Josten was the first Western journalist to report on the Soviet atom bomb test,[2] organised a major international exhibition of political cartoons and ran a campaign for the release of the imprisoned dissident Vaclav Havel.
As the Nazis advanced through France, he assisted with the evacuation of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile and its documents to Britain, finally boarding a British ship on 24 June 1940 and sailing for Liverpool.
[11] When the February 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état took place, Josten was dismissed from his post, after transmitting the last uncensored message from President Beneš to his diplomats abroad.
Patricia was able to leave immediately by plane but Josten had to walk, escaping through the Šumava forest with a group of friends to West Germany.
The main focus was on Czechoslovakia, but in due course bulletins were produced about Poland, Latvia, Romania, Cuba, Tibet and other countries under Communist control, including Russia.
During the 60s and 70s, Josten provided assistance to a number of asylum seekers[18][19] from Central and Eastern Europe, for which he gained the reputation of "The Czech Scarlet Pimpernel".
[17] Following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Josten appeared on news media and in the daily press to provide commentaries on the event.
This included long-running collaborations (such as the formation of the European Liaison Group[25]) with the Czech priest Father Jan Lang and the Romanian exile Ion Rațiu.
In the late 70s, Josten handed over publication of the FCI bulletins to Geoffrey Stewart-Smith and turned his attention to the situation of political prisoners in Czechoslovakia,[7] including the controversial journalist and broadcaster Vladimir Skutina[10] and the playwright Václav Havel.
With the help of various British politicians (notably Bernard Braine), he publicised their plight, latterly under the banner of "CDUP" ("Campaign for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted").
Copies of the FCI bulletin, which were donated to libraries in the US, UK and Czechia, constitute an independent weekly record of Iron Curtain events over the period 1948–1979.