Woe to him who stands out from the crowd

How easy (and above all, comfortable) it is to forget – and how unhealthy that is for the soul of the nation!

This book, by the experienced non-fiction author Roman Cílek, takes us back in a captivating, narrative style to the post-February era when lawlessness reigned. It lifts the curtain of time and, through specific stories concerning the victims – primarily heroes of the previous anti-fascist resistance and wartime events – brings us closer to an age of show trials, targeted revenge, confessions extracted through torture, agents provocateurs, individuals obsessed with power, and malicious games played with human lives.

Roman Cílek has dedicated himself to this topic for decades. He has studied recently declassified archives and met with dozens of witnesses both at home and abroad – whether victims or perpetrators of the post-February crimes (some of whom were eventually consumed by the monstrous system themselves). He has also acquired unique photographic material. Thanks to all this, he presents an authentic picture of an era whose return we must not allow, for we would betray both ourselves and our ancestors.

And it is precisely in its authenticity and emphasis on human destinies and motives (even if some might be described as inhuman) that the main value of this book lies. With its publication, we wish to pay a modest tribute to those who did not enter the service of communist evil and did not bow before it.