"He divulged the holding of his interrogation in advance": The National Security versus Vojtech Čelko
Abstract
This article discusses the life and work of the historian Vojtech Čelko between the 1960s and 1980s. It pays special regard to the interest of the National Security in his activities.
Only fragments of information are available from the brief kept by the National Security on Vojtech Čelko - most of the brief was discarded in 1988. Based on the remaining information we can claim that from the onset of the 1970s, the National Security has held Vojtech Čelko in the category of "unfriendly persons" although it simultaneously made several unsuccessful attempts to convince him to agree to some form of cooperation.
National Security's interest in Vojtech Čelko stemmed from his activist past back in the 1960s, when he operated as a top student official and helped organise numerous public events. In this respect, Čelko's close links to eminent communist reformists - which later ended up in opposition to the official regime, namely the historian Vilém Prečan - also played a key role.