Prague, early 1950s. The Communist revolution begins to consume its own architects.

Rudolf Slánský, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, helped build the regime that seized full power after the coup of 1948. Loyal to Stalin and feared within the party, he directed purges and enforced strict ideological control across the country.

But in Stalinist systems, loyalty offered no protection.

Arrested in 1951, Slánský was subjected to brutal interrogations and forced to confess to fabricated charges of treason and conspiracy. His 1952 show trial was carefully staged, its verdict predetermined. Eleven senior Communist officials were sentenced to death.

On 3 December 1952, Slánský was executed in Prague.

He died as a victim of the very system he had helped create — a revolution that devoured its own leaders.