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suffer in silence. In

1:12

1975, a film opened up in Czechoslovakian

1:14

movie theaters. With a title that translates

1:16

to The Case of the Dead Man,

1:19

this was a spy movie that centered

1:21

around a suspicious man showing up at

1:23

the nation's border in the mid-1950s, armed

1:26

with only a name and some scant

1:28

belongings. Claiming to be a deaf mute,

1:30

the man wasn't able to talk and

1:32

had very little memory of who he

1:35

was or where he was from.

1:37

Over the next 90 or so

1:39

minutes a pretty typical spy thriller

1:41

would play out with it being

1:43

revealed that surprise the man claiming

1:45

to be a deaf mute was

1:47

anything but It was actually a

1:49

spy sent from another nation trying

1:51

to cause descent who spent years

1:53

trying to embed himself into Czechoslovakian

1:56

society and develop relationships However the

1:58

most surprising thing about this is

2:00

that it had pulled its central

2:02

plot from a real story. One

2:04

that may not have been as

2:07

exciting or thrilling, but one that

2:09

was even more interesting and mysterious

2:11

than the generic spy thriller. At

2:14

the time this movie came out

2:16

in 1975, the figure at the

2:18

center of that true story was

2:21

still alive, and at that point,

2:23

the Czechoslovakian government had spent two

2:26

decades trying to determine just who

2:28

he was exactly. Ultimately, though, to

2:30

no avail, as he took whatever

2:33

secrets he had with him to

2:35

the grave. This is the story

2:37

of N44, aka Corell Novok. The

3:11

country of Czechoslovakia was formed after

3:13

the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

3:15

at the end of World War

3:17

I. This decision united the Czech

3:19

independence movement with the pre-existing nation

3:22

of Slovakia into a multi-ethnic state

3:24

that included not just Czechs and

3:26

Slovaks, but Germans, Hungarians, and Rusans,

3:28

among others. There, things weren't perfect

3:30

by any stretch of the imagination.

3:32

Contension quickly grew between various groups,

3:35

such as the Czechs in the

3:37

Slovaks. But the Democratic Republic existed

3:39

somewhat amicably for about 20 years,

3:41

leading up to World War II,

3:43

when German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, he

3:45

might have heard of him, demanded

3:48

control of Czechoslovakian territory, which some

3:50

of the ally nations were more

3:52

than willing to hand over in

3:54

an attempt to appease Hitler. A

3:56

strategy which, as we now know,

3:58

totally worked as successfully prevented a

4:01

war. This began a multi-year process

4:03

in which Czechoslovakia was broken apart,

4:05

with the Slovak state declaring itself

4:07

an independent client state of Nazi

4:09

Germany, and the Nazis setting out

4:11

to eradicate the Czechs or forcefully

4:14

assimilate them into German culture. Considered

4:16

subhuman by the Nazis, the Czechs

4:18

would face brutal oppression during the

4:20

Nazi takeover of the region throughout

4:22

World War II. In 1945, the

4:24

allies finally entered the territory once

4:27

known as Czechoslovakia, and after the

4:29

end of the war itself, the

4:31

nation was re-established as a democratic

4:33

republic, but one that was firmly

4:35

in the Soviet sphere of influence.

4:37

What followed was a mass expulsion

4:40

of ethnic Germans and Hungarians, with

4:42

violent retributions carried out against those

4:44

accused of Nazi collaboration. Because of

4:46

Russian leader Joseph Stalin's influence over

4:48

the rebuilding nation, socialist and communist

4:50

took over prominent roles in local

4:53

government. In 1948, though, the communist

4:55

staged a coup d'etat, forcing other

4:57

non-communist out of government. In doing

4:59

so, they fully aligned themselves with

5:01

the Soviet Union as a communist

5:03

nation, becoming a almost fully totalitarian

5:06

police state in which surveillance, arrest,

5:08

even execution awaited political dissidents and

5:10

resistance fighters. Others, such as Western

5:12

sympathizers, were purged from government entirely,

5:14

and entire industries, were collectivized. In

5:16

1955, Chechos Livakia joined the Warsaw

5:19

Pact, officially becoming a Soviet buffer

5:21

against NATO as the Cold War

5:23

exploded. Despite the death of Stalin

5:25

just two years prior, his presence,

5:27

and that of the Soviet Union,

5:29

loomed large in the surrounding nations.

5:32

To that end, life in Chechos

5:34

Livakia at the time, was similar

5:36

to how it was in the

5:38

Soviet Union. State security had informants

5:40

everywhere, with people self-censoring themselves for

5:42

fear of being reported. Those with

5:45

Western connections, even those that were

5:47

theorized, were heavily surveying. and harassed.

