Exactly 70 years ago on this day, March 15, 1939 year, the Wehrmacht entered the territory of the remnant of Czechoslovakia, cut off by the Munich Agreement. There was no resistance from the Czechs. Neither England nor France made any attempts to save the remnants of the formerly capable ally state, although only six months in Munich they solemnly gave it guarantees in case of aggression. On March 16, Hitler declared a German protectorate over this territory under the name of Bohemia and Moravia. Thus, the Czech Republic was included in the Third Reich and ceased to exist as a state; Slovakia separated and became its satellite.
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Photographer Karel Hajek took pictures on that gloomy March day on the streets of Zlatna Prague, so familiar to many - and these photographs ended up in the Life archives after the war. Many places, I think, are familiar to those who have been there (wenceslas square and the castle are in the pictures, etc.), and you can easily recognize them.
German troops entered Prague demonstratively, in columns, and moved along the main streets, with a large crowd of Prague residents looking at this spectacle.
1. German technology on Wenceslas Square.
2. On Wenceslas Square. An official ceremony took place - a Wehrmacht parade with the passage of equipment and an orchestra. 
3. Motorcyclists on the streets of Prague. 
4. I still don’t understand whether the trams ran while the equipment was passing through. In many frames they even block the movement (see previous photo). 
5. Here the tram is visible (on the left). On the right there are foot columns, light equipment is driving along the street. 
6. Traffic is controlled by Wehrmacht military traffic controllers. 
7. Although, it must be said, there is a variety of vehicles, including those coming from side streets. 
8. There are traces of snow on the equipment, which apparently fell during the march. 
9. Traces of snow are also visible here. Are there Czech policemen in the foreground? 
10. A Wehrmacht vehicle, a tram on the other side of the road and a civilian car there. 
11. Germans near the Malostranskaya bridgehead tower at the entrance to Charles Bridge. They were surrounded by city dwellers. 
12. German motorcyclist on Wenceslas Square. There are people in uniform standing nearby (possibly Czechs). 
13. A huge crowd of Prague residents and a narrow passage between them. Are they waiting for something? 
14. Wehrmacht parade on Wenceslas Square, party and military flags of the Third Reich are hung. The host of the parade is General Keitel. 
15. However, here’s what’s interesting: the military flag at the parade is framed not only by the party flag (on the right), but also by the Czechoslovak flag (on the left). 
16. The orchestra accompanied the passage of troops with music. 
17. Parking near Prague Castle. 
[from here]
The outcome of Gakhi’s negotiations with Hitler in Berlin, in fact, was predetermined in advance. The question was about one thing - whether the Czechoslovak army would resist, or whether the occupation would take place peacefully. The Nazi leadership staged a real spectacle, putting extreme mental pressure on the elderly president, who was feeling unwell (Hakhi had a hypertensive crisis). Gakha himself, in a conversation with journalist Karel Gorky, later described the end of his night audience with Hitler and Goering: “When the tension reached its limit, and I was exhausted and half-dead, but somehow still held on, Goering took me by the hand and took me away in a friendly way. aside and supposedly began to gently persuade me - they say, is it really necessary for this beautiful Prague to be razed to the ground in a couple of hours, for everything to fly up into the air, and only because we do not want to understand the Fuhrer, who does not want thousands young Czechs laid down their lives in a senseless struggle.”
Emil Gaha returned to Prague a broken man. In a radio address to the people, he, sometimes finding it difficult to find words, said:
“...Our duty is to accept what happened with courageous calm, but also with the awareness of a serious task: to do everything to preserve for our future generations what is left to us from our, perhaps, too rich heritage... Observing that that is approaching, I decided, with the consent of the government, at the last moment to ask for a meeting with Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler... After a long conversation with the Reich Chancellor, after analyzing the situation, I made a decision - to announce that I am placing the fate of the Czech people and state in my hands with full confidence leader of the German people."
