William Nathan Oatis (January 4, 1914 – September 16, 1997) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

who gained international attention when he was charged with

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...

by the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

in 1951. He was subsequently jailed until 1953.

Early life

Born in Marion, Indiana, Oatis began his journalism career with his high school newspaper, studied at

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

for one year and in 1933 returned to Marion, where he worked for the ''Leader-Tribune''.Rayner Pike, "AP Reporter William Oatis Dies,"
Associated Press obituary, September 16, 1997. In 1937, he started working for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. Oatis served in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, studying Japanese at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

. In 1950, he married Laurabelle Zack, who worked in the AP's reference library in New York. The marriage took place in London.

Arrest and detention

Oatis was working as the AP bureau chief in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, when he was arrested on April 23, 1951. Deprived of sleep and subjected to continuous interrogation for 42 hours, Oatis signed a statement confessing to the charge of espionage.William N. Oatis, "Why I Confessed,"
''Life'', September 21, 1953, p. 131; p. 141. The case made international headlines, as well as leading to trade and travel embargos against Czechoslovakia. During his trial, he confessed to espionage on behalf of the United States, and somewhat more implausibly, on behalf of India, saying he collected intelligence on Czechoslovakia for the Indian ''charge d'affairs'' in Prague,

Ramchundur Goburdhun Ramchundur Goburdhun (15 August 1911 – 29 November 1992) was an Indo-Mauritian diplomat best known for his role in the " Maneli Affair" of 1963, an attempt to end the Vietnam war. Early life and family Goburdhun was born in a middle class Indo ...

. Those attending the trial noted when delivering his confession that Oatis spoke in a flat, emotionless voice. On July 4, 1951, a Czechoslovak court sentenced Oatis to ten years in prison. He was released May 16, 1953, shortly after the death of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

and after an angry letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Czechoslovak government."The Press: A Letter from Ike,"
''Time'', June 1, 1953. The Czechoslovak government said it had been moved to pardon Oatis by a poignant plea from Oatis' wife, Laurabelle. Oatis contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

during his imprisonment and sought treatment shortly after his release. After his release, Oatis retracted his confession, and maintained that he merely cross-checked information with foreign diplomats such as his friend Goburdhun before writing a story. A Czechoslovak court cleared him of all charges in 1959, but the decision was reversed in 1968 after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1990, after Czechoslovakia's "

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

" the previous year, he was cleared again.Pace, Eric (September 17, 1997)
"William N. Oatis, 83, of A.P.; Jailed by Prague in Cold War" (obituary)
''The New York Times''.

Later career

Oatis went on to cover the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

for three decades and retired in 1984 after a 47-year career at the AP. He was elected president of the

United Nations Correspondents Association The United Nations Correspondents Association (U.N. Correspondents Association), or UNCA, was founded in New York City in 1948. It has over 250 members today. It presents the annual UNCA Excellence in Journalism Awards. The purpose of the awards ...

in 1970. In 1992, Oatis was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. Oatis died September 16, 1997 at Long Island College Hospital in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

.Eulogy by Jeremy Oatis.
(Accessed July 29, 2011) He was survived by his sons Jonathan and Jeremy. His wife Laurabelle died of natural causes on June 19, 2012, at the age of 88.

Books

Notes and references

External links

Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oatis, William N. 1914 births 1997 deaths University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni American male journalists DePauw University alumni People from Marion, Indiana Associated Press reporters Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Alzheimer's disease American people imprisoned abroad Journalists from Indiana Military personnel from Indiana American people convicted of spying for the United States American expatriates in Czechoslovakia 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American journalists