Censorship in the Czech Republic had been highly active until 17 November 1989 and the fall of Communism in the former Czechoslovakia. Czech Republic was ranked as the 13th most free country in the World Press Freedom Index in 2014.
Overview
Censorship in the Czech Republic was most prevalent during the Nazi era and communist governance. These regimes enforced a strict system of censorship to ensure that the dissemination of messages to the masses aligned with political objectives. However, the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in 1989 sparked a shift to democracy, where public discourse was freed from state control, signalling the end of censorship restrictions in the Czech Republic.
Censorship during the Nazi Era/World War II
Censorship restrictions in the Czech Republic were most prevalent during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia between 1938-1945. During this time, Czech civilians experienced Nazi indoctrination exercised through mass media, where messages distributed reinforced obedience to the ‘Fuhrer’. Censorship was institutionalised in 1938, where the Nazi occupation of the Czech Republic meant that the army and the Gestapo assumed authority to censor all media.
Censorship of Radio
The Reich Minister of Propaganda, Goebbels, utilised the radio as a mouthpiece for the regime. The radio was a mechanism for disseminating propaganda maintained through a strict system of censorship. The government imposed harsh restrictions on Czech civilians that owned a radio. The foreign minister of Germany (Konstantin von Neurath) espoused that anyone intentionally distributing news that did not align with Nazi ideologies would be imprisoned or killed. Following this announcement, listening to foreign broadcasts became illegal in 1940. Despite this law, as the Reich Protector's Office acknowledged, locating radio-listeners was nearly impossible. Nazi officials attempted to control radio listeners through intimidation tactics, whereby officials sent those who owned a radio a gold-plated plate the words engraved, “listening to foreign broadcasts is punishable by death”. Despite these regulations, Czech national loyalty prevailed over censorship restrictions. Civilians carried disassembled radio parts in their pockets, and once reassembling the pieces, could listen to foreign broadcasts.
Censorship of Literature
Within the realm of literature, the boundaries between political and social spheres were blurred, where all published books mirrored Nazi ontologies. To ensure this, the Nazi government censored all literature to make sure civilians were engaging with literary works that adhered to Nazi ideals. During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Gestapo confiscated any material that encapsulated negative aspects of Nazi life, these books were mainly “decadent literature”. The communist government produced lists of libri prohibiti and composers faced harsh penalties for not complying with censorship standards, such as imprisonment. Books that explored explicit themes of a sexual nature were also banned, such as pornography. The Nazi ideology that sexual intercourse was solely for procreation was reinforced through literature. Adhering to a Nazi perspective, the role of women was to become mothers, sexual ethical issues surrounding contraception and birth control methods were censored. Authors that published works that explored such topics were listed as “parasites of the people” because they subverted Nazi ideologies and culminated opposition. The Nazis wanted to orchestrate all literature to reinforce Nazi ideologies, disseminating these ideals throughout the Czech Republic.