All pictures – (c)
March 15 marks 70 years since the Nazi occupation of Prague and the disappearance of the Czech Republic from the map of Europe, which became the prologue to the beginning of World War II. For many, it is a mystery how the powerful Czechoslovak army did not resist the aggressors. But the answer lies in politics. Chekhov was “surrendered” to Hitler by the Western democracies - England and France, and this fact is considered the greatest disgrace in the history of diplomacy. And then only the USSR came out in defense of the Czechs.
The occupation of Prague on March 15, 1939 marked the end of the chain of events in 1938-1939. It began on September 29-30, 1938, when fascist Italy, as well as Great Britain and France, agreed with Germany’s demand to secede from the 14 million-strong Czechoslovakia a third of its territory, populated mainly by Germans. The West, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that the Czechs come to terms with the loss. President Edvard Benes yielded to pressure from the Western allies and soon left office, emigrating to London. The only country that protested about this was the USSR.
This event went down in history as the “Munich Agreement.” Over time, it came to be considered the greatest disgrace in the history of diplomacy. Western democracies (especially France, which had a mutual assistance treaty with Czechoslovakia) handed over their ally to the Nazis. Hungary and Poland also took part in the annexation of a number of lands from Czechoslovakia. The country lost a third of its territory and population, 40 percent of its industrial potential and powerful military fortifications. Its new boundaries were virtually bare.
On February 28, 1939, Germany refused to guarantee the inviolability of the Czech borders. On March 14, at the behest of Hitler, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus (present-day Transcarpathia) declared independence. On the same day, the Wehrmacht began the occupation of the Czech Republic, and on March 15, German units entered Prague. Czechoslovak troops were ordered not to resist. On March 16, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was created on the territory of the Czech Republic, which was actually controlled from Berlin. Six years of Nazi occupation began, and the existence of the Czechs as a nation was under threat.
Did Prague have any defensive capabilities? Regarding “military-technical” – they were. It is no coincidence that most of the generals, including the former commander of the Siberian Army Kolchak Radola Gaida, advocated a decisive rebuff to the invaders.
Czechoslovak fortifications in the Sudetes, according to military experts, made it possible not only to delay the German offensive, but also to “drive it into the ground.” Czechoslovakian aviation was equipped with some of the best fighters in the world - the French Devoitins, which, as experience in battles in Spain showed, were superior to the German Messerschmitts in flight performance. Gaining air supremacy would be a big problem for the Germans.
The Czechoslovak tank Pt-38 could claim to be the best in the world. German armored vehicles were then, in fact, still in their infancy. Against several hundred modern Pt-38 and Pt-35, the Germans could only field machine-gun “tanks” T-1 and weak T-2, whose 20-mm cannon was unable to penetrate the armor of their Czechoslovak opponents. And the 60 T-3 units in service with the Germans, capable of competing with them, were too few to turn the tide.
In any case, the high combat effectiveness of Czech tanks is proven by the fact that almost a quarter of the German tank forces that participated in the attack on the USSR were equipped with Czech vehicles. By the way, the famous “Tigers” and “Panthers” were made in the Czech Republic.
Foreign historians believe that the Czechs had one of the strongest armies in the world. Documents from the German archives indicate that Hitler’s generals did not allow the Fuhrer to support the attempts to revolt by the Sudeten Germans on the eve of the Munich Agreement, and the Czechs suppressed them in a few hours. To prevent a suicidal war, the German military had to shoot Hitler immediately after returning from Munich.
At the same time, Czechoslovakia's position was vulnerable. After Austria joined Germany in 1938, the country was surrounded on three sides by German territory. The human resources at Hitler's disposal were seven times greater than those of the Czech Republic. Hungary and Poland were not a reliable rear. Slovakia and Transcarpathia headed for secession. On the territory of the Czech Republic itself there lived three million Germans who were eager to join the Reich. Even after
The rejection of the border territories left hundreds of thousands of Germans there who dreamed of becoming Hitler’s “fifth column”. There was not a single city in the Czech Republic where ethnic Germans did not live.
