Jan Masaryk was the son of Tomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. He, like his father, was also a well-known and well-loved politician. He served as the foreign minister and ambassador to Great Britain over his terms with various Czech governments that formed during the time, including Edvard Benes’ government-in-exile during World War II. During the exile, Masaryk would frequently appear on the radio to broadcast messages of hope to the Czech people.

Mysterious circumstances surround Masaryck’s sudden death on the morning of March 10, 1948, when he was found in his bathrobe on the floor outside of his bathroom window in the Foreign Ministry, where he often stayed. This was only a few weeks after he decided to maintain his post in the new Communist government as one of the few liberal members of the government remaining. He received much criticism for this decision but it seemed a decision to try to moderate the new Soviet-communist government from the inside. Many suspect the Soviets or Czech communists ordered his death and covered it up as a suicide.

Despite suspicions of external involvement in Masaryk’s death, nothing has been proved and the death was officially ruled as a suicide, initially. More recently, however, in 2004, Masaryk’s death was ruled as murder by forensic expert Jiri Straus. Straus claims that Masaryk’s body could not have landed where it did without the force of another individual to push him out the window, which hints at foul play.

During his life, Masaryk was famous for many things including his diplomatic skills and his amateur piano playing. He also famously signed an arms agreement that provided supplies to Israel, making Czech one of the few countries to do so and solidified the Czech-Israeli friendship that would last until today.

Written by Sandra Samolik