KALOUS, Jan: The rise and fall of Teodor Baláž. State Security Commander in Slovakia in the political process

The study presents one of the key figures of the security apparatus in Slovakia after the Second World War, Teodor Baláž. It notes his activities during the First Czechoslovak Republic and during the Second World War. In 1945, Baláž joined the newly built National Security and remained in it, or in their successors, until the early 1950s. He continued to strengthen his position. This was made possible, firstly, by his membership of the Communist Party and, secondly, by his contacts with top Communist leaders (Viliam Široký, Gustáv Husák). He was also willing, in the interests of the Communist Party and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to crack down on any opposition, even potential opposition. He was one of the implacable and tough promoters of the political line of the Communist Party, and he basked in the limelight thanks to his contacts with Soviet intelligence officers. For example, he was entrusted with the task of finding enemies (in the Slovak case, the so-called bourgeois nationalists), but he himself became the object of persecution after the hunt for enemies within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was in full swing. From April 1951 to May 1960, he was imprisoned. The court gave him a sentence of 25 years. From May 1960 onwards, he became fully involved in efforts for his comprehensive rehabilitation. He achieved it after three years. Teodor Baláž was a man who, in addition to building the State Security for the benefit of the totalitarian regime, was mainly responsible for the violence, provocations and illegalities of 1945–1951. He helped to destroy the last democratic mechanisms within the state. In the name of class hatred, which he adopted in accordance with the communist program, he destroyed the destinies of thousands of people, including himself.