Editing Gustáv Husák (section)

== Legacy ==
{{original research|section|date=May 2021}}
[[File:Socialiste Cehoslovace, Gustav Husak în R. S. România. La Uzina de autoturisme din Pitești. (22-25 iunie 1977).jpg|thumb|Gustáv Husák and [[Nicolae Ceaușescu|Ceaușescu]] at the [[Automobile Dacia|Pitești Car Factory]], June 1977]]
There is still some question about Husák's moral culpability for the last two decades of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. After its collapse, Husák kept saying that he was just trying to diminish the aftermath of the Soviet invasion and had to constantly resist pressure from hard line Stalinists in the party such as Biľak, [[Alois Indra]] and the like.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} In the early 1970s, he personally pushed for an early withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Czechoslovak territory, which did not happen until 1991; this may be ascribed to his pragmatic attempts to ease the situation and to give an impression that things were leaning toward "normality".

However, there are many ways in which he personally contributed to the Communist government's longevity and policies. As the General Secretary of the Party, he was the nominal leader of the repressive state apparatus. There are many documented cases of appeals from politically persecuted persons, but almost none of them was given Husák's attention. As the overall decay of Czechoslovak society{{Clarify|date=March 2023|reason=From? In what ways?}} was becoming more and more obvious in the 1980s, Husák became a politically impotent puppet of events.

Gustáv Husák was awarded the title [[Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]] three times, in 1969, 1973, and 1982. In 1983 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1562 Biography] at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia</ref>
[[File:1989 sametova revoluce 12.jpg|thumb|Velvet revolution in 1989]]
Husák allegedly confessed to a Catholic priest before his death, having previously been an atheist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/issues/june-10th-2016/when-christianity-becomes-a-crime/|title=When Christianity becomes a crime|date=9 June 2016|website=Catholic Herald}}</ref> On his deathbed in 1991, Husák received the sacrament of reconciliation from a Catholic archbishop, [[Ján Sokol (bishop)|Ján Sokol]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://journeyonline.com.au/features/former-soviet-boss-gorbachev-denies-conversion-to-christianity/|title=Former Soviet boss Gorbachev denies conversion to Christianity|date=4 April 2008}}</ref>