But, in addition to the military component, there was a political one. The reaction of England, France and the USA to the occupation was sluggish. Only the Soviet Union protested. He was ready to provide military assistance to the Czechs, however, according to the mutual assistance agreements of 1935, he could only do this if France came to the aid of Czechoslovakia. And Paris betrayed its ally. In addition, the USSR and Czechoslovakia did not have a common border, and relations with Poland, through which military cargo could be transited, were strained. And President Benes did not ask for help from the USSR.
The Czech Republic, and Czechoslovakia as a whole, had a chance, but it was given up by politicians - both their own and Western ones. If it had not disappeared from the map of Europe, Hitler's hands would have been tied. And so the road to the beginning of World War II opened. “I brought you peace,” said British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain after the Munich Agreement. But in reality, his actions, as well as the overall policy of appeasing the aggressor, contributed to the outbreak of war. Regardless of whether or not the Czechs should have resisted the aggressors.
About the most important international events.
Division and destruction of Czechoslovakia as an independent state with the participation of Germany, Hungary and Poland in 1938-1939. These events are not officially included in the history of World War II, but are inextricably linked with it and may well be the first stage of this war.
1. Polish 7TR tanks enter the Czech city of Teshin (Cieszyn). October 1938
3. Poles replace the Czech name of the city with the Polish one at the city railway station in Tesin.
4. Polish troops enter Cieszyn
5. Polish soldiers pose with the deposed Czechoslovak coat of arms at the telephone and telegraph building they captured during Operation Zaluzhye in the Czech village of Ligotka Kameralna (Ligotka Kameralna-Polish, Komorní Lhotka-Czech), located near the town of Tesin.
6. Polish tank 7TR from the 3rd armored battalion (tank of the 1st platoon) overcomes the Czechoslovak border fortifications in the area of the Polish-Czechoslovak border. The 3rd Armored Battalion had a tactical sign “Silhouette of a bison in a circle”, which was applied to the tank turret. But in August 1939, all tactical signs on the towers were painted over, as if they were unmasking.
7. Handshake of Polish Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigła and German attaché Colonel Bogislaw von Studnitz at the Independence Day parade in Warsaw on November 11, 1938. The photograph is notable because the Polish parade was particularly linked to the capture of Cieszyn Selesia a month earlier.
8. An armored unit of Polish troops occupies the Czech village of Jorgov during the operation to annex the Czechoslovak lands of Spis. In the foreground is a Polish TK-3 wedge.
9. Polish troops occupy the Czech village of Jorgov during the operation to annex the Czechoslovak lands of Spis.
The future fate of these territories is interesting. After the collapse of Poland, Orava and Spis were transferred to Slovakia. After the end of World War II, the lands were again occupied by the Poles, the government of Czechoslovakia was forced to agree to this. To celebrate, the Poles carried out ethnic cleansing against ethnic Slovaks and Germans. In 1958 the territories were returned to Czechoslovakia. Now they are part of Slovakia. - approx. b0gus
10. Polish soldiers at a captured Czech checkpoint near the Czechoslovak-German border, near the pedestrian bridge built in honor of the anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph in the Czech town of Bohumin. The not yet demolished Czechoslovakian border pillar is visible.
11. Polish troops occupy the Czech town of Karvin during Operation Zaluzhye. The Polish part of the population greets the troops with flowers. October 1938.
The Czechoslovak city of Karvin was the center of heavy industry in Czechoslovakia, coke production, and one of the most important centers of coal mining in the Ostrava-Karvin coal basin. Thanks to Operation Zaluzhye carried out by the Poles, former Czechoslovak enterprises already at the end of 1938 provided Poland with almost 41% of the iron smelted in Poland and almost 47% of the steel.
12. Bunker of the Czechoslovak fortification line in the Sudetes (“Beneš Line”).
13. Sudeten Germans break down a Czechoslovak border post during the German occupation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in late September-early October 1938.
14. German troops enter the Czech city of As (on the border with Germany in the Sudetenland, the westernmost city of the Czech Republic). Local Germans, who made up the majority of the region's population at the time, joyfully welcomed unification with Germany.
