Tag Archives: CIA

From the Czechoslovak Desk of Radio Free Europe, Munich, 13 December 1960

Here is a unique letter from Dr. Samuel Bellus to Vlado’s sister Olga (Olinka) – he calls her ‘Olichka’ – sent 13 December 1960. At this time, Radio Free Europe became a European-based organization, it had been headquartered in New York.

13. December 1960

Dear Olichka,

Thank you very much for your letter. Don’t be angry that I didn’t get back to you sooner, but I really had a lot of work to do. A very turbulent time has passed us by. Ralph will surely tell you later.

Rudko and Fedor [Hodza] were here and we remembered you. Do you already know exactly when you will come here? Write me an appointment soon so I can relax. I would like to point out that I won’t be able to take even the shortest vacation, because I really can’t move away from Munich.

I will remember you at Christmas and I hope you remember me. Have a good time, Olichka.

Yours

Samuel

Envelopes found from Free Europe Committee, Two Park Avenue, New York 16, NY, sent to Dr. Pavel Fabry, in Geneva, Switzerland. Radio Free Europe was created through the efforts of the National Committee for a Free Europe, later known as Free Europe Committee, formed in New York by Allen Dulles who was head of the CIA. Until 1971, RFE was secretly funded by the CIA.

More details on Free Europe Committee history from Martin Nekola, Charles University in Prague:

“Looking back at the FEC as a shelter for prominent émigrés who used its resources and facilities to fight communism from abroad, the Committee can be considered a very unique organization with a specific role in the Cold War history. The number of people involved, the expenses incurred, and the efforts to get the FEC into the U.S. public awareness all serve as evidence of this. The émigrés relied on their “American friends” in the early Cold War years, believing in the possibility of defeating communism in Europe. However, after the failed Hungarian uprising in the fall 1956 that was violently suppressed by Soviet tanks, the mood among East-European exile communities dramatically changed. The émigrés realized that the West would not intervene directly in favor of an opposition group in a country within the Soviet sphere of influence. As a result, their expectations, along with the Free Europe Committee’s importance, gradually diminished.

Nevertheless, the legacy of the organization, sometimes called the “unofficial Department of U.S. propaganda” is not entirely forgotten. More than two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Radio Free Europe still broadcasts in twenty-one countries, and Captive Nations Week—marked every year in July—serves as a reminder of the suffering of many nations still living in undemocratic conditions.”

The next document was first shared here on 30 April 2013, exactly 12 years ago today. From Dr. Samuel Bellus, a sworn statement on behalf of Mrs. OIga Viera Fabry-Palka (Vlado’s mother), 30 September 1956:

I, Samuel Bellus, of 339 East 58th Street, New York 22, New York, hereby state and depose as follows:

That this statement is being prepared by me at the request of Mrs. Olga Viera Fabry, nee Palka, who formerly resided in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, but since 1948 has become a political refugee and at present resides at 14, Chemin Thury, Geneva, Switzerland;

That I have known personally the said Mrs. Olga Viera Fabry and other members of her family and have maintained a close association with them since the year 1938, and that I had opportunity to observe directly, or obtain first hand information on, the events hereinafter referred to, relating to the persecution which Mrs. Olga Viera Fabry and the members of her family had to suffer at the hands of exponents of the Nazi regime;

That in connection with repeated arrests of her husband, the said Mrs. Fabry has been during the years 1939 – 1944 on several occasions subject to interrogations, examinations and searches, which were carried out in a brutal and inhumane manner by members of the police and of the “Sicherheitsdienst” [SD -TB] with the object of terrorizing and humiliating her;

That on a certain night on or about November 1940 Mrs. Fabry, together with other members of her family, was forcibly expelled and deported under police escort from her residence at 4 Haffner Street, Bratislava, where she was forced to leave behind all her personal belongings except one small suitcase with clothing;

