Action K

Action K is the name for the project of illegal elimination of monasteries and male catholic monastic orders that took place in the communist Czechoslovakia in April 1950. It was preceded by the staged trial of Machalka et al. involving order superiors, intended to provide ideological justification for the general public. 219 monastic houses were closed down and 2376 monks were interned during the action in Czechoslovakia. Movable and immovable property of orders was confiscated (though for real properties, this formally happened only later). The action resulted in a huge loss of cultural heritage as several monasteries started to fall into disrepair and others were intentionally destroyed; a lot of valuable printings disappeared and movable properties were misappropriated, for example an ancient furniture and so on. Soon after Action K, Action R followed. Action R was slower and it was aimed against nunneries. The last one, Action B was meant to formally eliminate all orders, but in did not materialize to a large extent. The first night when the monasteries were attacked and closed down has been nicknamed ‘St. Bartholomew’s Day of Monks’.

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