15. Commander-in-Chief of the German Ground Forces, Colonel General Walter von Brauchitsch welcomes German tank units (PzKw I tanks) at the parade in honor of the annexation of the Czech Sudetenland to Germany. Appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces with the rank of Colonel General shortly before the operation to annex the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany, Walter von Brauchitsch was one of the organizers of this operation
16. Column of Czechoslovak tanks LT vz. 35 before shipping to Germany. In the foreground is a tank with registration number 13.917, which entered service with the Czechoslovak Army in 1937. Was assigned to PUV-1 (PUV - Pluk Utocne Vozby - literally: regiment of assault vehicles). In 1942, it was converted by the Germans into an artillery tractor (Mörserzugmittel 35(t).
17. Units of the Polish 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment of the 10th Mechanized Brigade are preparing for a ceremonial parade in front of the regiment commander to mark the end of Operation Zaluzhye (occupation of Czechoslovak territories).
18. Handshake of Polish Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigła and German attache Major General Bogislaw von Studnitz at the Independence Day parade in Warsaw on November 11, 1938. The photograph is notable because the Polish parade was particularly linked to the capture of Cieszyn Selesia a month earlier. A column of Cieszyn Poles specially marched at the parade, and in Germany the day before, from November 9 to 10, 1938, the so-called “Crystal Night” took place, the first mass act of direct physical violence against Jews on the territory of the Third Reich.
19. Soldiers of the Czechoslovak border detachment “State Defense Units” (Stráž obrany státu, SOS) from battalion No. 24 (New Castles, Nitra) on the Maria Valeria Bridge over the Danube in Parkano (present-day Šturovo) in southern Slovakia are preparing to repel Hungarian aggression.
20. Funeral of the Carpathian Sich members and soldiers of the Czechoslovak troops who died in battle with the Hungarian troops that invaded Czechoslovakia.
21. Italian-made Fiat Ansaldo CV-35 wedges of the Hungarian occupation forces enter the streets of the Czechoslovak city of Khust.
After Slovakia declared its independence on March 14, 1939 under pressure from Hitler and Czechoslovakia disintegrated, Hungary received permission from Germany to occupy part of Slovakia - Subcarpathian Ruthenia. On March 15, the Prime Minister of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, Augustin Voloshin, declared the independence of Carpathian Ukraine, which was not recognized by other states. On March 16, 1939, Hungarian troops launched an assault on Khust, which included the 24th Hungarian Border Guard Battalion and the 12th Scooter Battalion, and captured the city.
22. Hungarian Italian-made Fiat Ansaldo CV-35 wedges and soldiers on the street of the captured Czechoslovak city of Khust in Carpathian Ukraine. In the background is the headquarters building of the “Karpatska Sich” with traces of battles.
23. Civilians greet Hungarian soldiers with flowers in an occupied Slovak village in southern Slovakia (Slovak name - Horná zem, Hungarian - Felvidék) with a significant Hungarian population
24. Fraternization of soldiers of the Hungarian and Polish occupation forces in occupied Czechoslovakia.
25. Ruler (regent) of the Kingdom of Hungary, Admiral Miklos Horthy (on a white horse) at the head of a parade of Hungarian troops in the occupied Czechoslovak city of Kosice (in Hungarian Kassa) after its occupation on November 2, 1938.
26. German officers at the Czechoslovak-German border observe the capture of the city of Bohumin by Polish troops. Germans stand on a pedestrian bridge built in honor of the anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph.
On September 30, 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed, according to which Germany transferred the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia. Thus, Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain gave the green light to the process of eliminating the sovereignty of Czechoslovakia. Thanks to this agreement, Czechoslovakia lost up to 38% of its territory, transferring the Sudetenland to Germany, the southern and eastern regions of Slovakia populated predominantly by ethnic Hungarians to Hungary, and the Czech part of Cieszyn Silesia to Poland. As a result, the morale of the country's political and military elite and population was undermined; Czechoslovakia actually turned into a narrow and long stump state, easily vulnerable to external invasion, which became a protectorate of Germany. German troops were stationed just 30 km from Prague, and the outer defensive lines fell into the hands of a potential enemy.
