Editorial Note
On the afternoon of September 13, a Czechoslovak train consisting of a locomotive and four passenger cars on the Praha–Eger route was commandeered by a group of dissidents including some of the train crew and was run into the United States zone of occupation of Germany. Seventy-seven persons on the train who wished to return to Czechoslovakia were repatriated on September 13 after having been housed and fed by American authorities. Thirty-one passengers and crew members, including the engineer, chose to seek asylum in the West. Return of the train itself was delayed while the United States consulted with friendly Western nations concerning its disposition. The Embassy in Praha received two notes on September 20 from the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry protesting alleged U.S. complicity in the escape of the train into Germany and the “mistreatment” given four Czechoslovak officials who entered Germany to arrange for the return of the escapees. The Embassy’s replies of October 1, delivered on instruction from the Department of State, made it clear that the part played by American authorities in the episode was limited to the granting of asylum to those who did not wish to return to Czechoslovakia. For text of the exchange of notes, released to the press on October 1, see Department of State Bulletin, October 15, 1951, pages 624–628. The train itself was eventually returned to Czechoslovakia on October 10. Documentation on the train episode is in file 794.000.