Volume 25, Number 17 · November 9, 1978
The Persecution of Jiri Grusa
By A.J. Liehm, Translated by Tamar Jacoby
On June 1, ten years after the Soviet invasion, the Czech government arrested Jirí Grusa, who is, according to his older colleague Pavel Kohout, probably the most talented Czech prose writer to have appeared since the war. It seemed at first that Grusa was only one of the dozens of Czech intellectuals arrested on the eve of Leonid Brezhnev's visit to Prague, and that like the rest he would soon be released. But the Czech authorities, perhaps encouraged by the example of the first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, decided differently. Jirí Grusa was put under close surveillance. He was released at the end of July, but is still awaiting trial. The warrant for his arrest, issued by the Administration for Investigation of State Security, and dated June 2, stated that
Feature, 953 words
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