Kidnaping at the Border

Four years ago, toward the end of the liberal regime of Alexander Dubcek in Prague, a Czechoslovak electrician named Jaromir Masaryk, then 24, emigrated to South Africa. Last month Masaryk (no kin to Founding Father Tomas Masaryk) returned to Europe on a holiday, hoping to introduce his South African wife Patty, 22, to his parents, who still live in Brno.

When the Masaryks applied for visas at the Czechoslovak legation in Vienna, however, only Patty was granted permission to enter the country. The couple decided that Patty should go alone to Brno, where she would pick up her mother-in-law, then drive her to the Austrian-Czechoslovak border post near Drasenhofen, 40 miles north of Vienna. At least, the Masaryks reasoned, mother and son would be able to see each other from a distance and perhaps shout a few words of greeting.

Two weeks ago, Masaryk was at the Austrian frontier post scanning the horizon for an approaching car. While he waited, he walked into the no man's land and across a short bridge over a stream that separates the two nations and spoke briefly to a Communist sentry. But then, as he turned and ran back across the bridge in sudden fright, he was shot and wounded by Czechoslovak guards. Austrian customs officials--and, by chance, a passing photographer (see cut) --watched in horror as the guards chased Masaryk into Austria, beat him and dragged him bleeding into Czechoslovak territory. Just at that moment, Patty Masaryk arrived by car at the border post. Realizing what was happening, she grabbed her husband by the legs and tried to free him. Neither Jaromir nor Patty Masaryk has been seen since.

Huffy Reply. The Austrian Foreign Ministry protested the incident and demanded that the Masaryks be returned. The Czechoslovaks admitted to a "slight" infringement of Austrian territory but justified Masaryk's seizure on the grounds that he had tried to talk a guard into defecting and had been guilty of other "provocations" at the border post. When the Foreign Ministry in Vienna rejected the explanation as "unsatisfactory," Czechoslovak Party Boss Gustav Husak huffily upbraided the Austrians for their "incredible hysteria over an incident without importance." The Austrians, who have rarely been so enraged over a border incident, were considering recalling their ambassador from Prague. They were also repeating a bitter joke, imported from Czechoslovakia, about a man who committed suicide. His last words were: "Don't shoot, comrades!"

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