A fatal struggle with a guardsman in the border zone

In June 1948 in Dianaberg (now Diana, a part of Rozvadov), a member of the Border Guard shot František Dolejš, a 33-year-old photographer from the Prague district of Smíchov. Dolejš had unsuccessfully tried to emigrate and was struggling with Border Guard Šimek for his rifle when he was shot; he did not receive first aid and died on the way to hospital. Dolejš, a National Socialist and freelance photographer, wanted to emigrate together with his wife, maid and his brother Jaroslav. Jaroslav was a member of the police force in Rozvadov, and thus managed to escape to Germany already in March 1948, but after spending some time in refugee camps he sneaked back into Czechoslovakia to get his brother. The whole group went by car to Horšovský Týn and pressed on to the border the following day. While crossing the border zone they were surprised by a patrol; a gunfight ensued and the Dolejš couple and their maid surrendered. František Dolejš got into a quarrel with Sergeant Šimek, this proved to be fatal to the fleeing Dolejš. The subsequent trial was relatively lenient towards the two women. Contemporary documentation shows, however, that Jaroslav Dolejš was found guilty of “the crime of ignoring official regulations, the crime of planning against the Republic, the crime of military treason and the crime of resisting the police,” and was given the death sentence. A presidential amnesty reduced this to a life sentence, and a second amnesty saw Dolejš released from prison in 1960. He was not rehabilitated until 1998. Although investigations were immediately began into Šimek’s actions, he was soon cleared of any accusation. In 2001 the suspicion of criminal offence was also abandoned by the Czech Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism with reference to contemporary regulations.