Ladislav Lorek: kariéra generálního prokurátora
Ladislav Lorek: A Career of the Prosecutor General

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the professional career of Ladislav Lorek, the Czechoslovak Prosecutor General in 1947–1951. His work in justice administration dates back to Austria-Hungary. During the period of the First Republic he appeared as the State Prosecutor in many important trials, some of them being against Communist activists. After World War II, he, paradoxically, joined the Czechoslovak Communist Party and struggled to obtain the post of the Prosecutor General, succeeding in 1947. At the end of his career, he became one of primary architects of Communist justice system. In 1951, he was removed from his office and pensioned off. Lorek’s career reflects changes that the justice administration went through during his life. The paper is, therefore, not only description of Lorek’s career, but also a case study on the history of judiciary, especially on the Office of Prosecutor General. It also documents efforts of the Communist Party to seize control over important posts in the justice system before the February 1948. As a main source, the personal file of Ladislav Lorek from the Office of Prosecutor General Archive was used, useful materials were also found in the Archive of Czechoslovak Communist Party Central Committee (ÚV KSČ 1945–1989): namely file Alexej Čepička (100/52) and General Secretariat of the Central Committee 1945–1951 (100/1).

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