Josef Josten, Czech Heritage Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of the personal papers of Joseph Josten and includes correspondence, photographs, various subject files, news clippings, and newspapers. The materials relate mainly to Josten's work as a journalist during and after World War II.
Dates
- 1913-1985
Creator
- Josten, Josef, 1913-1985 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The papers are open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Born in Prague, Bohemia, on March 25, 1913, Josef Josten was a life-long journalist, starting his career as a sports reporter and as a writer for Lidove noviny, a Prague newspaper. When the Germans marched into Prague in March 1939, Josten joined the Czech underground movement. In the same year he was forced out of the country and fled to France where he joined a Czechoslovak brigade.
When Czechoslovak units were evacuated to Britain, Josten participated in the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944. He served with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Luxembourg as a news broadcaster. Returning to Prague, Josten worked in the Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Jan Masaryk, the son of the founder of the Czechoslovak Republic. After refusing to joing the Communist Party, Josten set up the Free Czechoslovak Information (FCI) Service in England. The FCI circulated its newsletter "Features and News from behind the Iron Curtain" to subscribers in over fifty countries.
In 1980 Josten's concern for imprisoned intellectuals led him to form the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted and the Human Rights Charity. For this effort Josten was appointed a Member of the British Empire in 1985. Josef Josten died in London on November 29, 1985.
Extent
27 Linear Feet (41 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Czech
German
French
Spanish; Castilian
Portuguese
Dutch; Flemish
Italian
- Czechoslovakia -- History -- Intervention, 1968 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Czechoslovakia -- Politics and government Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Czechs -- Foreign countries -- Correspondence Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Czechs -- Great Britain Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Human rights workers -- Great Britain Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Masaryk, Jan, 1886-1948 Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Papanek, Jan, 1896-1991
- Photographs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Ripka, Hubert, 1895-1958
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Journalists Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Repository
Archives & Special Collections
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
P.O. Box 884100
Lincoln NE 68588-4100 United States
402-472-2531
archives@unl.edu