Ladislav Mňačko (1919–1994), a Slovak writer, poet, playwright and journalist, is well known mainly as the author of the famous book Jak chutná moc (The Taste of Power; 1967), which describes the practices of Communist functionaries, as well as several other works which were published in Czechoslovakia before 1968. His works written in Austrian exile after 1968 are less well known. This also applies to the play Tschistka (Purge). This satirical play describes the practices of an omnipotent secret police in a totalitarian state, which in the end becomes the victim of its very own terror. It was produced by the Austrian broadcaster ORF as a radio play in 1983 and directed by Fritz Zecha. The play was also produced by the Slovak National Theatre in 1993. The Austrian edition of this play from 1980 is held in the Ladislav Mňačko Collection in the Literary Archive of Museum of Czech Literature.
