Fortunately, the prosecution in the case of the Ústí group of “Zionist conspirators” distributing social benefits reformulated the charges of espionage and “establishing contact with a foreign power for the purpose of spying against Czechoslovakia” and they were tried only for foreign exchange offenses and subversion of the republic. An integral part of the action was the seizure of all social funds of Jewish communities. Max Goldberger was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, Zikmund Semmel eventually served three months. Before the end of 1957, the state began distributing the same social benefits, with funds from the same foreign sources.
Even after his release from prison, Max Goldberger was under the surveillance of informants. In his case, the main agents were persons hiding under the code names Magda, Kája, Čapek, Eva, Hovorka and Emmerich. Take a look at examples of their reports, as preserved in the Security Service Archives.
AGENT REPORT: ČAPEK
On 19.12.57 Čapek was at the Jewish community in Ústí n.l. and on that occasion he visited GOLDBERGR, who had returned from prison 14 days ago, from where he had been released on amnesty. Apart from his nervous breakdown, he seemed to be fine, only a little thinner. When talking about the community, he declared that he no longer wanted to come into contact with anyone in the community, that they had repaid him very badly for what he had done for them. He said that everyone had already visited him and that they were looking forward to him being the chairman again, but that he would not take it anymore. All said that they felt sorry for him and Mr. SEMEL said that he had told him how badly Mrs. KRATOCHVÍLOVÁ gossiped about him, but his son KÖNIG refuted that.
He kept complaining about his financial situation, that he now had to pay the rent he owed, his lawyer and his stay in prison and that he didn't know where he was going to get it and asked "Čapek" to find out if there was a job for his wife in Litoměřice in the "Inva" association of the disabled, of which he was also a member, when she returned from the hospital.
He also stated that he wanted to move from Ústí nad Labem and that if his wife had a job in Litoměřice, he would look for a home in Litoměřice.
AGENT REPORT: MAGDA
On Saturday, January 4, 1958, I was at the GOLDBERGERs' for the first time. GOLDBERGER welcomed me like a lost child and with great fanfare. After all the welcoming speeches and his concern about where it was warmer so that I would be comfortable, he settled us in a room and gave his son the court verdict to read - 18 pages - which took about an hour. In the meantime, we moved back to the kitchen for a snack. She even baked, which she had never done to our liking before. When GOLDBERGR asked me what I said, when I read the verdict, I told him that I had nothing to say, that I had nothing to say about it. After reading it, he asked again why I had nothing to say about it, and when I pointed out to him that there was talk of an amnesty, that I would therefore write down my notes next time so that they could not be reproduced in reverse, he said that for him, those talks were over. He trusts me, he loves me like his own child and will never forget what I did for him and his family, he just listened to what I said and now he knows; that those who come to me themselves are slandering me, he no longer wants to have anything to do with the community. He also doesn't want to go to anyone else except me. He said no to everyone, met only with me.
AGENT REPORT: MAGDA
GOLDBERGER has been extremely nervous for over a week now, waiting for amnesty. He asked me how it was that it hadn't been announced yet, when everyone in the prisons was waiting for it so much. When I wanted to know why he was so interested, since he was already out and so was his wife, he told me that it was because he still had 26 days to serve and that the amnesty was related to his release certificate, which they wouldn't give him in Prague, and he couldn't get a pension and was forced to live from hand to mouth.
What information about Maxmilian Goldberger did you read from the reports of StB agents?