Mariusz Fornagiel

Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Voice of the Powerless. Petitions for the Release of Prisoners Interned by the NKVD in Slovakia as an Attempt to Negotiate with the Totalitarian State

Independent Czechoslovakia served as a valuable lesson in democratic participation for the people of Slovakia. However, internalized behaviours underwent considerable transformation during the authoritarian and totalitarian wartime period of the Slovak Republic (M. Vadkerty, 2015). The subsequent occupation by the Red Army did not alter this dynamic. Shortly after the front advanced, NKVD units initiated a widespread campaign of arrests targeting Czechoslovak citizens. Family members of those detained often sought assistance from Czechoslovak authorities, by employing established channels of communication.

This created a complex situation for representatives of the newly formally democratic Czechoslovakia, who found themselves caught in a peculiar triangle. They were tasked with addressing requests from citizens while operating within a framework heavily influenced by the totalitarian state, specifically, the Soviet Union.

The objective of this paper is to analyse these egodocuments as attempts to negotiate with a totalitarian regime. It will focus on the rhetorical strategies employed within these documents, the portrayal of the arrest experiences, and the emotional resonance of the narratives. Furthermore, it will investigate the mechanisms utilized by representatives of the popular classes, who navigated a position of limited authority in the face of a more powerful state apparatus.