On December 3, 1938, Prague and Berlin signed a secret agreement according to which Czechoslovakia could not “maintain fortifications and barriers on the border with Germany.” The fate of the remaining territory of the state was thus predetermined. On March 14, 1939, Adolf Hitler summoned Czechoslovak President Emil Hacha to Berlin and invited him to accept the German protectorate. The Czechoslovak President agreed to this, and the German army entered the state with virtually no resistance from Czech troops. On March 15, 1939, by personal decree of the Fuhrer, the Czech Republic and Moravia were declared a protectorate of Germany. The head of the executive power of the Czech Republic and Moravia was the Reich Protector appointed by Hitler; he became Konstantin von Neurath (from 1932 to 1938 he was the Reich Foreign Minister of Germany, and then minister without portfolio). The post of president was retained, but was formal; it was still held by Emil Gaha. State structures were strengthened by officials from the Reich. Slovakia officially became an independent state, but in reality became a vassal of Nazi Germany. It was led by the theologian and leader of the Glinkova Slovak People's Party (clerical-nationalist Slovak party) Josef Tiso.
The population of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was mobilized as a labor force that was supposed to work for the victory of the Third Reich. Special departments were established to manage Czech industry. Czechs were obliged to work in coal mines, in the metallurgical and military industries, strengthening the military and economic power of Germany; part of the local youth was sent to the Reich. In the first months of the occupation, German repressions were moderate and did not cause much indignation among the population.
Armed Forces of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
To maintain internal security and order, German authorities in the summer of 1939 established the armed forces of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Only “Aryans” were allowed to serve, that is, not Jews or Gypsies. Most of the commanders and soldiers had previously served in the Czechoslovak Army. They even retained the same uniform, emblems and system of awards (the German-style uniform was introduced only in 1944).
The protector's armed forces consisted of 12 battalions of 480-500 people each (about 7 thousand people in total). In addition to infantry companies, the battalions included bicycle companies and horse squadrons. The soldiers were armed with modernized Mannlicher rifles, light and heavy machine guns, which were produced at the Ceska Zbrojovka factories. There were no heavy weapons. Czech battalions were tasked with protecting communications and important facilities, carrying out engineering and rescue work, and assisting police forces. Former brigadier general of the Czechoslovak Army Jaroslav Eminger was appointed commander of the protectorate's armed forces.
In 1944, 11 Czech battalions were transferred to Italy to guard communications (one battalion remained to guard the residence of President Emil Haha in Hradcany). However, soon several hundred Czechs went over to the side of the Italian partisans, and were transported to the Czechoslovak armored brigade under the command of General Alois Lisa, which at that time was fighting in France. The German command was forced to disarm the remaining Czech soldiers and send them to engineering work.
In addition, Czechs fought in the SS troops. At the end of May 1942, the “Supervisorship for the Education of Youth in Bohemia and Moravia” was established in the protectorate. The organization accepted young people aged 10–18 years and educated them in the spirit of National Socialism and developed physical education. Senior members of the “Curatorship” had the opportunity to enlist in the SS special forces units, and the younger ones - in the “Exemplary Link”. In the future, these structures were to become the core of the Bohemian SS.
In February 1945, the first recruitment of Czechs took place into the SS police regiment "Brisken", which became part of the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "Bohemia and Moravia". In the same year, about one thousand former soldiers and commanders of the Czechoslovak cavalry became part of the newly formed 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow". At the beginning of May 1945, during the Prague Uprising, the SS Volunteer Company “St. Wenceslas” (77 people) was formed from members of various Czech pro-fascist organizations and soldiers of SS special forces units. The company joined the German garrison in Prague. Some of the Czech SS men, after the defeat of Germany, joined the French Foreign Legion and fought in Indochina.
Czechoslovak formations in the troops of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition
Poland. After the Czech Republic joined the Third German Empire, about 4 thousand commanders and soldiers of the former Czechoslovak army, as well as civilians who did not want to remain in the territory subject to Berlin, moved to the Polish state. At the end of April 1939, the Czechoslovak foreign group was established, which initially included about 100 people. In addition, the transfer of Czechoslovak military personnel to France began on warships, where more than 1,200 people moved, a third of whom were pilots.