That on or about January 1941 Mrs. Fabry was ordered to proceed to Bratislava and to wait in front of the entrance to her residence for further instructions, which latter order was repeated for several days in succession with the object of exposing Mrs. Fabry to the discomforts of standing long hours without protection from the intense cold weather and subjecting her to the shame of making a public show of her distress; and that during that time humiliating and derisive comments were made about her situation in public broadcasts;

That the constant fear, nervous tension and worry and the recurring shocks caused by the arrests and deportations to unknown destinations of her husband by exponents of the Nazi regime had seriously affected the health and well-being of Mrs. Fabry during the years 1939 – 1944, so that on several such occasions of increased strain she had to be placed under medical care to prevent a complete nervous breakdown; and

That the facts stated herein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Samuel Bellus

Re: A ‘thank you’ 8 years in the making

Thank you to Fabian Schneider, and to his parents, for permission to share this message, in connection to the letters of Frano Tiso I published back in 2016. It gives me great pleasure that my work has had a positive impact, and that I can meet so many lovely and interesting people from all over the world because of Vlado!

15 August 2024

Dear Tara Burgett,

I’m writing to express my gratitude for your work on the Fabry family history website, particularly for publishing the letters from Fraňo “Franz” Tiso, whom I (*1994) have an interest in.

My interest in Mr. Tiso stems from a family connection – he was a friend of the Schneider family in the latter half of the 20th century and a regular guest at our home [in the Eichstätt Landkreis in Germany]. My father (*1955), spoke highly of him and credited Mr. Tiso with convincing my grandmother (*1929 ✝2019) to send him to a specific type of high school, significantly impacting his education. Tiso and my father would also often discuss (first in person and later in the form of letters) science and technology, which became my father’s calling until his retirement. I too am a software developer these days.

My father stresses Tiso never tried influence him ideology-wise, but to he was always delighted to see him because of his science and technology interests. Tiso would gift him copies of the Stafette magazine, which is like Highlights or National Geographic Kids from a US point of view.

A few years ago, my father brought him up again after many, many years. He mentioned that Tiso was involved in diplomacy before 1945 in Slovakia. I had since learned about Nazi collaborationist regimes and the last name clicked with Jozef Tiso. Looking into him, I soon found a declassified CIA document that looked like an indication of a propaganda operation. While I never found hard proof of that, I have kept doing on-off research into this friend of the family.

I do not want to shoot the messenger, ever, but I must admit that my research, aided by the documents you shared in 2016 and others I’ve encountered, has led to significant personal disappointment. Mr. Tiso had a hawkish military stance and made efforts to whitewash the legacy of Stepan Bandera.

Much like the Vichy French, he hated communism so much that even after the liberation from the Nazis, he would resort to stirring up the Cold War and lionize a man responsible for the murder of Poles and Jews in the tens of thousands. I do not believe that rejecting this sort of stance makes one a communist, either.

I do not know any members of my family who would appreciate this sort of militarism and nationalism. The same grandmother that hosted Franz Tiso protested the deployment of Pershing II ballistic missiles. I remember her being opposed to the Second Gulf War, though she was somewhat past protesting in the streets mobility-wise. My dad says when they discussed politics over coffee, it was limited to economic policy of the day. I would have loved to talk to her about Tiso, but by the time I started my research, my grandmother was unable to speak for neurological reasons.

It’s a stark reminder of the often troubling nature of post-war politics and personal relationships. These revelations have deeply shaped my understanding of denazification, the challenges of post-war reconciliation and the need for anti-fascism.

Despite my personal disappointment, I’m grateful for the access to these primary sources. They provide an unvarnished look at history, allowing us to confront uncomfortable truths and develop a more nuanced understanding of this period. In a sense, I am even grateful for the disappointment, because I would rather know than not know.

Thank you again for your dedication to historical preservation and for making these documents easily accessible. Maybe you do not always immediately see the effect, but efforts like yours make all the difference in our ability to critically examine history.

