Talk:Antonín Zápotocký

Dutch killings

" He was released in 1945, but the Netherlands demanded his extradition on the suspicions of his participation in executions of Dutch citizens."

So? Was he guilty? What happened about this? The man went on to the top political offices of the country! Was it mistaken identity? Did he confess to being involved? How can an allegation like this be raised for such a prominent person without more being said? 69.125.134.86 (talk) 01:19, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

It's obviously been over 10 years since you wrote this, and it seems this part was removed from the article – but this allegation had me curious too, so I dug into it and found this article (in Czech): https://www.irozhlas.cz/veda-technologie/historie/antonin-zapotocky-historie-michal-stehlik-komunismus-jak-bylo-doopravdy_2209102117_elev

To sum up, this seems like some sort of Cold War-era hoax/misunderstanding. Zápotocký was relatively old when deported to Sachsenhausen (56 years), which seems to have given rise to suspicion about how he could have survived there for five years – and if he had collaborated with the camp personnel to save his own life. However, no evidence proving his involvement in the killings of inmates seems to have been found. A camp survivor supposedly implicated Zápotocký in a testimony, and also claimed there were microfilms proving his participation in killings. But, as the linked article says:

"But who could take pictures in a concentration camp with impunity? Certainly not prisoners, so unless they were members of the SS or the concentration camp administration. But we need evidence to confirm guilt. We only know from archival documents that no official search ever took place - by the Czechoslovak authorities or the Dutch."

According to the article, the Dutch embassy in Prague also issued a statement in August 1946 clarifying that they had NOT requested his extradition. So, it seems this part was removed from the article for good reason. Fogelstrom (talk) 17:57, 15 August 2024 (UTC)