5:49

Dissent was considered dangerous. Those that

5:51

stepped out of line were imprisoned,

5:53

sometimes sent away to forced labor

5:55

camps. Random arrests were made for

5:58

those suspected of owning certain books

6:00

or listening to radio stations from

6:02

the imperialist west. Certain religious institutions

6:04

were also persecuted against. All media

6:06

was filtered through a Soviet lens.

6:08

Then there were the other factors

6:11

of the time that contributed to

6:13

the hard-knock life, such as food

6:15

rationing and breadlines. It was in

6:17

this environment that a strange young

6:19

man appeared in 1955. On June

6:21

24th, 1955, a little over a

6:24

month after Chedros Lovacia joined the

6:26

Warsaw Pact, a state security or

6:28

VB patrol detained an unknown man

6:30

near the Slovak Polish border, not

6:32

too far away from the town

6:34

of Oravska Bolora. The man, who

6:37

communicated almost entirely through hand gestures,

6:39

had no identification on him. In

6:41

fact, he carried very little in

6:43

general. Inside of his backpack, he

6:45

had a razor, a handkerchief, a

6:47

knife, Polish sausage, and bread. Believing

6:50

that he was a Polish national

6:52

who had entered Czechoslovakia illegally, he

6:54

was detained and transferred to the

6:56

regional directorate of the Ministry of

6:58

the Interior in Zalina. There, the

7:01

man communicated with VB officials through

7:03

writing, unable to speak or hear.

7:05

During this bout of interrogation, the

7:07

man claimed to have suffered from

7:09

partial memory loss, which resulted in

7:11

the loss of many personal details.

7:14

Among the few facts about himself

7:16

he could recall, he told officials

7:18

that his name was Karel Novak,

7:20

that he had been born in

7:22

1934 in Radhosh, a small village

7:24

in the northeastern part of the

7:27

country, and that he had been

7:29

deaf-mute since birth. Through writing, he

7:31

told authorities that he and his

7:33

parents had been transported from Czechoslovakia

7:35

to Austria during the Nazi occupation,

7:37

sometime between 1941 and 42. During

7:40

that process, he had become separated

7:42

from his parents. never reuniting with

7:44

him. He had then gone to

7:46

stay at an institution for the

7:48

death in Graz, where he received

7:50

his only formal education. He claims

7:53

to have stayed there through the

7:55

end of the war into 1947,

7:57

when he had then been sent

7:59

to Vienna, Austria. Shortly thereafter, in

8:01

1948, he claimed he had been

8:03

repatriated to Czechoslovakia, where he had

8:06

lived a nomadic lifestyle ever since.

8:08

He says he worked at a

8:10

restaurant for a time, living at

8:12

a train station. before gathering mushrooms

8:14

and living in the forest. He

8:16

claims to have worked odd jobs

8:19

here and there for food and

8:21

shelter, and picked up both the

8:23

Chech and Slovak languages during this

8:25

time, which of course he was

8:27

only able to understand via lip

8:29

reading and communicate through writing. This

8:32

is what he said led to

8:34

his detainment by public security officials

8:36

near the Polish border in June

8:38

of 1955. Security officers would begin

8:40

to investigate the claims made by

8:42

this strange man, struggling to verify

8:45

anything he had told them. They

8:47

weren't able to find anyone in

8:49

the towns or villages he claimed

8:51

to have wandered through that recognized

8:53

him. There was no record of

8:55

his birth in Radhosh, nor were

8:58

there any records for his stay

9:00

at the Institute for the Deaf

9:02

in Graz, despite him recalling certain

9:04

doctors there. None were able to

9:06

recall him. To make matters even

9:08

stranger, it seemed like he had

9:11

a pretty tenuous grasp on the

9:13

locations he claimed to have been

9:15

in. His details of them seeming

9:17

to be off in some way.