Sincerely,

Fabian Schneider

Daily Express and Daily Mail, 19 September 1961

I am a bit slow in posting the latest Hammarskjold investigation news, but here is the link to the 2022 UN report from Judge Othman, which was released at the beginning of November. Many thanks to Judge Othman, and to all “individual researchers and non-State entities” who have been responsible for providing “almost all new information generated between 2020 and 2022”. From page 9 of the report: “Despite the decrease in the amount of information identified by Member States, the amount and quality of new information provided by individuals and non-State entities highlights that additional information is highly likely to exist in Key Member States’ records and archives.” As a reminder, those “Key Member States” are South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States. From page 34 of the report: “…a small number of Member States, which have been identified as being almost certain to hold relevant information, appear to have been the least willing to provide further disclosure.”

From the Fabry archive, I have recently discovered a new stack of international newspapers from the 19th-27th of September 1961. Here are two papers from London, both from the 19th of September:

This paper has a different photo of Alice Lalande I have not seen before.

It is interesting to note that “1,800 aircraft men threaten strike” was at the De Havilland factory in Portsmouth, makers of the De Havilland Dove that were supplied to the air force of Katanga, Avikat, in 1961.

From George Gale: “And above all [Hammarskjold] had the Congo itself, this vast land filled with ignorant and bewildered tribes untutored in the art of governing themselves, on which to experiment, with which he and his servants could learn the craft of rule.”

I find it funny that the Daily Express “OPINION” column is not written by anyone in particular.

This article mentions that “…an African[Black] charcoal burner was the first man to find the smouldering wreckage.”

Reintroducing “Vlado”

My name is Tara Burgett, I am an independent researcher and archivist, and the author of this blog dedicated to Vladimir “Vlado” Fabry. My husband, Victor, is the nephew of Vlado, the only child of Vlado’s sister, Olinka. When Olinka passed away in 2009, we discovered a trove of papers and photos stuffed in old suitcases in the house in New York; recognizing their importance, we packed them up and brought them to Washington state, and since then I have made it my mission to share the family story with the world.

Vlado and sister Olinka with his Buick and Bambi hood ornament

When I first began my blog in 2013, the only information I could find on the internet about Vlado, other than the details of the plane crash in Ndola with Dag Hammarskjold, was a memoriam to one of Vlado’s girlfriends, Mary Sheila Dean Marshall; written by her son Chris Marshall. Here is the paragraph mentioning Vlado that made me laugh out loud:

“Sheila considered her time in New York to be some of the happiest days of her life. She roomed with her dearest friend, a gorgeous Czechoslovakian socialite named Desa Pavlu. The two of them must have left a trail of broken hearts throughout Manhattan. Sheila had a proposal of marriage from a young man named Arthur Gilkey. She declined, and shortly thereafter, he perished while ascending K2. Sheila was also courted by a chap named Vladimir “Vlado” Fabry. Vlado died with Dag Hammerskjold[sic] in The Congo[sic]. It seems that Vlado may have been connected with the CIA. Sheila said she could never see herself marrying Vlado because of his “very round bottom”.”

I was only a little annoyed that someone was using the words of one dead person to slag off another dead person, because it was just too funny to read about Vlado’s “very round bottom” on the internet. What did bother me though, was the statement from Mr. Marshall, that “Vlado may have been connected with the CIA”; which was just his opinion, when in fact, his father, Sheila’s husband Mike Marshall, was a CIA operative from 1952-1967.

The more time I spent reading and translating the letters and documents, the more I realized how important it was that I speak up for Vlado and his family. The Fabry family were the targets of intentional and malicious slander, in revenge for their fierce resistance to both Nazi and communist invasions of Czechoslovakia, and sharing their archive has been my way of setting the record straight.

Vlado and his mother Olga Fabry – Maminka – Geneva, 17 April 1948

Vlado studied Law and Political Science at Comenius University in Bratislava, following in the footsteps of his father, Pavel Fabry, who was also a lawyer. Before joining the United Nations Legal Department in 1946, Vlado served as Personal Secretary to the Minister of Commerce in Prague. Vlado and his father were both very romantic and unconventional characters, who loved music, poetry, travel, and all kinds of adventure; they were not afraid to stand up for their beliefs, even in the face of danger and threats of death.

