Today is Unfairly Prosecuted Persons Day in Slovakia

In Slovakia, April 13 is recognised as a day to highlight the plights of unfairly prosecuted individuals, with the events behind the day having roots in the country's communist past. During the night between April 13-14 in 1950, also known as the Barbarian Night, members of the state police broke into 56 male monasteries and apprehended those within. The plan was nicknamed 'Action K' with its aim being to dissolve male monasteries and imprison the monks. The totalitarian ideology at the time opposed all religion and the communist government decided to eliminate those bearing visible testimony to it. The assaults on the monasteries by armed forces continued throughout April 1950, with more than 2000 monks and priests being apprehended and transported into concentration 'monasteries'. The same happened in August to all the women convents. The situation ended only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989.