Czechoslovakia: Tying Up Some Loose Strings

The leaders of Prague's short-lived Springtime of Freedom have long since been silenced. Alexander Dubček is variously reported on an extended vacation in Slovakia or undergoing treatment in a Prague sanatorium. Josef Smrkovsky, the onetime darling of Czechoslovak liberals, is on an enforced vacation in Bohemia. Hundreds of other officials, journalists and even schoolteachers have lost their jobs. But under the hard-line regime of Party Boss Gustav Husàk, who replaced Dubček seven months ago, the purges go on.

Last week Husák all but completed his cleanup of the country's legislatures by forcing 63 liberals out of the Czech...

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