Josef Frolík (September 22, 1928 – May 1989) 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 Repu ...

spy who, in 1969, defected to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and joined the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Childhood

Josef Frolík was born in

Libušín Libušín is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,600 inhabitants. Etymology The oldest entry of the name of the village was Ľubošín. The name was derived from the personal name Ľuboša ...

, Czechoslovakia. He graduated from secondary school at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he studied at the business academy in

Slaný Slaný (; ) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...

and worked as an accountant for the state-owned communist newspaper ''

Rudé právo ''Rudé právo'' ( Czech for ''Red Justice'' or ''The Red Right'') was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. History and profile ''Rudé právo'' was founded in 1920 when the party was splitting from the social demo ...

''.

Secret Service

Whilst serving his mandatory two years service in the

Czechoslovak People's Army The Czechoslovak People's Army (, , ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1989. From 1955 it was a member force of the Warsaw Pact. On 14 March 1990 ...

Frolík discovered that some officers of the 2nd Infantry Regiment had stolen a small fortune in jewels and paintings. He reported this to the Third Directorate of Counter Intelligence in Prague and was then recruited into the State Security as a 1st Sergeant in the Finance Directorate. He moved on to counter intelligence and from 1964 to 1966 worked as a spy in London under the guise of a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

in the Czechoslovak

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

. He was recalled back to Czechoslovakia and in 1969 he managed to gather as many state secrets as he could and escaped to the west, defecting to the CIA.

Emigration

After defecting to the West, he wrote a book in which he recalled his life and work for the StB and detailed his defection. The Czechoslovak government sentenced him to death in absentia. In 1987, he was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and died in May 1989.

References

Sources

External links

Joseph Frolik - Man in the Wrong Place (Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frolik, Josef 1928 births 1989 deaths People from Libušín People of the StB Cold War spies Czechoslovak spies Czechoslovak defectors to the United States Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States People sentenced to death in absentia