Vlado hugging his father good-bye at Prague airport, June 1946

After the communist coup d’etat in 1948, the whole family were forced to flee Czechoslovakia, and lived as political refugees in Switzerland. Vlado was often on the move, working for the UN in many countries, including New Zealand, Indonesia, Ghana, Egypt, and Congo, but he would stay with his parents in Geneva whenever he was on leave, at 14 Chemin Thury.

Vlado with his parents, Geneva, Switzerland, 14 Chemin Thury

Vlado at work, Geneva, Switzerland, 14 Chemin Thury

Vlado was loved by many of his colleagues at the UN, for his kindness and hospitality, and for his enthusiasm for skiing, mountain climbing, as well as his intellect and charm.

I could say more about his personality, but I feel the letters Vlado left behind, and the letters of his friends and family who knew him, say it best. He was an example of courage that anyone who knew him tried to follow, and is an inspiration to me, personally.

Condolence letter from Mary Sheila Dean Marshall

Last photo of Vlado and Dag Hammarskjold, from Daily Express, included in letter from Mary Sheila Dean Marshall

Condolence letter from Bernard T. Twight

Condolence letter from Marty and Don Davies

Friends of Vlado, in Geneva, Marty and Don Davies

Condolence letter from Constantin A. Stavropoulos

Condolence letter from Lucy T. Briggs, daughter of Ambassador Ellis O. Briggs, who served in the Foreign Service – she is the friend that gave Vlado “Bambi” – which you can see Vlado attaching to the hood ornament of his Buick, in the header photo of this blog.

Condolence letter from Monique Cegel (now Madame Rime), Vlado’s personal secretary in former Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, room 632 Le Royal

Demand for Justice

Reading old letters from 1961, I learned Vlado’s personal request at his death was for his eyes to be donated, and for his ashes to be scattered over Mont Blanc. He was not able to donate his eyes, but it makes me happy knowing he is high up in the mountains he loved so much. Rest in peace, dear Vlado.

60 years ago today, Vlado, and everyone on board the Albertina with him, were shot out of the sky, hunted down and murdered by white supremacist mercenaries. There were so many people that wanted them dead. Our family demands that all stonewalling nations connected to this crash, the CIA, the NSA, all spy agencies, groups and organizations, including the United Nations, open up their archives and declassify all records NOW. The only way to break the chains of racism, handed down from our ancestors, is to hold our past to the light and examine it without reservations, so we can learn from our mistakes and not keep repeating them, this is true wisdom and maturity!

A Day in the City

For my friends, a few photos from a recent day in Seattle with my son. Here’s our iconic Space Needle with some native wildflowers in bloom.

Lovely views from the top of the Needle of Elliot Bay and downtown. Only an hour before this there was a tempest. We had taken the Monorail to Westlake Center, with the plan to walk through the Pike Place Market and down to Ivar’s on the waterfront for lunch (they make the best fish and chips), but the clouds were dark and moving fast so we stayed put and ended up having a really wonderful lunch, with a view, at The Athenian Inn. The oysters were delicious!

Here are some photos from the Pacific Science Center exhibit “SPY: The Secret World of Espionage”, which was the main attraction for myself and my son. This photo is of a cipher machine, for sending and decoding secret messages, like the one that was taken from the Albertina crash site in Ndola.

Here is the identification card of Allen Dulles, who was C.I.A. Director from 1953 until November 29, 1961.

Marlene Dietrich sings for the OSS!

The original Drone – spy pigeons! The camera and harness is just unbelievable.

There was so much to see at this exhibit, but the best part was getting up close to the pickaxe that was used to killed Leon Trostky – it must be seen in person to be appreciated. That is not Trotsky’s skull, by the way.