As If We Were Meant to Die Today

Series: Crimes of Czech Communists, Thieves, and Murderers II
Anniversary

As If We Were Meant to Die Today
Directed by Roman Vávra, Czech Republic 2016, 52 min.

A snowy Vysočina region, the third Sunday of Advent, December 11, 1949. In the small church of Číhošť, during a sermon by 47-year-old parish priest Josef Toufar, the altar crucifix reportedly moved three times and remained tilted off-center. Soon, the communist State Security (StB) interrupted the Church’s investigation. They abducted Toufar and tortured him in the dungeons of Valdice, forcing him to falsely confess that he had faked the miracle on orders from the Vatican. After nearly a month of brutal torment, Josef Toufar died on February 25, 1950 — ironically, on the anniversary of the communist coup.
What was Toufar’s life story? How did he perceive the mysterious Číhošť sign? And why did President Gottwald and other high-ranking communist officials become so involved in the case?

Dispose of the Corpse
Directed by Roman Vávra, Czech Republic 2015, 35 min.

This documentary traces a near-detective investigation into the search for and eventual exhumation of the remains of Číhošť parish priest Josef Toufar. Witnesses, direct initiators, and members of Toufar’s family speak out. The raw atmosphere of key locations — the Ďáblice cemetery, the former state sanatorium on Legerova Street in Prague, and the pathology institute at Albertov — adds weight to the testimony.

“Looking back, it seems like a small miracle that Josef Toufar’s remains were ever found and recovered,” reflects documentarian Roman Vávra. “The entire effort relied on testimonies of a few people, most of whom are no longer alive, and a photocopied double page from the StB’s burial register, which the StB itself likely tried to destroy after August 21, 1968.”
The film features previously unpublished photographs and footage.

“Despite the communist regime’s efforts to erase Toufar’s battered body from existence and to slander and exploit him even after death, they ultimately failed,” says writer Miloš Doležal, who has dedicated himself to Toufar’s story since high school. “The documentary’s main message is that we cannot break free from the past. Even after many decades, we can still right some wrongs — in this case, to restore dignity to a murdered and humiliated man,” he adds.

Josef Toufar’s remains were recovered and identified in autumn 2014 — almost exactly 25 years after the canonization of Blessed Agnes of Bohemia, one of the priest’s favorite saints.
“The Toufar case is shocking in its brutal rawness, combined with inexplicable phenomena that reach beyond us,” concludes Roman Vávra.

Introduction: historian Petr Blažek

Discussion after the screening with director Roman Vávra.

In original version.