9:19

Yet, during repeated bouts of questioning,

9:21

this man, calling himself Karel Novok,

9:24

stuck to his story, maintaining that

9:26

the details he had relayed were

9:28

the truest versions of events he

9:30

could muster. As state security officials

9:32

tried to go through the many

9:34

claims he had given them, Novok

9:37

was subjected to multiple medical examinations

9:39

in an attempt to determine the

9:41

veracity of his death-mute claims. The

9:43

first of these exams took place

9:45

on June 27th, 1955 at the

9:47

Regional Institute of Public Health in

9:50

Salina. Their doctors were unable to

9:52

determine whether or not he could

9:54

actually hear However, doctors observed that

9:56

his tongue was still attached to

9:58

his palate, meaning that he was

10:00

capable of making sound, he just

10:03

did not do so. They found

10:05

it hard to believe that he

10:07

was faking his condition, but they

10:09

were similarly unable to explain how

10:11

he could have grammatically mastered two

10:13

new languages if he had been

10:16

deaf since childhood. This is something

10:18

that I'm not sure stands up

10:20

today scientifically or academically, but this

10:22

was the logic the employee at

10:24

the time. A three-member medical commission

10:26

performed a similar exam in October

10:29

of 1955 and were again unable

10:31

to confirm nor deny a medical

10:33

condition causing his deaf muteness. However,

10:35

they again found it highly unlikely

10:37

based on what they observed that

10:39

he was faking it. Subsequent analysis

10:42

from doctors found it unlikely that

10:44

he was making up this medical

10:46

condition. But one such report from

10:48

the Prague Institute for the Deaf

10:50

wrote. The subject exhibits not only

10:52

above average intelligence but also an

10:55

exceptional level of education, which contradicts

10:57

his claim that he has been

10:59

deaf and nonverbal since childhood. This

11:01

analysis also found it unlikely that

11:03

he had been able to become

11:05

fully fluent in two languages in

11:08

adulthood without auditory input, and to

11:10

that end, they found his sign

11:12

language skills rather rudimentary, indicating that

11:14

he might not have been signing

11:16

since childhood. We can assume that

11:18

they believed his deaf muteness to

11:21

have been caused later than childhood,

11:23

perhaps as a result of a

11:25

mental condition or injury. For that

11:27

reason, they recommended that Karel Novak

11:29

be placed in a psychiatric institution

11:31

for an indefinite period of time

11:34

in order to clarify his identity

11:36

and his past. While state officials

11:38

had been unable to find any

11:40

proof that Novak had been faking

11:42

his deaf muteness, or his perceived

11:44

memory loss. they would continue to

11:47

investigate those very things over the

11:49

next two and a half decades.

11:51

We'll be right back after a

11:53

quick word from the sponsors that

11:55

support this show. Resolve to earn

11:57

your degree in the New Year

11:59

in the Bay with W.G.U. W.G.U.

12:01

is an online accredited university that

12:03

specializes in personalized learning. With courses

12:05

available 24-7 and monthly start dates,

12:07

you can earn your degree on

12:09

your schedule. You may even be

12:11

able to graduate sooner than you

12:13

think by demonstrating mastery of the

12:15

material you know. Make 2025 the

12:17

year you focus on your future.

