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[Page 198]
The Trial
The debriefing finished, Toman was flown from Frankfurt Germany to Paris, France. He called Nosek from Paris and wanted to know how his son was doing. Nosek told him to keep quiet and no harm would come to his son. He also inquired about his sister and was told not to worry. Toman was then flown to Argentina and on to Venezuela where his brother's family awaited him. His sister Aranka was in the Pancrak jail since her arrest on April 28th, 1948. It was decided to arrest her to insure that she remained in Czechoslovakia, because too many people involved in the case had disappeared. Aranka never held an important position nor was she an influential figure in Czechoslovakia. She was not expected to be a star witness but merely ‘another’ witness. According to Aranka, Joe Rosenberg, her uncle, visited her in May of 1948 in prison and told her that he had just spoken to the officer in charge of the investigation, Pokorny, who told him that Aranka was just a security arrest to influence other witnesses in the case and she would soon be released to rejoin her husband abroad[1]. All this changed radically with Toman's escape.
Suddenly she became the only member of the family in Czechoslovakia. The entire case rested on Aranka. Obviously the idea of the great public show trial had to be dropped. The plotters decided to try the case behind closed doors. Prague had to show Moscow that they were doing something. Aranka was frequently questioned, notably about Toman's escape. She was of course watched very carefully. She was the only party left in the entire case. Still she was interrogated regarding her brother's escape. See some of the questions and answers provided by Aranka[2].
In her testimony Aranka states that her brother–in–law Kadlac told her that Toman was hiding with Dr. Banar. Then she dismisses the suggestion by stating that the two were not exactly friends. Kadlac lists the people that might have helped Toman, namely Nosek, Jacobson, Eva Elefantova who worked for the Jewish organization in Bratislava, and Dr. Sobicka from the American embassy in Prague. All names were possibilities but no individual could carry out such an extensive operation by himself. The escape required a detailed plan that involved several phases and several people. Of course, Aranka did not know a thing about the escape since she was sitting in jail when the escape took place. Furthermore, Toman would never have told her the details unless she was involved in the plan. Yet, the Czech interrogators kept asking her about Toman's escape, and she gave the same laconic answers. Basically, she did not know a thing about the escape except for the fact that it had taken place.
Below are excerpts of Aranka's interrogations;
Question directed to Aranka.
What is the meaning of your brother–in–law's statement that Interior Minister Vaclav Nosek was committed to Zdenek Toman?
Aranka:
“In March of 1948, Toman was sent to a health farm to rest. His wife Pesla/Paula was very worried by his absence. She went to Nosek and asked and asked about her husband. Nosek assured her that Toman was fine but needed some rest. He told her that Toman would soon be sent home and would be in charge of the fund for the national renewal. Paula confided to me that half the furniture in Nosek's apartment belonged to the Renewal Minister.”
Question directed to Aranka.
What do you know about Zdenek Toman's escape?
Aranka:
“My husband Immerich Rosenberg was friendly with Captain Adolf Puchler who worked for the Interior Ministry. As a matter of fact, we socialized with Puchler. Towards the end of 1947 or the beginning of 1948, Puchler came to see my husband, who worked for a private finance company, in his office. He asked Immerich and myself to go to Toman's office. Puchler said that maybe the three of us could convince Toman to give Puchler back his passport. Apparently Toman refused to return it. My husband and I refused to involve ourselves in the situation. Puchler then stated that he had already written out a complaint against Toman's behavior. Furthermore, he said that he would not post the letter if Toman would return his diplomatic passport so that he could join his mistress in London. We stood our ground and Puchler shouted that Toman was no longer the strong man in the ministry. He then turned to the office entrance where Pokorny and Triskolova, two secret agents, stood and said ‘They want me to file the complaint so that they could arrest Toman. The agents promised me that they would return my passport if I cooperated.’”
These type of interrogations repeated themselves until the trial of Aranka. Aranka was a survivor of the German concentration camps so prison life was no novelty for her.
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| Letter sent by the Venezuelan Red Cross in French to the Berlin organization that tried to locate Thoman survivors to honor them |
Toman left Paris, France and headed to Argentina and then to Caracas, Venezuela where the Goldberg family awaited. His older brother Armin Goldberger, his wife Suze, his son Thomas and daughter Mazaal were very happy to see him. They were later joined by Lenke Goldberger, now Lenke Goldberger–Lebovic, who arrived in Venezuela in 1949 with her husband Simon Lebovic, according to the Venezuelan Red Cross records. These records list the entire Goldberger family in Venezuela following the release of Aranka Goldberger from the Czech jail. The above document was sent to a German institution that wanted to honor Fanny Thoman by hanging a plaque in her honor in the villa located at Berlin–Dahlen, Kesserstrasse 21, Berlin, Germany. In 1940 the Gestapo forced her to move to Berlin–Charlottenburg, Berliner Strasse 97, Brelin. In October 1943 she was sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp with her niece Lenke Goldberger. Fanny Thoman was murdered at the camp on February 5th, 1945. Apparently, she left all her possessions to her niece, Lenke Goldberger. The Berlin institution wanted permission from a Thoman relative to hang the memorial plaque.
