Mlčení i tulení / Strategie a obranné mechanismy disidentů ve střetu se Státní bezpečností v období normalizace
Silence and Solidarity / Strategies and Defensive Mechanisms of Dissidents in Confrontation with State Security during the Period of Normalization

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the various strategies and defensive mechanisms employed by Czechoslovak dissidents – particularly those associated with Charter 77 – in their encounters with State Security (Státní bezpečnost, StB) in the 1970s and 1980s. The issue is approached from multiple perspectives. One of these is the set of “official strategies” developed by dissidents and documented in interrogation manuals circulated in samizdat within opposition networks, such as Poučení vyšetřovaným [Instructions for the Interrogated] or Pravidla hry [Rules of the Game]. The author situates these texts within the context of similar manuals in Soviet and Polish dissent from the second half of the 1960s and notes that they emphasized raising legal awareness among those under interrogation, as well as maintaining consistent resistance toward interrogators. This resistance manifested itself both in the rejection of the State Security and its officers, and in the adoption of a “strategy of silence”, that is, the refusal to testify. However, many dissidents considered this approach insufficient or ineffective in their own circumstances and developed individual strategies. These could include communicating with interrogators in a spirit of basic courtesy, a willingness to engage in dialogue and defend one’s own position, or the use of various psychological techniques that helped them better cope with the pressure of interrogation. The study also addresses the everyday dimension of repression, which shaped life in dissident and underground milieus in various ways, including the need to adopt a range of conspiratorial measures. In conclusion, the author highlights the importance of solidarity within the opposition community for individuals’ ability to endure repression and resist external pressure, while also raising the question of how successful dissident strategies ultimately were in their confrontation with the security apparatus.

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