Karel Nigrin

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Nigrín's photo, taken by the secret police

Karel Nigrín (born February 29, 1904 in Nové Strašecí , † June 21, 1982 in Prague ), pseudonym Karel Spal, was an employee of the Foreign Ministry of the Czechoslovak government in exile in London, after 1945 also in the Foreign Ministry in Prague. After the Communists came to power in 1948, he was arrested in 1949 and sentenced to life for treason. Thanks to an amnesty, he was released from prison after 14 years. 1968 one of the active founders and the first chairman of the independent association of political prisoners K 231 .

Life

Nigrín lived in Benešov during his early years . In 1926 he finished his studies at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague and worked in Nové Zámky and Uherské Hradiště as a university teacher for history. After the Munich Agreement in 1939 and the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Germany, he helped organize the flight of students abroad, was arrested and sentenced to death. However, he managed to flee to London via Yugoslavia, Lebanon and France. In London he worked in the government-in-exile of Edvard Beneš in the Foreign Ministry. After 1945 he returned to Prague and also worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a consultant.

Nigrín, who was a member of the Czechoslovak People's Socialist Party ( Československá strana národně socialistická , or ČSNS for short) was arrested on February 6, 1949 and sentenced to life for alleged aid to escape. He was later given amnesty and released on December 3, 1963. He spent the years of imprisonment in the notorious Leopoldov prison in western Slovakia.

During the Prague Spring, Nigrín became active again, he participated in the founding of the socially very agile association of former political prisoners K 231 and became the first chairman of the association. After the fall of the Prague Spring, Nigrín withdrew, but was observed by the StB secret police until his death .

Nigrín wrote some essays on the anti-fascist resistance in Czechoslovakia, published as a fiction writer, wrote cultural articles and translated from English.

In 2009 he received the “ Medaile za zásluhy ” medal in memoriam .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From the database of the National Library of the Czech Republic http://www.nkp.cz/
  2. ↑ a b record of the meeting of the Senate of the Czech Parliament on 16 June 2009, online at: 88. Usnesení ORGANIZAČNÍHO výboru z 13. schůze konané dne 16. června 2009 ( Memento of 27 April 2014 Internet Archive ), Czech, Retrieved September 27, 2010
  3. ↑ a b c Karel Nigrín, short biography of the ÚSTR , online at: www.ustrcr.cz , Czech, accessed on September 27, 2010

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Nigrin, Karel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nigrin, Karel; Spal, Karel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech politician and dissident
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Nové Strašecí
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1982
Place of death Prague