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| The Goldberger export–import electrical machinery company in Caracas, Venezuela |
Armin Goldberger was not involved in the life of the small Jewish community of Caracas. He distanced himself from Jewish life. He devoted himself to a small electrical business that he owned. Armin slowly introduced Toman to life in Venezuela. He began to work in the company and helped expand the business. But his past followed him. Czech refugee groups in the USA started to protest the help that the C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) was extending to Toman. Rumors even circulated that he would reach the USA. These rumors were of course dissipated when Toman did not go there, but headed to South America. The Czech and Russian secret services followed Toman and still hoped to get him back to Prague.
The Czech embassy in Venezuela demanded that the Venezuelan government arrest and detain Toman since he was a fugitive of the law. Interpol had a charge sheet against him which stated that he had committed crimes in Czechoslovakia and must return to Prague to face the charges. The Venezuelan justice minister ordered the arrest of Toman and initiated a hearing of deportation. Armin used all his connections to slow down the legal process, but this was an international dispute between two countries, and Goldberger was not in a position to halt proceedings at such a high level of government. Someone was needed to put a great deal of pressure on the government in Caracas to halt the proceedings. Apparently, Toman provided Armin with an address to call in time of emergency, and this was certainly an emergency for Toman as well as for the American Intelligence Community. The C.I.A. did not want a Russian debriefing of Toman and decided to act. The case was shifted from one court to another. Along the way, some charges were dropped and eventually the entire case was dismissed and Toman was sent home. Needless to say, it was a terrible experience for Toman and he began looking out for himself.
The Czech secret service was furious but there was little they could do. The trial had to go on with one live person. On June 23rd, 1949, the trial of Toman and his associates began. The sessions were closed to the public. The Czech state accused Zdenek Toman of serious crimes, black market operations and contacts with foreign agents. Imre Rosenberg was charged with black market operations and Aranka Rosenberg–Goldberg was also charged with similar charges. Below are the accusations.
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| Charge sheet of the accused |
A host of witnesses who worked with Toman began to tell all kinds of stories about smuggling operations that supposedly Toman initiated. He used Czech secret agents to export jewelry and import hard currency. He and his brother–in–law dealt in foreign currency. The profits were huge and implications were made that some of the money went to the Communist party coffers as well as to officials that received gifts and benefits. Of course, Toman made a great deal of money. He was also charged with dealing with foreign agents and divulging state secrets. He was even accused of working with the Gestapo[3]. Of course, none of the party hierarchy was even mentioned at the trial. The witnesses rambled on about deals and combinations as if Toman did nothing but sell and buy goods on the black market. Yet this man handled the repatriation of thousands of people following the war, he ran the state security and the foreign intelligence and was deeply involved in the transportation of Jews across Czechoslovakia. The aim of the trial was to paint Toman as a greedy Jew interested in money and power. He was ready to sell state secrets for money.[4] All these charges fitted the usual Stalinist charges aimed at Jewish communists namely that they were cosmopolitan elements without roots. These charges would be repeated constantly in different variations against Jewish communists in Eastern Europe[5].
The verdict was announced. Zdenek Toman/Goldberger was found guilty of all charges and condemned to death in absentia and loss of all possessions in favor of the state. Imre Rosenberg was found guilty of all charges and, in absentia, condemned to hard labor for life and loss of all property. Aranka Goldberger–Rosenberg was found guilty as charged and received 15 years of hard labor. The child Ivan Toman was placed in the custody of the state at the state shelter of Stvanice in Prague. The sentences were immediately carried out; Aranka Goldberger–Rosenberg was immediately taken to jail while the infant, Ivan Toman remained at the state shelter. Aranka's requests to see her nephew were rejected. She could not even obtain the shelter's address. The Czech secret services began to move the child from place to place until he disappeared.
