The Ľudmila Cervanová Case

The film Bolero, based on a screenplay by Markéta Zinnerová, was recently shown on television. It depicted the true story of the brutal murder of a Slovak student, Ludmila Cervanová, in July 1976. In the early 1980s, seven young men were convicted of this crime and sentenced to long prison terms. After 1989, however, they were released due to a large-scale presidential amnesty and even won considerable compensation for alleged miscarriages of justice. In 2004, the trial was reopened and the sentences were confirmed, although the convicted men denied their guilt. The case of Ludmila Cervanová is one of the most horrifying cases in Czechoslovak, and later Slovak, judicial history. Its investigation was hampered by various obstructions, political figures became involved, and sensationalist journalists fed on it. The bereaved had to face threats, accusations, and ostracism, but above all, they had to come to terms with the cruel reality of losing a loved one. Although much has been written about this case over the years, this book is the first authentic public testimony from the person most affected by the brutal murder. It was written by the murdered Ludmila's own mother. In it, she describes her daughter's life up to the tragic moment of her abduction by a group of young men, her multiple rapes, and her subsequent violent death, which was intended to prevent the perpetrators from being identified. The course of the investigation and the trial, including the verdicts, are factually described in texts from police and court records. At the end of the book, the victim speaks to her murderers. Translated from the Slovak original by Pavel Kavinek. The author of this harrowing confession, Margaréta Cervanová (née Števušková, born 1933), spent her school years in Ústí nad Labem, after which the whole family returned to Slovakia, to Palárikovo. In September 1955, she married Ľudovít Cervan, an officer in the Czechoslovak army. She worked mainly as an accountant in various companies, as the family moved frequently due to her husband's profession. She had two daughters, Ludmila and Marcela. In July 1976, Ludmila became the victim of a brutal murder, and her mother has told her story based on personal memories and court documents.