12:20

Learn more at W.G.U. In

12:27

the months that followed Karel Novok's

12:29

detainment at the border, the investigation

12:31

department of the Prague Regional Directorate

12:34

of the Ministry took over the

12:36

case. They began a nationwide search

12:38

for the man's identity, hoping to

12:40

either prove what he had told

12:42

them, or somehow prove that he

12:44

had been lying. Despite sending requests

12:46

throughout the nation, however, only one

12:48

response at the time seemed to

12:50

provide a possible lead. A deaf

12:52

mute woman claimed to recognize the

12:55

young man in custody, alleging that

12:57

they had both been at the

12:59

Institute for the Deaf in Kremnica

13:01

between 1942 and 44, describing him

13:03

as a German national. Despite this

13:05

leads seeming promising at first, though,

13:07

investigators were unable to confirm whether

13:09

or not the young man in

13:11

their custody was the young man

13:13

this woman described. Yet there were

13:16

still some other witnesses that would

13:18

claim to recognize the man calling

13:20

himself Karel Novak. One claimed to

13:22

have seen him repeatedly at the

13:24

Volca refugee camp near Nuremberg between

13:26

1951 and 1954, having reportedly often

13:28

hung around the offices of the

13:30

American CIC, a counterintelligence agency within

13:32

the U.S. Army. Another identified him

13:34

in a photograph, claiming to have

13:37

encountered him at the Wells refugee

13:39

camp in Austria in April of

13:41

1952. This individual claims that the

13:43

young man calling himself Karel Novak

13:45

had burns on both forearms, requiring

13:47

the use of bandages at the

13:49

time. Surprisingly, Novak did have scars

13:51

on his forearms, but when questioned,

13:53

he claimed that they did not

13:55

come from burns, but rather a

13:58

nasty fall he had taken years

14:00

prior. Despite the multiple allegations made

14:02

against him during this period, that

14:04

he may have had some involvement

14:06

with Western forces or refugee camps,

14:08

Karel Novok denied that he had

14:10

ever been in those locations and

14:12

denied any foreign involvement. On December

14:14

23rd, 1955, the criminal proceedings against

14:16

him were dropped. While state officials

14:19

had been unable to confirm Karel

14:21

Novok's identity, they found no evidence

14:23

so far that he had been

14:25

lying to them or faking any

14:27

part of his medical condition. So

14:29

with their suspicions unable to lead

14:31

to any proof of wrongdoing, Novak

14:33

was released from custody. Authorities even

14:35

provided him with some clothing and

14:37

a small allowance in order to

14:40

get himself on his feet. Afterward,

14:42

Karel Novak was able to obtain

14:44

employment as a laborer, but was

14:46

required to check in daily at

14:48

the local security office. And while

14:50

they had thus far been unable

14:52

to prove any wrongdoing, the VB,

14:54

state security, continued their investigation into

14:56

Novak's identity and origins. Throughout

14:59

1956, Karel Novak attempted to begin

15:02

his new life in Czechoslovakia. In

15:04

February of that year, he began

15:06

attempting to obtain personal identification, and

15:08

in doing so, become an official

15:11

citizen of the nation he now

15:13

resided in. The nation he claimed

15:15

to have been born in decades

15:17

beforehand, despite there being no proof

15:20

of that, he would argue to

15:22

state officials that he wanted to

15:24

live as a human being. Despite

15:26

being unable to provide any details

15:29

requested by authorities, Novak was granted

15:31

a temporary identification card in April

15:33

of 1956 by the main directorate

15:35

of public security. Afterward, he would

15:38

continue working as a laborer for

15:40

the construction company Prumstav, working as

15:42

part of a concrete crew. But

15:44

after a few months, one of

15:47

his co-workers came forward to authorities

15:49

with some new information that they

15:51

found troubling. Frantysheck-Veighs, who worked on

15:53

the same concrete crew as Karel

15:56

Novak, came into the district department

15:58

of the Ministry of the Interior

16:00

in August of 1956. There he

16:02

reported his suspicions about Novok, who

16:05

he had become friendly with. Vase

16:07

told investigators that the two had

16:09

met in May just a few

16:12

months beforehand, and in that time

16:14

they had become good friends. Despite

16:16

Novok's perceived physical disability, Vase believed

16:18

him to be an intelligent and

16:21

educated man. He also stated, rather

16:23

definitively, that Novok was faking his

16:25

deaf muteness. This was more than

16:27

enough to perk up the years

16:30

of state authorities, who had been

16:32

searching for any evidence of Novak

16:34

faking his disability since he had

16:36

first been apprehended more than a

16:39

year beforehand. But Franticek Wez, this

16:41

co-worker and friend of Novak, now

16:43

claimed that Novak told him, physically

16:45

told him that he had been

16:48

faking his condition all along. Not

16:50

only that, but Wez claimed that

16:52

Karel Novak could speak and understand

16:54

both Czech and Slovak, and was

16:57

also fluent in Polish, German... English,

16:59

and was partially fluent in French

17:01

and Italian. Vese also told state

17:03

officials some information he had obtained

17:06

from Novok, including the fact that

17:08

he was reportedly older than records

17:10

listed him as, something investigators had

17:12

suspected from the beginning. The man

17:15

they had apprehended the year beforehand

17:17

was believed to have been older

17:19

than the 21 years or so

17:22

he painted himself as. But Vays

17:24

also alleged that Karel Novak was

17:26

the son of Crown Prince Otto

17:28

von Habsburg, having been raised on

17:31

an estate in Poland before the

17:33

war. Afterward, he had been deported

17:35

to the Soviet Union, later fling

17:37

back to Poland, where he found

17:40

some scant work and survived via

17:42

black market trade before joining the

17:44

Polish state services. He had reportedly

17:46

climbed the ranks of the Polish

17:49

army for a few years before

17:51

