(a) Czech Deputies and Leaders Imprisoned and Sentenced to Death
The most important perhaps was the case of Dr. Kramář, one of the most moderate of the Czech leaders. Dr. Kramář was arrested on May 21, 1915, on a charge of high treason as the leader of the Young Czechs; together with him were also arrested his colleague, deputy Dr. Rašín, Mr. Červinka, an editor of the Národní Listy, and Zamazal, an accountant. On June 3, 1916, all four of them were sentenced to death, although no substantial proofs were produced against them. Subsequently, however, the sentence was commuted to long terms of imprisonment, but after the general amnesty of July, 1917, they were released. Among the reasons for which they were imprisoned and sentenced to death were the following, as given in the official announcement, published in the Austrian press on January 4, 1917:
Dr. Kramář before the war was “the leader of Pan-Slav propaganda and of the Russophil movement in Bohemia.” He was also alleged to have kept up a connection with the pro-Ally propaganda conducted by the Czecho-Slovaks and their friends abroad during the war, and the Czech military action against Austria on the side of the Entente. Dr. Kramář was further blamed for the “treasonable” behaviour of Czech regiments who voluntarily surrendered to Russia and Serbia, and for the anti-German sentiments cherished by the Czecho-Slovaks for centuries past. Obviously in striking Dr. Kramář Austria meant to strike at the Czech nation. The “proofs” for the high treasonable activity of Dr. Kramář before and during the war were the following:[1]
(1) Dr. Kramář was (before the war) in communication with Brancianov, Bobrinski, Denis, Masaryk, Pavlů and others, who now preach the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary.
(2) In his articles in the Národní Listy, published during the war, Dr. Kramář advocated the liberation of small nations as proclaimed by the Entente. His organ, “the Národní Listy, laid special stress on news favourable to our enemies and on the state of disruption of Austria, and indirectly invited Czechs to passive resistance.”
(3) A copy of La Nation Tchèque was found in Dr. Kramář’s pocket at the time of his arrest.
(4) Dr. Kramář had a conversation with the Italian consul in April, 1915, which is “an important cause of suspicion.”
(5) In a letter to the Governor of Bohemia, Prince Thun, Dr. Kramář admitted that, always faithful to his political principles, he refrained from everything that might appear as approval of the war.
This was the evidence brought up against Kramář, on the ground of which he was to be hanged. These are the “proofs” of his responsibility for the distribution of treasonable Russian proclamations in Bohemia, repeated manifestations of sympathy with the enemy, and the refusal of Czech deputies to take part in any declarations or manifestations of loyalty.
Equally characteristic is also the case of the National Socialist leader, deputy Klofáč, who was arrested in September, 1914. Owing to lack of proofs the trial was repeatedly postponed, while Klofáč was left in prison. A formal charge was brought against him only when the Reichsrat was about to open in May, 1917, so as to prevent him from attending the meeting. Nevertheless he was released after the amnesty of July, 1917. Writing in the Národní Politika about his experience in prison, deputy Klofáč says:
“Many educated and aged political prisoners were not allowed out to walk in the yard for five months or more, which is contrary to all regulations. They were also not allowed to read books given to them by the judge, and they had to do the lowest work. One student who refused to wash the floor was beaten and confined to a dark cell. No wonder that many committed suicide. Dr. Vrbenský could tell how he used to get excited by the cry of the ill-treated prisoners. Even his nerves could not stand it. It is quite comprehensible, therefore, that Dr. Scheiner (the president of the ‘Sokol’ Union) in such an atmosphere was physically and mentally broken down in two months. Dr. Kramář and Dr. Rašín also had an opportunity of feeling the brutality of Polatchek and Teszinski. In the winter we suffered from frosts, for there was no heating. Some of my friends had frozen hands. We resisted the cold by drilling according to the Müller system. This kept us fit and saved us from going to the prison doctor, Dr. A. Prinz, who was a Magyar and formerly a doctor in Karlsbad. If a prisoner went to this ‘gentleman,’ he did not ask after his illness, but after his nationality, and for the reason of his remand imprisonment. On hearing that a prisoner was Czech and on remand for Par. 58c (high treason), he only hissed: ‘You do not want any medicine. It would be wasted, for in any case you will be hanged.’”
Besides Klofáč, the following four National Socialist deputies were also imprisoned: Choc, Buřival, Vojna and Netolický. The accused were condemned on July 30, 1916, for “failing to denounce Professor Masaryk’s revolutionary propaganda.”
Professor Masaryk, who escaped abroad in 1915, was sentenced to death in Austria in December, 1916. Unable to reach him, the Austrian Government revenged themselves on his daughter, Dr. Alice Masaryk, whom they imprisoned. Only after an energetic press campaign abroad was she released. A similar fate also met the wife of another Czech leader, Dr. Beneš, who escaped abroad in the autumn of 1915 and became secretary general of the Czecho-Slovak National Council.
Dr. Scheiner, president of the “Sokol” Gymnastic Association, was imprisoned, but was again released owing to lack of proofs. A similar fate also met the Czech Social Democratic leader Dr. Soukup, who was for some time kept in prison.