Jan Zahradníček (1905–60): The Tragedy of a Poet and Prisoner of the Communist Regime

Authors

  • Jiří Hanuš Philosophical Faculty, Masaryk University, Brno

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/APH.2018.118.05

Keywords

Czech Catholicism, twentieth century, imprisoned writers, religious faith

Abstract

The article deals with an outstanding Czech poet Jan Zahradníček (1905–60), who was arrested in 1951 and sentenced for 13 years of prison in a show trial. He was released during the general amnesty in 1960 and died in the same year. His tragic fate is depicted in several collections of poems written in prisons (Pankrác, Brno, Mírov, Leopoldov). The collections were saved and published and his poetic diary was found in Leopoldov prison 55 years after his death. Zahradníček’s poems in combination with the memories of contemporary witnesses and published interpretations of his work (Zdeněk Rotrekl, Rio Preisner, Radovan Zejda, Martin Putna) allow an exceptional view of the inner life of a person who was unjustly imprisoned in the times of communist purges in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s.

Author Biography

Jiří Hanuš, Philosophical Faculty, Masaryk University, Brno

Jiří Hanuš – Czech recent history and literature; professor at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, Masaryk University, Brno

References

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Knapík Jiří, V zajetí moci. Kulturní politika, její systém a aktéři 1948–1956 (Praha, 2006).

Kopecký Lukáš (ed.), Spisovatelé za mřížemi. Sborník ke konferenci a výstavě (Plzeň, 2017).

Literatura určená k likvidaci. Sborník příspěvků z konference pořádané v Brně 26.–27. listopadu 2002 k padesátému výročí politických procesů se spisovateli (Brno, 2004).

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Preisner Rio, Myslet na Evropu II (Praha, 2004).

Putna Martin C., Česká katolická literatura 1918–1945 (Praha, 2015). Putna Martin C., Česká katolická literatura 1945–1989 (Praha, 2017).

Trojková Natálie, Je to s tím Akordem velký kříž. Vzájemná korespondence Timothea Vodičky a Jana Zahradníčka.

Wiendl Jan and Tomáš Kubíček (eds.), Víra a výraz (Brno, 2005).

Zahradníček Jan, Mezi nás prostřena noc… Dopisy z vězení ženě Marii (Brno, 2008). Zahradníček Jan, Dílo I–III. (Praha, 1991–1992–1995).

Zejda Radovan, Byl básníkem! Život a dílo Jana Zahradníčka (Tišnov, 2004).

Acta Poloniae Historica

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Published

2019-02-01

How to Cite

1.
HANUŠ, Jiří. Jan Zahradníček (1905–60): The Tragedy of a Poet and Prisoner of the Communist Regime. Acta Poloniae Historica. Online. 1 February 2019. Vol. 118, pp. 127-150. [Accessed 10 November 2025]. DOI 10.12775/APH.2018.118.05.

Issue

Vol. 118 (2018)

Section

THE HISTORY OF PRISON REGIMES IN THE POLISH TERRITORY IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES

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