On the Cold War Front – Czechoslovakia 1948–1956

Illustrative photo

  • Curator of the exhibition: Prokop Tomek
  • Graphics and exhibition design: Mária Hostinová
  • Exterior caption architecture: Milan Buchta
  • Production: Marek Čulen, Bohumila Křížová
  • Language editing: Jitka Šmídová, David Svoboda
  • Translation: Antonín Hluštík
  • Translation language editing: Alexis Gibson
  • Printing: Signpek s.r.o
  • Registrar: Renata Gallová
  • Loan of display items: Police Museum of the Czech Republic, Security Services Archive, Military History Institute
  • Photographs: Security Services Archive
  • Construction: Roman Bártù

The exhibition is dedicated to the thousands of unknown fellow citizens who, after February 1948, decided to actively fight from abroad against the Communist power in Czechoslovakia. Dramatic battles of the Cold War took place on the border between East and West in the years 1948-1956. The secret operations of exile intelligence groups have practically been forgotten by now. Today we search for their significance both for the development of our country and for the traditions of the struggle for freedom and democracy. The entirely bi-lingual English-Czech exhibition covers the following main themes: the inception, development and structure of foreign intelligence resistance and its organizers, goals and results; the various ways in which couriers (or “agent-walkers”) crossed the borders and the technical and operative measures taken against them; personalities from among the couriers and the technical equipment they used; concrete cases of persecution of Czechoslovak citizens who contributed to the couriers’ activities; the security apparatus structures of the State Security Service (Státní bezpečnost – StB), the National Security Corps (Sbor národní bezpečnosti – SNB) and the Border Guard Service (Pohraniční stráž – PS) which the foreign resistance had to face; period propaganda and reactions on the part of the regime.