In Poland itself, the Czechoslovak Legion (about 800 people) and the Czechoslovak reconnaissance squadron (93 people) were formed. The legion was headed by Lieutenant General of the former Czechoslovak army Lev Prhala, his assistant was Colonel Ludvik Svoboda. The formation of the Czech units at the time of the invasion of German troops was not completed, so they took little part in the hostilities (5 people were killed and 6 wounded in the battles in Galicia). One part of the Czechoslovak Legion was captured near the village of Rakovets near Ternopil by units of the Red Army. The other part - about 250 people, including General Prhal, crossed the border with Romania and reached France or French possessions in the Middle East in different ways.
France. At the end of September, the French military command began to form an infantry battalion from the Czechoslovaks. On October 2, 1939, the head of the French government, Edouard Daladier, and the Czechoslovak ambassador, Stefan Osuski, signed an agreement on the formation of Czechoslovak troops in France. On November 17, 1939, Paris officially recognized the Czechoslovak National Committee, led by former Czechoslovak President Edvard Benes, as the legitimate government of Czechoslovakia in exile.
From the beginning of 1940, from the Czechs and Slovaks living in France and arriving from Poland, the 1st Czechoslovak Division began to be formed. Recruitment was both voluntary and through mobilization. The Czechoslovak division included two infantry regiments (the third regiment did not have time to be completed), an artillery regiment, an engineer battalion, an anti-tank battery and a communications battalion. The formation was headed by General Rudolf Wiest. By May 1940, the division had 11,405 people (45% Czechs, 44% Slovaks, 11% Russians, Ukrainians and Jews). In addition, Czech aviation units were formed in France, numbering about 1,800 people.
With the outbreak of active hostilities on the Franco-German front, the 1st Czechoslovak Division was tasked with covering the retreat of French troops. Czechoslovak units took part in the battles on the Marne (June 13–17) and the Loire (June 16–17). In them, the division lost only 400 people killed, 32 Czechoslovak soldiers were awarded the Military Cross. On June 22, the division received an order to fold. Approximately 3 thousand soldiers of the division and 2 thousand Czechoslovaks from other units were transported to Great Britain.
England. In addition to those Czech military personnel who directly crossed the English Channel, about 200 people, after the capitulation of Paris, moved from French Lebanon to British Palestine. At the end of October 1940, the 11th Czechoslovak battalion began to be formed in Palestine as part of the British army. The unit was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Karel Klapalek. In December 1940, the unit had 800 men and the battalion was training at a camp near Jericho.
In the spring of 1941, the 11th battalion, together with Polish formations, guarded a camp for Italian-German prisoners (it contained about 10 thousand people) near Alexandria in Egypt. In the summer, the battalion took part in battles against the troops of the French Vichy government in Syria. It is interesting that here the soldiers of the battalion encountered their compatriots who served in the French Foreign Legion. Captured Czechs and Slovaks were allowed to join the battalion.
In October 1941, the battalion was transferred to North Africa, where it took part in the battles against the blockaded Italian-German group in Tobruk. In the spring of 1942, the battalion was transferred to Western Asia and began to be reorganized into the 200th light anti-aircraft regiment. In the summer of 1943, this regiment was transferred to England, where it was disbanded, and the personnel were included in the Czechoslovak Armored Brigade.
Czech pilots took part in the defense of British airspace. Thus, on July 12, 1940, several Czechoslovak fighter squadrons were formed in Duxford. By October 31, 1941, they had shot down 56 German aircraft. From December 1943, the 313th Czechoslovak Bomber Squadron began to take part in allied air raids on Germany. During these raids, 560 Czech pilots were killed. Czechoslovakian pilots fought with the British Air Force until the end of the war in Europe. The most successful Czechoslovak pilot in the British Air Force was Captain Karel Kutgelwascher - he shot down 20 enemy aircraft. Sergeant Josef Frantisek had 17 enemy aircraft, captain Alois Vasyatko - 16 aircraft, captain Frantisek Perzina - 15 aircraft.
