoslovakia belongs mainly to the period after 1948, and is directly related to the political changes that came to the country after the communist party came to power. People crossed borders even before 1948, but at that time it was not yet a serious crime, and most of them received only short sentences when caught. Everything changed with the arrival of February 1948. By the end of the year, a law was already passed protecting the People's Democratic Republic of Czechoslovakia.
"Leaving the country was perceived as a hostile act," says historian Libor Svoboda of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. "It was no longer just a free departure – there was no question of that – it meant that you wanted to join the enemies of the communist regime in the West. So these people were automatically accused of treason, espionage. It was assumed that in the so-called 'occupation zones' in Germany and Austria, during the first interrogation – screening – they would be questioned in detail and would divulge secret information. Then economic treason was added to these charges. When the country fell into economic difficulties, when a policy similar to that of the 1930s in the Soviet Union was pursued, refugees were also accused of wanting to harm Czechoslovakia in an economic sense."
The first punishments for illegal border crossing were light. Mostly it was a week or two, at most a couple of months – depending on the nature and personal qualities of the accused. Then, however, the situation worsened. Often even those who, having been abroad, decided to return home received a huge sentence – up to 12 years in prison. The number of refugees was abnormal – up to 1955, about 70 thousand people crossed the border of Czechoslovakia fleeing to the West.
"In the first phase, people fled mainly through the 'green' border. Once in the border area, they tried to cross the border line on their own or as part of an organized group. This situation lasted until 1950. Later, the regime improved border protection – border guards appeared. These were military units subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The regime also changed in the border areas, a border strip appeared where entry was prohibited, and if anyone was allowed there, it was only with passes. All objects located on this territory were gradually demolished during the 1950s, and the population was evicted. In principle, there was a tendency to evict from the border area those people who were considered politically unreliable," continues historian Libor Svoboda.
The final blow of the regime in the early 1950s on the borders with Austria and Germany was barbed wire through which electricity was passed. There could be no question of crossing such a border and staying alive. In 1953-54, minefields were added to the electrified barbed wire on some sections. Needless to say, a huge number of people fell victim on these borders. The electricity in the barbed wire fences was turned off only on December 31, 1965. The minefields did not justify themselves because of the huge number of accidental casualties – primarily border guards, livestock, and wild animals. For example, a farmer once died when he mistakenly drove his tractor into a minefield. Therefore, in the second half of the 1950s, they gradually disappeared.
A question may arise: why was such serious protection of the borders with the GDR necessary? After all, East Germany was, like Czechoslovakia, a people's democratic state that was part of the Eastern Bloc.
"The regime on the GDR side was freer. West Berlin had a special status that allowed people to freely cross to the other side. This situation continued until 1962. Many illegal translators and couriers who came from Ústí nad Labem and Liberec crossed the border precisely through East Germany. For example, let us recall the legendary escape of the Mašín brothers, who eventually reached West Berlin via the GDR. All this played a role in the fact that the regime on the borders between Czechoslovakia and the GDR became similar to that on the borders with capitalist states. It can be said that classic illegal crossings ended with the creation of the 'Iron Curtain'. The only 'window' remained West Berlin. However, strict controls were introduced there, and without a proper permit from the Czechoslovak and East German authorities, it was impossible to get there. At the moment the Berlin Wall was built, the need for these measures disappeared," continues historian Libor Svoboda.
As mentioned above, the influx of refugees from Czechoslovakia was abnormal. People tried to find all possible ways to get out of the country. Some – those who more or less knew the border areas – tried to escape on their own. While the borders were not so strictly guarded, the chance to escape really existed. Libor Svoboda says that in archival materials he managed to find information that during these years, a 30-kilometer section of the border was monitored by only one patrol of two people. If this happened in a natural area, for example, somewhere in the forest, then the border was effectively "porous."
“Soon illegal crossings of the border began to be organized,” says historian Libor Svoboda. “This is something we encounter today with refugees from the Middle East and Africa. It’s exactly the same business; large groups of smugglers emerge. And then they were moving people across borders for money. These groups became very numerous, and only over time did the State Security Service manage to break them up, and they even included employees of the Czechoslovak KGB, as well as people who were supposed to guard the borders. For example, there was a big case ‘Operation Buchina’ in Šumava or in Házlov in the Karlovy Vary region, where State Security officers and border guards were moving people across the border. There were also organizations that smuggled political refugees. This service was always provided for money, but it must be said that the risk was indeed great.”
Of course, everything was strictly secret. People were brought to the border area, someone picked them up there, they stayed somewhere overnight, and then they were taken across the border. Various messages were often sent with the smugglers for those already abroad. Libor Svoboda tells of one such person named Josef Randák, a native of the Příbram region. He was helped by his sister and brother-in-law. Usually Randák came to them; they lived 10–15 kilometers from the border. The sister would go to the people planning to escape with a letter. She traveled to Přerov, Prostějov, Zlín — that is, often very far away. She brought the letter and gave instructions on where to come. When the people arrived, they were met, taken to her home, stayed there overnight, and in the morning Josef Randák took them across the border.
In short, many people were involved in this sphere, usually from border areas.
“But foreigners also took part. For example, I know of a group of former Yugoslavs who made money smuggling people across the border. This group charged 150,000 crowns per person. They took people across the Austrian border, which was very risky because it was the Soviet occupation zone. They brought them to Vienna, which at that time, like Berlin, was divided into two parts. First, people were taken by train to Veselí nad Lužnicí. Then a taxi from Jindřichův Hradec took them to Nová Bystřice, where they crossed the border. In Austria, in Reingers, there was a tavern owner who took them in,” concludes historian Libor Svoboda.
Most often, illegal smugglers were people who could move freely in the border area without arousing suspicion — foresters, peasants, those who lived in the area. In 1955, the era of border smugglers ends, because crossing the borders became practically impossible.