Josef Josten was an exiled Czech journalist, publisher and campaigner.
13 Facts About Josef Josten
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Josef Josten Stein was born on 25 March 1913 to Karel and Emilia Stein in Prague, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia of Austria-Hungary.
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Josef Josten wrote articles for several newspapers and journals using the pseudonym "Josten", eventually adopting this as his surname.
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In England, Josef Josten came under British army command and trained with other Czech and Polish escapees.
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Patricia was able to leave immediately by plane but Josef Josten had to walk, escaping through the Sumava forest with a group of friends to West Germany.
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Josef Josten published weekly bulletins in both Czech and English, and ran many campaigns to discredit the Czech Communist regime.
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Josef Josten vehemently opposed any form of accommodation with Communist regimes and was sometimes criticised for being too rigid in his views.
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In 1958, Josef Josten organised an international exhibition of political cartoons, The Great Challenge, in London, and published a book by the same name.
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In 1961, Josef Josten came across a copy of a confidential handbook by a Czech Communist party historian, Jan Kozak, on how to take over a democratic state.
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Josef Josten published it in Britain as "Without a Shot being Fired", with an introduction by Lord Morrison of Lambeth.
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Josef Josten was only partly successful, but in 1977 he was presented with the Order of "Polonia Restituta" by Kazimierz Sabbat, Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile.
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In March 1985, Josef Josten was granted an MBE for "services to journalism and publishing".
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Josef Josten was survived by his widow Patricia and one son, Martin.