London recognized the Czechoslovak government in exile on July 21, 1940. On October 25, 1940, after a joint decision of the British and Czechoslovak governments, the formation of the 1st Czechoslovak Mixed Brigade began (it defended the southern English coast until 1944). In 1944, the Mixed Brigade was reorganized into the Czechoslovak Armored Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Alois Lick. On August 30, 1944, the brigade was landed in French Normandy and was in reserve until the beginning of October. From October 7 until the surrender of Germany, the brigade took part in the siege of Dunkirk. During this time, the armored brigade lost 201 people killed and 461 wounded. On May 12, a combined detachment from this brigade arrived in Prague for a symbolic entry into the Czech capital.
Czechoslovakian pilots in England. 1943
Czechoslovak units in the Red Army
As already noted, in September 1939, the Red Army near the village of Rakovets near Ternopil captured several hundred soldiers and commanders of the Czechoslovak Legion, which was part of the Polish armed forces. They were interned in camps for Polish prisoners, first in Ukraine and then near Suzdal. In April 1940, according to an agreement between Moscow and Paris, the 1st transport with 45 legionnaires was sent to France. During 1940-1941 10 shipments with interned Czechs and Slovaks were sent to France and the Middle East. By June 1941, 157 former legionnaires remained in internment camps in the USSR.
On July 18, 1941, in England, Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky and Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk signed an agreement between the USSR and the Czechoslovak government in exile on joint actions against the Third Reich. On September 27, 1941, the Soviet government decided to conscript “Soviet citizens of Czechoslovak nationality” into Czechoslovak units on the territory of the USSR.
At the beginning of February 1942, in Buzuluk, in the military camps of the Polish army under the command of General Vladislav Anders, the 1st separate Czechoslovak battalion began to be formed. Its commander was Lieutenant Colonel of the former Czechoslovak army Ludvik Svoboda. It must be said that this man had a very rich biography even before he headed the Czechoslovak units in the USSR. Ludwik was born on November 25, 1895 into a peasant family in the village of Groznatin in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He qualified as an agronomist and was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army in 1915. Svoboda fought on the Eastern Front against the Russians, then voluntarily surrendered. He was kept in a camp near Kiev, after his release he served in the city fire department, and in September 1916 he joined the Czechoslovak Legion (commanded a platoon or company). Participated in a number of battles on the side of the Russian imperial army. After the revolution and uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps, he took part in battles with the Red Army (commanded a company or battalion). In 1920 he returned to his homeland. Since 1921 he served in the Czechoslovak army with the rank of captain. By the time of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Germans, he was a battalion commander. He was dismissed from the army and became a member of an anti-fascist group; after its discovery, he fled to Poland. In the Polish state he was an active participant in the creation of Czechoslovak military units within the Polish army. After the defeat of Poland, he was captured by the Red Army and was in internment camps. He was an active supporter of the creation of a Czechoslovak military unit as part of the Red Army.
To replenish the 1st Czechoslovak battalion, on February 3, 1942, the State Defense Committee of the USSR declared an amnesty for all citizens of Czechoslovakia. On November 19, 1942, the Presidium of the Supreme Council declared an amnesty for all prisoners of Ukrainian-Rusyns and Slovaks from Hungary, who were previously citizens of Czechoslovakia. By January 1943, there were 974 people in the Czechoslovak battalion (52% were Ukrainian-Rusyns and Jews, 48% were Czechs and Slovaks). They were armed with Soviet small arms and dressed in British uniforms with Czechoslovak insignia.
Valentina (Wanda) Binievska was born on September 27, 1925 in the city of Uman, Cherkasy region, into a Czech family. In 1942, Wanda joined the emerging 1st Czechoslovak separate battalion and completed courses for medical instructors and snipers. She took part in the battles for Kyiv and Sokolovo as an observer-sniper. In 1944, she was thrown behind enemy lines, to Slovakia, where she fought as part of the Slovak rebel detachments. On March 3, 1945, in the city of Banska Bystrica, she was captured by the Germans, from where she was able to escape on March 17, joining the “Stalin” partisan detachment. She finished the war with the rank of sergeant in the Czechoslovak army.
