Libri Prohibiti - History of Samizdat in Czechoslovakia

History of Samizdat in Czechoslovakia

When Czechoslovakia was under Communist rule in the mid- to late-twentieth century, over 400 writers and journalists were prohibited from publishing and distributing any of their works. Some writers, such as Václav Havel, were persecuted and sentenced to prison if they did not comply with these regulations. During this time many different types of performers, entertainers, and various other creators were persecuted for and banned from performing or creating their specific art forms. It was almost impossible for these persecuted individuals to find any kind of employment after this.

In defiance of these regulations, some banned authors began writing samizdat articles and distributing them secretly in Czechoslovakia and abroad. In order to produce multiple copies of their works, they used carbon paper to produce up to fifteen copies at once. Other methods of copying included cyclostyle, spirit duplicator, photocopying, and xerography. The materials were secretly distributed among dissidents and sometimes smuggled abroad. All of these actions were very dangerous and those caught faced imprisonment or exile. During this time, Jiří Gruntorád, the current caretaker of the Libri Prohibiti, was imprisoned for four years for distributing samizdat literature.

In addition to dissident articles, many popular books were banned and subsequently distributed as samizdats. Some of the most famous works include George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, both of which are held at the Libri Prohibiti.