Pavel Wonka (January 21, 1953 in

Vrchlabí Vrchlabí (; german: Hohenelbe, la, Albipolis) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. It lies at the foot of the Giant Mountains on the river Elbe. The town centre with ...

– April 24, 1988 in Hradec Králové) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political activist, dissident,

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist,

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

, and the last

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

to die in a communist prison in the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

. He was born to a family of mixed Czech and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

origin; a

supporter of

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

, he became involved in the resistance against the communist regime of Czechoslovakia. As a result he was arrested for his liberal views, brutally beaten, starved, tortured and interrogated by the communist secret police. He was initially released because of bad health, but the judge, Marcela Horváthová, sent him back to prison for another five months. There he died due to a lack of medical care. He was the last Czechoslovak political prisoner who died while imprisoned; after the fall of communism the persecution of Wonka was deemed a human rights violation by the regime. On 28 October 2013, he was posthumously awarded the

Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit: * Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) * Medal of Merit (Denmark) * Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman * Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany) * Medal of M ...

External links

Pavel WONKA: TOTALITA

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wonka, Pavel Czechoslovak people who died in prison custody 1951 births 1988 deaths People from Vrchlabí Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Czech anti-communists Czechoslovak dissidents