Stalin was displeased with the abysmal performance of the trial in Prague that involved a lonely Jewish woman survivor that never held a high government post. He wanted action. The cold war increased in intensity and he insisted on using an iron hand in his Soviet Empire. Already the Soviet press was attacking Jews as being rootless and cosmopolitan. The campaign would reach its crescendo with the arrest of the Jewish doctors who supposedly were plotting to poison Stalin. Already in May of 1949, a team of Soviet NKVD security agents went to Hungary to weed out so–called dissidents within the Hungarian Communist party. In May 1949, Laszlo Rajk, former interior minister and present minister of foreign affairs was arrested for being an agent of Tito and Imperialism. The trial began September 16th and finished on September 24th, 1948. All accused confessed to all the accusations. Laszlo Rajk was condemned to death with two other important Communist leaders. The Rajk series of trials resulted in the death of 15 Communist Hungarian leaders and the imprisonment of 78 Communist leaders. The state terror machine sprang into action. All Jewish and Zionist associations were disbanded in Poland. The Joint organization was ordered to close its operations in Poland[6]. In January 1950, the Joint office in Czechoslovakia was ordered to close its doors[7]. Jewish organizations were disbanded. Czech–Israeli bilateral connections were closing down. Even the military agreements were being finalized and completed. Aranka appealed her verdict to the Czech Supreme Court on April 3rd 1950 as being too harsh. The appeal was rejected[8]. Slansky decided to regain Soviet sympathy following the Toman episode and asked Stalin for help in weeding out dissidents in Czechoslovakia. Stalin soon sent him the Soviet NKVD specialists that handled the Laszlo Rajk case in Hungary. The latter began to investigate the entire Czech government. At first they arrested two Israeli
citizens who were members of a left–wing party in Israel that supported the Soviet Union. Both, Mordechai Oren and Szymon Orenstein disappeared without a trace. Months passed and finally a charge sheet appeared against Oren as being a Trotskyite–Titoist–Zionist spy connected to American imperialism. He was brought to trial and confessed to all charges. He was extremely well coached in his lines. He was condemned to 15 years in prison and his friend Orenstein received life. Now the real trial began; Slansky was arrested and with him 13 members of the government and the party. They were all accused of being Titoists, Zionists and connected with imperialist agents. Most of the Czech Communists leaders on trial were Jews. They all confessed to their crimes in open show trials. Eleven were condemned to death, amongst them the Deputy Minister of Defense Bedrich Reicin formerly Reinzinger. Bedrich was an old Bolshevik who worked for the party prior to World War II. The Gestapo arrested him and then released him. He then managed to flee to Russia and returned with the Czech army to Czechoslovakia. He knew Toman from before the war. Reicin was very influential in the military establishment of the country and helped to speed up the purchase of weapons by the Haganah and later by the State of Israel.
Czechoslovakia had a large military industry as well as huge stocks of light and heavy weapons that the German army had left in the country at the end of the war. The Haganah tried to purchase weapons for the expected battles in Palestine but it was not very successful. One of the problems was that most sellers wanted hard cash and instant delivery. The Haganah could not purchase weapons and send them to Palestine in one shipment; the weapons had to be smuggled in small quantities to the country: a long, tedious and costly process. Furthermore, the British secret services made sure that the arms dealers were forewarned not to sell weapons to the Jews. The Haganah agent in Czechoslovakia was Felix Doron or Felix Michael who decided to approach Toman via Jacobson. Toman could issue such permits being the deputy Interior Minister. He also probably consulted Reicin on the feelings within the Defense Ministry regarding the sale of weapons to “Haganah” in Palestine. Apparently the answer was in the affirmative. Toman then called on Doron who was a native Czech speaker and studied at the Charles University. Doron was familiar with many students that presently held high positions in the government and may have even known Toman in his student days. Toman presented the request to purchase weapons by the “Haganah” to a meeting that included Gottwald, Nosek, General Ludwig Svoboda, Minister of Defense and Toman himself[9]. Masaryk was also consulted on the deal. Moshe Sneh, member of the Jewish Agency was sent to Czechoslovakia by Ben Gurion[10], head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. He met Gottwald and stressed the need for the weapons and the certainty of payment. The Czechs approved the deal and orders were issued to permit the Haganah to purchase weapons. The technical arrangements were hastily processed with the assistance of Bedrich Reicin, assistant to the Czech Defense Minister[11]. Ehud Avriel in his book “Open the Gates” gives us a glimpse of the speed in which arms transactions took place[12]. Avriel met an agent named Robert Adam in Paris who was well connected with the Czech arms industry and both flew to Prague where arms deals were signed[13]. The first weapons deal was signed on January 10th 1948 and most of the weapons of this purchase reached Palestine on April 23rd 1948[14]. The first purchase would be followed by other arms purchases. This trade would expand and include fighter planes, the training of fighter pilots and the establishment of an Israeli air base at the Zatec airfield next to the East German border. This base would operate for several months: May – August 1948. Big American transport planes would fly weapons and ammunition from Zatec airfield to Tel Aviv and return empty[15]. The weapons would be crucial in the fight for Israel's survival. These weapon transactions would continue for some time to come while the initiators, Toman was already under house arrest, and Reicin would be arrested in 1952 and condemned to death. The weapon issue was never mentioned at Toman's trial.
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