The Communism

Frantisek Zahradka (82), former Czechoslovakian political prisoner, decorated in 2012 for anti-communist resistance. In the 1950s, he received a twenty-year hard prison sentence for publishing an anti-communist magazine and leading immigrants across iron curtain borders into Austria. He escaped the death sentence demanded for him by the attorney only thanks to his age, as he was 19 during the trial. Even though his weight was down to measly 45 kilograms after two years of prison and torture, he had to extract uranium for development of Soviet nuclear weapon program under inhuman working conditions as part of a forced labor crew. In 2012 he was officially recognized, compensated and decorated for participating in anti-communist resistance. Died at the age 87 in 2017.