28.1 1975 - President Novotný, who survived Mauthausen, died

President Antonín Novotný went through the Mauthausen concentration camp. He was rescued by an SS man who needed his car repaired. After the war, the future president's career rose rapidly. He died on January 28, 1975.

The late Antonín Zápotocký was succeeded by the fifty-two-year-old Novotný in the presidency on 19 November 1957. Many were surprised, as it was expected that the post would be taken by then Prime Minister Viliam Širokýbut Novotny's candidacy was supported and recommended directly by the Kremlin, and the opinion of Soviet officials could not be ignored at the time. For Khrushchev, Shiroky was unacceptable because he belonged to the Stalinists and actively collaborated in the preparation of political trials. On the other hand, the Soviet politician got along with Novotny on many issues.

Novotny also retained the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. "Already during his first public speech after the presidential election, he indicated that the real power lay in this position. He regarded the role of president as merely supplementary. His goal was to establish socialism in Czechoslovakia," writes Vladimír Liška in his book Presidents.

Novotný joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia at the age of 17. He was involved in sports, playing football for the Red Star of Letňany, for example. However, he later became even more involved in the party, travelling to the countryside and factories to agitate. He even became a member of the regional committee of the Communists in Prague and attended the congress in Moscow.

In 1941, he suffered a severe lung injury at work during an explosion, but before he could fully recover, he was arrested by the Gestapo and taken to the concentration camp at Mauthausen. "It was one of the worst for Czech prisoners because the Nazis mainly exterminated members of the Czech intelligentsia there. They had a famous staircase of death built in a quarry, where weakened prisoners had to carry large stones up to thefull exhaustion, followed by a fatal bullet from a guard," Liška emphasises in his publication.

He didn't get along with Slánský, but he did with Gottwald

Novotný was incredibly lucky. While carrying stones, he noticed the guard walking slowly and was about to hit him in the back with a pickaxe. One of the SS men, however, apparently knew that Novotný was a welder as well as a trained locksmith, and at the last minute he asked for him because he needed to repair his car. And because he proved himself, he stayed working in the workshop permanently, thus saving himself.

After the war, his political career had a rapid rise. He became regional party secretary in Prague, a prestigious position. Although Rudolf Slánský didn't like him very much. Klement Gottwald, on the other hand, got along with Novotny. Moreover, Slánský fell out of favour with Stalin, which meant the end of his political career. He was replaced as head of the Central Committee by Novotny. "He also got along with another president, Zapotocky, and developed links with the State Security," Bílek notes.

When Novotný became president, he worked at the castle only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The rest of the week he worked at the Central Committee. His wife, Božena, was also well-known, and after she became First Lady, she had the original furniture from President Masaryk's house moved out of Prague Castle and the rooms furnished in the style of socialist modernism. The Novotny marriage was described by acquaintances as exemplary. Novotný was the first to be addressed as "Comrade President", his predecessors as "Mr President".

Unlike other presidents, Novotny's health served him well. According to available information, he suffered no serious illnesses. But he was losing power as a result of political developments. From the spring of 1968, he was virtually out of the picture. The Communist Party was headed by Gustáv Husák, who later became president.

Sources: Vladimír Liška: Presidents, www.hrad.cz, http://komunismus.eu/