Postoloprty

Between late May and early June 1945, at least 763 civilians were murdered in the town of Postoloprty, though the real number of victims is likely higher. Some were members of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), the SS, or the SA, but even they should have stood before a proper court, not a firing squad. Most of the victims were killed for no other reason than speaking German. These killings were not carried out by local vigilantes or last-minute partisans who joined the fight against Nazism on the afternoon of 8 May 1945, but by regular units of the Czechoslovak army. Two years later, a parliamentary investigative committee questioned numerous participants and witnesses, ultimately concluding that the killings had indeed taken place but were historically understandable and that no one bore direct responsibility. This book tells the story of the murders that no one ordered, no one committed, and no one investigated.