Upon his return to Czechoslovakia, Nosek became a member of both parliament and the CPCz Central Committee, posts he held until his death. He is perhaps best known for his activities as interior minister during 1945–1953 and especially during the struggle for power in early 1948. As interior minister, he controlled the Czechoslovak police forces. In February 1948, he used his authority to remove eight non-communists from leading positions in the Prague police force and replaced them with CPCz members.
When a government decree demanding the reinstatement of the dismissed officers went unheeded, noncommunist government officials submitted their resignations in protest. This signaled the beginning of the government crisis that ended on 25 February 1948, when the CPCz essentially took control of the state. In the following years Nosek's influence waned, particularly after 1950, when the new ministry of national security assumed responsibility for the police forces. Nosek left his post in 1953. He died on 22 July 1955 in Prague.
Bradley F. Abrams
Further Reading
Kaplan, Karel. The Short March. London: Hurst, 1987.
