"Action K" or Liquidation of Monasteries in Czechoslovakia in 1950

Abstract

The article describes the course of assault and liquidation of all male monasteries in Czechoslovakia in April 1950. This joint act of the National Security Corps, the State Secret Security and the Communist Party fighters, called People's Militias, was referred to by the Communists as "Action K".

The author presents the broader context of this act, from intimidation of Church superiors and believers, death by torture of parish priest Josef Toufar, through monstrous trials with male religious superiors, to the ultimate elimination of the influence of orders on the society.

Keywords

• "Action K"
• centralization camps
• monasteries
• religious orders
• National Security Corps
• Central Committee of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
• Josef Toufar
• State Office for Church Affairs