his criminal past was exposed, leading

17:53

to him fling toward Czechoslovakia. where

17:55

he was captured at the border

17:58

in June of 1955. As investigators

18:00

began looking into these claims, which

18:02

were collectively and individually hard to

18:04

prove, they were surprised to find

18:07

that Karel Novak was now speaking

18:09

and hearing without issue. When questioned,

18:11

he claimed to have gotten into

18:13

a car accident in Prague, during

18:16

which he was reportedly shocked. Quite

18:18

literally, he claims to have been

18:20

shocked with electricity. This, he claims,

18:22

had led to him regaining his

18:25

ability to both speak and hear,

18:27

which, while I'm not a doctor

18:29

or a scientist of any kind,

18:32

I'm not sure things physically work

18:34

like that. Regardless, he was now

18:36

seemingly cured, if you can call

18:38

it that, and had begun speaking

18:41

and hearing quite openly. While this

18:43

may have seemed like a medical

18:45

miracle for some of the time,

18:47

state security was obviously quite skeptical,

18:50

especially since this revelation was made

18:52

after they had spoken to Novok's

18:54

friend, Frantashek Vase. This led Veebe

18:56

officials to theorize that Karel Novok

18:59

was an illegal operative attempting to

19:01

integrate himself into Chetroslovok society. However,

19:03

it's hard to determine what of

19:05

this was borne out of evidence

19:08

and what was pre-existing suspicion based

19:10

on his strange discovery in the

19:12

country. Although him magically regaining his

19:14

ability to speak in here was

19:17

undoubtedly a shock to the system,

19:19

pun intended. Authorities continued probing the

19:21

backstory of Karel Novak as he

19:23

continued his attempts at obtaining Czechoslovakian

19:26

citizenship. He would cross two major

19:28

hurdles the following year, 1957, when

19:30

he became a member of the

19:32

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the KSC,

19:35

and was also accepted into compulsory

19:37

military service. During military training, Novoc

19:39

displayed exceptional knowledge of military regulations

19:41

and procedure, and evidently knew how

19:44

to handle himself with a firearm,

19:46

displaying superior marksmanship skills. He was

19:48

eventually selected for non-commissioned officer school,

19:51

during which he became an esteemed

19:53

member of the community. As he

19:55

excelled, some began to speculate that

19:57

he had had prior military experience,

20:00

which state security suspected already. Amidst

20:02

these accolades, on May 6th, 1958.

20:04

The Military Counter Intelligence Unit, the

20:06

VKR, opened up a surveillance on

20:09

Karel Novak, giving it the coat

20:11

name N44. In the months that

20:13

followed, they'd heavily surveil Novak, hoping

20:15

to obtain evidence that hinted at

20:18

his true identity. While surveilling him,

20:20

Novak was observed photographing tanks and

20:22

military training grounds, and he seemed

20:24

to be curious about newly constructed

20:27

facilities, openly speculating about their defensive

20:29

purpose. While none of this was

20:31

enough to outright indicate espionage, The

20:33

VKR kept him under surveillance as

20:36

suspicion followed in his wake. Following

20:38

the completion of his mandatory military

20:40

service in November of 1959, Karel

20:42

Novak returned to his home of

20:45

Kladno, where he continued his career

20:47

as a laborer for Prumstav. He

20:49

would continue trying to obtain permanent

20:51

Checho Slovakian citizenship. visiting government offices

20:54

and agencies throughout the region, making

20:56

emotional appeals in an attempt to

20:58

get the necessary paperwork finalized. However,

21:01

the more that Novok pushed for

21:03

official documentation, state security became more

21:05

skeptical as to his intentions. As

21:07

their investigation broadened into Novok's origins,

21:10

his military intelligence case file was

21:12

included in a nationwide investigation focusing

21:14

on illegal operatives. spawned out of

21:16

the growing Cold War suspicions that

21:19

were enveloping the Soviet bloc nations

21:21

at the time. This investigation was

21:23

hell-bent on uncovering dissidents or those

21:25

with Western ties. And Novok's mysterious

21:28

origins made him a prime target.

21:30

Security forces began stepping up their

21:32

investigative methods, utilizing not just covert

21:34

informants in an attempt to obtain

21:37

information about Novok, but additional techniques,

21:39

such as wiretaps and looking through

21:41

his mail. They suspected that he

21:43

was hiding anti-communist sentiments and was

21:46

illegally listening to Western radio broadcast.

21:48

They had also since located additional

21:50

witnesses who claimed to recognize Novok

21:52

as a man they had seen

21:55

in Austrian refugee camps between 1952

21:57

and 55, linking him to British

21:59

intelligence in the process. This suspicion

22:01

was apparently enough for security forces

22:04

to again detain Karel Novok, placing

22:06

him in pretrial detention at the

22:08

Ministry of the Interior's Investigation Department,

22:11

as they again attempted to determine

22:13

his identity. During this round of

22:15

interrogations, the man in custody would

22:17

no longer claim that Karel Novok

22:20

was his birth name. and he

22:22

did not cling to the same

22:24

specifics he had given in the

22:26

past, such as being born in

22:29

Czechoslovakia in 1934. However, he insisted

22:31

that he did not know his

22:33

true identity, only that he had

22:35

been separated from his parents in

22:38

childhood and that he had spent

22:40

time in an institute for the

22:42

deaf before returning to Czechoslovakia. Investigators

22:44

would use amphetamines during questioning in

22:47

an attempt to suppress Novak's self-control

22:49

and stimulate brain activity, but he

22:51

stuck to this newer, vague version

22:53

of events. leading authorities to question

22:56

where to go from there. For

22:58

a time attempts were made to

23:00

identify Novak as a Polish teenager

23:02

that had gone missing during the

23:05

Holocaust, but those attempts were unsuccessful.

