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