Životy v troskách. Lidice a tragický osud Jaroslava Jana Pály (2026)

This Czech-language nonfiction book examines the controversial post-war trial of Jaroslav Jan Pála, a factory owner and inventor from Slaný whose name was associated with the Lidice tragedy for decades without his case receiving thorough analysis. Drawing on a detailed study of the court file, previously unknown archival materials and newly accessible State Security documents, Vojtěch Kyncl places Pála’s trial in the broader context of the post-war persecution of industrialists from the First Republic and the Protectorate. The book shows how communist ideology, personal animosity, political pressure and the desire to close the Nazi era were intertwined in a single trial. Particular attention is given to two key witnesses whose testimonies led to Pála’s conviction and imprisonment. Family documents and prison correspondence reveal the human dimension of the story, including the hope that justice might still come. The book seeks to offer the most objective view possible of a case long judged through a black-and-white understanding of the crime in Lidice rather than through an open and honest examination of the past.