23:07

In 1961, Doctors at the Prague

23:09

Institute for the Deaf assessed Karel

23:11

Novak, in the first report written

23:14

by the Institute's director, Dr. Frantashek

23:16

Shrom, read, the subject speaks multiple

23:18

languages fluently. His vocabulary, sentence structure,

23:21

and ability to think quickly make

23:23

it impossible that he learned these

23:25

languages only after 1956, when he

23:27

supposedly regained hearing. His ability to

23:30

lip read is highly advanced. His

23:32

claim that he learned check by

23:34

reading newspapers is highly unlikely given

23:36

his perfect grammar and pronunciation. Even

23:39

temporary childhood deafness would have left

23:41

lasting effects that would prevent him

23:43

from acquiring multiple languages at this

23:45

level. A second report filed in

23:48

August of that year concluded that

23:50

Novox auditory and vocal organs were

23:52

normal. they were healthy, and that

23:54

there were no medical explanations for

23:57

his supposed hearing loss, or his

23:59

subsequent recovery of it. They theorized

24:01

that his claims of being deaf

24:03

and mute were both fabrications from

24:06

the start. This report would also

24:08

conclude that he was likely between

24:10

27 and 33 years old, slightly

24:12

older than he had claimed when

24:15

first detained by authorities back in

24:17

1955. and based on his handwriting

24:19

and speech patterns, he was likely

24:21

from an area in the Polish-Russian

24:24

border region, since he often substituted

24:26

H and C.H. sounds. During medical

24:28

and psychological evaluations, doctors failed to

24:31

determine any sign of mental illness

24:33

or memory loss. And with that,

24:35

the Ministry of the Interior's Investigation

24:37

Department formally recommended prosecution for both

24:40

violating foreign rights as well as

24:42

espionage. Citing supposed national security concerns,

24:44

a closed-door trial was held on

24:46

separate days in May and June

24:49

of 1962, and the man calling

24:51

himself Karel Novok was found guilty

24:53

on both counts. He was sentenced

24:55

to 12 years in prison. He

24:58

would spend the next several years

25:00

in the Valdes Correctional Institute, where

25:02

he became known as a quiet

25:04

inmate that generally kept to himself.

25:07

He did not get into any

25:09

trouble and was entirely cooperative with

25:11

both staff and other inmates. However,

25:13

he was known for being incredibly

25:16

bright, and other inmates recalled him

25:18

having an extensive knowledge of, well,

25:20

almost everything. He knew about art,

25:22

philosophy, music, geography, martial arts, psychology,

25:25

mathematics, economics, military strategy, medicine, etc.

25:27

You name it, he probably knew

25:29

about it, and likely had some

25:31

strong opinions on the matter. Informants

25:34

within the prison noted that Novak

25:36

was a heavy smoker that enjoyed

25:38

coffee and tea, who spent most

25:41

of his time either reading or

25:43

playing chess. Who had a strong

25:45

dislike for Americans, Germans, and priests,

25:47

supposedly due to wartime experiences. And

25:50

despite his indifference toward religion, he

25:52

had strong opinions about things like

25:54

moral strictness and conscientiousness that struck

25:56

other inmates as odd. Some believed

25:59

that he was of Jewish heritage

26:01

because of his sensitivity toward anti-Semitism.

26:03

Others believed that he may have

26:05

been involved in the Hitler youth

26:08

as a child due to his

26:10

knowledge of German grammar and unique

26:12

German sports, as well as his

26:14

memories of school drills. Some of

26:17

the rare inputs into his backstory

26:19

that others ever got. However, those

26:21

within the prison found it hard

26:23

to determine what he told them

26:26

was real and what wasn't. Over

26:28

time, prison officials and inmates began

26:30

to suspect that Novox increasingly paranoid

26:32

nature was making him ever suspicious

26:35

of those around him. They believed

26:37

that he was spreading false information

26:39

about himself to see what eventually

26:41

trickled out, to see who he

26:44

could trust, to confirm who he

26:46

couldn't. A report prepared by prison

26:48

officials in October of 1966, described.

26:50

Recently Novak has become extremely suspicious

26:53

and restless. He constantly feels like

26:55

he is being exploited and watched.

26:57

Any small sign from an inmate

27:00

causes him to speculate about its

27:02

meaning. If someone whistles in the

27:04

barracks, he assumes it is deliberate

27:06

to remind him of a particular

27:09

time in his life. He scrutinizes

27:11

conversations and analyzes who might be

27:13

an informant. He suspects everyone. Because

27:15

of his paranoia, he deliberately spreads

27:18

false information around himself to test

27:20

those he interacts with and distort

27:22

his past. His conversations are difficult

27:24

to verify, making investigation challenging. Inmates

27:27

would claim that Novak's sensitive nature

27:29

made prison hell for him, especially

27:31

since, for his own admission, all

27:33

he had wanted since coming to

27:36

Czechoslovakia was a chance to live

27:38

as a human. And in prison,

27:40

he was deprived of that entirely.

