Cabinet to discuss compensation for those barred from studying after communist takeover

The cabinet is to discuss financial compensation for people who were not allowed to study at university following the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948. The amount they could receive will be discussed by ministers on Wednesday, the head of the government’s legislative council, Cyril Svoboda, told reporters. Mr Svoboda said only those who were barred from third level education in the years 1948 to 1953 (or possibly 1956) would be eligible for compensation. He said those would-be students met the cruellest fates, as they were sent to prison or into forced labour; in later years the communist state did not mete out such harsh treatment, he said. Mr Svoboda said the proposal could affect hundreds of now elderly people. Over 10,000 students and academics were thrown out of Czechoslovakia’s universities within a year of the communist takeover.