A třináctý byl kat - Odsouzeni za vraždu – Motl Stanislav (2023)

The book A Thirteenth Was the Executioner... is unique in many ways. The author, at the beginning of the 1990s when Czech prisons largely opened to the public, including journalists, correctly anticipated that this opportunity would not last long. For several weeks and months, he visited Czech and Slovak correctional facilities. He perceived, experienced, and subsequently described the prison atmosphere. He also spoke with the most serious criminals, including murderers. Among them were men who were awaiting execution. However, due to the abolition of the death penalty after November 1989, this did not happen. He conversed with the relatives of prisoners, guards, prison psychologists, and educators. Later, he even spoke with prison chaplains. Thanks to his sensitivity, striving for objectivity, and ability to listen to others for a long time, he managed to gradually record several dozen completely unique interviews. Twelve of them – along with an interview with a man who participated in several executions – make up the content of this book. A book that (and this is where its uniqueness lies) cannot be imitated. Primarily because the situation at that time, when a reporter could move almost freely around the prisons, cannot be repeated. For this reason, the Olympia publishing house is approaching a reissued and supplemented edition of this work.