mersiowsky - 10-6-2016 at 10:05 AM
Lětopis Abstract 2012 1: Kroh, Peter: The Skala Biography, the Gestapo and the People’s Court. Contemporary Remarks on Files From a Past Era
This is the first commentary on files used by the Gestapo and “The People’s Court” to prepare a case for high treason against Jan Skala. For this
purpose, he was taken into “preventative detention” on 21 January 1938. The Gestapo produced its final report at the beginning of May. However, Skala
remained in total solitary confinement for several months more. On 26 October 1938 he was “declared to be unfit to be kept in prison to avoid danger
to his life” as a result of his damaged kidneys and the weakness of his cardiac muscle. The documents show that under these circumstances Skala
remained true to his political and moral principles. He remained faithful to his Sorbian people, justified and defended their rights, declared his
rejection of National Socialism, stood by his views on minority politics and remained true to his friends and acquaintances. Skala wrote two petitions
to the Gestapo to try to escape from the crushing effects of solitary confinement and because of his deteriorating health. They are further proof of
how he stood up for himself as a loyal citizen and Sorb in the face of Nazi terror. The Gestapo had to admit that they could not find any proof of
their suspicions. The “People’s Court” abandoned the case against him on 1 June 1939 because a trial on the grounds of “preparing to commit high
treason did not offer any prospect of success.”