27:42

Stuck in a box with other

27:45

inmates and prison officials that were

27:47

all conspiring to gather information about

27:49

him in an attempt to keep

27:51

him in prison even longer. He

27:54

would describe this as a mentally

27:56

and emotionally draining experience to those

27:58

he trusted, and one inmate, a

28:00

friend of his, even... told authorities

28:03

that Novak was contemplating suicide. Novak

28:05

reportedly described himself to this friend

28:07

as, a rabbit that lives in

28:10

the forest and knows nothing and

28:12

tells no one anything. More

28:38

after the break. In 1968, Karel

28:40

Novak petitioned the Checho-Slavakian courts for

28:42

a retrial, maintaining his original statements

28:44

about his past and arguing that

28:47

the original guilty ruling was flawed.

28:49

Surprisingly, a special panel of the

28:51

Prague Regional Court agreed with him.

28:54

overturning the original conviction in 1969,

28:56

and acquitting him of both espionage

28:58

and identity fraud. In the court

29:00

findings, the court determined that the

29:03

only agreed-upon fact by the prosecution's

29:05

numerous witnesses was that Karel Novak

29:07

had, at one point, been in

29:10

a refugee camp, something that was

29:12

itself not worthy of either charge.

29:14

They also pointed out that there

29:17

was no proof he had either

29:19

been working for or with some

29:21

foreign intelligence service at any point

29:23

in time. something that was little

29:26

more than an assertion made by

29:28

some witnesses. The court did point

29:30

out that his unknown identity and

29:33

fake deaf muteness were worthy of

29:35

suspicion, but were not illegal in

29:37

and of themselves, especially since authorities

29:40

had been unable to determine he

29:42

had lied about his identity. Instead,

29:44

in their ruling, they would write.

29:46

His personal details were never known

29:49

to him, and he could only

29:51

assume his origins based on a

29:53

nameplate he had as a child.

29:56

In 1969, after years in prison,

29:58

Karel Novak was released. He returned

30:00

to his quiet life in Klogno

30:02

and resumed work as a truck

30:05

driver. Unfortunately for him, however, Chechovovakia

30:07

was entering a period known as

30:09

normalization, which saw the takeover of

30:12

the entire nation by Soviet interest.

30:14

For that reason, police activity heightened

30:16

to levels not seen in years,

30:19

and anyone seen as a potential

30:21

threat was targeted. Karel Novak already

30:23

used to constant surveillance at this

30:25

point. found himself in the spotlight

30:28

yet again by a state apparatus

30:30

hell-bent on proving him a fraud.

30:32

In 1971, his acquittal from just

30:35

two years prior was overturned. Novak

30:37

was then ordered to serve out

30:39

the remainder of his original sentence,

30:42

which at this point was nine

30:44

months and 15 days. He would

30:46

do so, earning his official release

30:48

in April of 1972. Even then,

30:51

the directorate of the Ministry of

30:53

the Interior, the FMV, continued its

30:55

investigation into him and his origins.

30:58

But investigators would recommend closing the

31:00

case in 1973. In August 1974,

31:02

the N44 case file, originally created

31:04

by military intelligence, having since been

31:07

overseen by the state, was finally

31:09

closed. But even then, Novak would

31:11

remain under passive surveillance for the

31:14

rest of his life. For the

31:16

next few years, Karel Novak continued

31:18

to live a quiet, reclusive life.

31:21

However, that is not to say

31:23

that authorities were quite done with

31:25

him. Nor he with them. In

31:27

1979, Novak was linked to a

31:30

terrorist group that threatened to blow

31:32

up a bridge unless a political

31:34

ally was released from prison. Many

31:37

of this group's homes were raided

31:39

and his members arrested, but Novak

31:41

was not taken into custody. In

31:44

1981, state security began proposing a

31:46

new investigation into Novak's origins, believing

31:48

that he was still an illegal

31:50

operative acting on behalf of a

31:53

foreign power. Throughout that year, they

31:55

began making plans to thoroughly investigate

31:57

him all over again, as they

32:00

had done so decades beforehand, but

32:02

before they could officially begin doing

32:04

so fate stepped in. On November

32:07

18th 1981 a body identified as

32:09

Krelnovak was found at the home

32:11

of his close friends Yaroslav and

32:13

Marie Martinek. His cause of death

32:16

was not immediately known, so a

32:18

forensic autopsy and a final investigation

32:20

were ordered. When authorities went to

32:23

go search through Novok's apartment, they

32:25

discovered that it appeared to have

32:27

already been searched. By who, though,

32:29

remains a mystery to this day.

32:32

Inside his apartment, they failed to

32:34

find anything suspicious. There was no

32:36

proof of secret messages or anything

32:39

of the sort. Nor was there

32:41

any evidence that he had illegally

32:43

modified his radio to pick up

32:46

western frequencies, which authorities had long

32:48

suspected him of doing. An investigation

32:50

into Novok's life uncovered that those

32:52

around him described him as quiet

32:55

and hard-working, but also paranoid and

32:57

distrusting, perhaps for good reason. Because

32:59

of the high-profile nature of his

33:02

story, which had since been turned

33:04

into multiple TV specials and even

33:06

a feature film, he had become

33:09

known around the region as Harel

33:11

the Spy. and that was what

33:13

many suspected of him. Despite earning

33:15

a pretty good living, he lived

33:18

in general squalor, a one-bedroom apartment,

33:20

an older car, and very little

33:22

savings. One of his friends told

33:25

authorities that Karel rarely spoke of

33:27

his past, but had made statements

33:29

that they believe shed light on

33:31

his childhood. He reportedly shared memories

33:34

of swimming in a red volcanic

33:36

rock swimming pool back in school,

33:38

and he was reportedly haunted by

33:41

the face of a Gestapo officer

33:43

that killed his parents. a man

33:45

that he still believed was alive

33:48

in Austria. Based on these vague

33:50

statements, friends believed that he had

33:52

barely made it through World War

33:54

II. Afterward, living in Vienna, where

33:57

he reportedly played card games for

33:59

for money, that had reportedly directly

34:01

preceded him arriving in Czechoslovakia. One

34:04

of these friends, Marie Martinek, would

34:06

recall that Karel Novok's final words

34:08

to her had been, I crawled

34:11

out of a pile of corpses.

34:13

Authorities would eventually determine that the

34:15

mysterious man had died of heart

34:17

failure due to myocardial infarction, aka

34:20

a heart attack. In doing so,

34:22

he took whatever secrets he still

34:24

had with him, to the grave.

34:45

In July 1982, a final report

34:47

was submitted to the Clogno State

34:50

Security Office, recommending the closure and

34:52

archival of the file, Martian, which

34:54

was the code name assigned to

34:56

Karel Novak the year prior. In

34:58

that recommendation, the investigator in charge

35:01

wrote that, no criminal activity was

35:03

documented. Despite extensive investigations, Novak's true

35:05

identity could not be established. In

35:07

the 1990s, following the breakup of

35:09

the Soviet Union and the dismantling

35:12

of Czechoslovakia into two separate nations,

35:14

the Czech Republic and Slovakia, reporters

35:16

and other interested parties began trying

35:18

to learn more about Karel Novok,

35:21

this unknown man who they believed

35:23

had been needlessly hounded by totalitarian

35:25

investigators for decades, leading to a

35:27

stress-induced death in 1981. But despite

35:29

their many attempts to learn more

35:32

about him, It remains unknown who

35:34

exactly Karel Novak was, or where

35:36

he came from. Despite eventually settling

35:38

into his life and taking the

35:40

name for himself, there remains doubt

35:43

as to whether or not Karel

35:45

Novak was his name, or whether

35:47

that was simply something he had

35:49

stepped into, an identity he had

35:51

assumed. Was he an intelligence operative

35:54

of some kind, hoping to create

35:56

an identity for some grand ambition?

35:58

Or was he just a regular

36:00

man, a refugee of war and

36:02

or trauma, hoping to find some

36:05

semblance of peace? I can only

36:07

quote the man himself, who said

36:09

during a psychological evaluation in 1972,

36:11

in the first case, I am

36:14

a cunning creature, a sellout working

36:16

for foreign powers, and in this

36:18

case I am considered normal. In

36:20

the second case I am an

36:22

innocent man, but then I cannot

36:25

be considered normal. In either case,

36:27

there is no acceptable outcome. To

36:30

this day, the story of

36:32

Karel Novak remains unresolved. Thank

37:21

you all for listening to Unresolved. I have

37:23

been your host, Michael Wheelan. Research, writing, and

37:25

production for this podcast was handled by myself,

37:27

as Unresolved is a fully independent one-man production.

37:29

The music you're hearing right now, the Unresolved

37:31

theme song, was composed by my friend Ailsa

37:33

Treves. Special thanks goes out to my buddy

37:35

Jesse Pollack, who brought this story to my

37:37

attention just a little while ago. Big ups,

37:39

Jesse. There you can also learn how to

37:41

support this podcast through PayPal or Patreon, the

37:43

latter of which allows you to receive bonuses

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such as bonus episodes, or a producer credit.

37:47

On that note, I

37:49

would like to thank

37:51

this to think this are as

37:53

producers, who are as follows. Roberta Ben

37:55

Sarah Scott Ben Crokum, Scott Neecy, Marian

37:57

Welch, Just James class, Lauren Nicole, James

37:59

Weiss, Alex Kalagaropoulos, Kevin Crystal Jay, Kevin

38:01

Heather Stephen Diaz, Heather Fiddler, Anna T.

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Cee, Crystal Mitchell, and Tabitha Colvin.

38:05

Thank you all so

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much for helping to

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Take care. Take care. Thank

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you. you.