In March 1943, the battalion became part of the 3rd Tank Army of the Voronezh Front and entered battle for the first time in the area of the village of Sokolovo near Kharkov. During the Kharkov defensive operation, the battalion, together with Soviet formations, repelled German attacks. In this battle, the Czechoslovak battalion suffered heavy losses (only 153 people were counted dead and 122 missing, almost all company and platoon commanders were killed), but showed high morale and good training. The battalion was taken to the rear and in May in Novokhopersk, the 1st Czechoslovak Separate Infantry Brigade began to be formed at its base. In addition to infantry battalions, the brigade also included a tank battalion (20 tanks and 10 armored vehicles). By September 1943, there were 3,517 people in the brigade (more than 60% were Rusyns, the rest were Czechs, Slovaks, Russians and Jews). The brigade was strengthened by officers who arrived from England and the Middle East.
The commander of the 1st Czechoslovak Separate Brigade, Colonel Ludwik Svoboda (sitting on the right) with his colleagues.
At the end of September 1943, the brigade was sent to the front. In November, as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front, it took part in the battles for Kyiv, in the area of Vasilkov, Ruda, Bila Tserkva and Zhashkov. During these battles, the brigade lost 384 people in killed alone. In the spring of 1944, the brigade was taken to the rear for reorganization and replenishment. On the basis of the brigade, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps began to be formed. It was created at the expense of conscripts from the Volyn and Carpathian regions liberated by the Red Army, as well as Slovak prisoners of war and Czechoslovak commanders who arrived from England. By September 1944, the Czechoslovak Corps numbered 16,171 people. The corps included three separate infantry brigades, a separate airborne brigade, a separate tank brigade (23 tanks and 3 self-propelled guns, commander - Staff Captain Vladimir Yanko), an artillery regiment, a fighter aviation regiment (21 fighters, commander - Staff Captain Frantisek Faitl), a separate engineer battalion, a separate communications battalion. Brigadier General Jan Kratochvil became the commander of the corps at the proposal of the Czechoslovak government.
In addition, from the beginning of 1944, the 2nd Czechoslovak separate airborne brigade began to be created in Efremov (Tula region). Its backbone was the soldiers and commanders of the 1st Slovak Division, which defected to the Red Army in December 1943 near Melitopol.
In August 1944, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front, operated in the Carpathian region. In the East Carpathian operation, the corps was supposed to provide assistance to the outbreak of the Slovak uprising during the offensive of the Red Army. However, on the very first day of participation in the battle (September 9), due to poor intelligence organization and poor management, two brigades of the Czechoslovak Corps came under heavy German artillery fire and suffered significant losses (611 people). Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev by his order replaced Kratochvil with Svoboda. Czechoslovak troops continued their offensive, breaking through the enemy's defensive positions in the mountains one after another in fierce battles. On September 20, the corps liberated the city of Duklja, and on October 6, the well-fortified Duklja Pass, which was located on the old Czechoslovak border, was stormed. On this day, Soviet and Czechoslovak troops entered the territory of Czechoslovakia, marking the beginning of its liberation from the Germans. On the same day, the landing of the 2nd Separate Airborne Brigade in Slovakia began. The paratroopers linked up with the rebels and engaged in heavy fighting with German troops. On October 31, when the Slovak Uprising was defeated, the brigade switched to partisan warfare and was renamed the 2nd Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade. This brigade linked up with advancing Soviet, Czechoslovakian and Romanian forces on February 19, 1945.
Soldiers of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, October 6, 1944.
Soldiers of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps on the state border, 1944.
Until November, the Czechoslovak Corps continued the offensive, then went on the defensive. Czechoslovak units were no longer deployed to the rear, operating on the front line until the end of the war. The corps fought as part of the 38th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front. The training of personnel and the replenishment of formations was carried out in the reserve and training units of the corps. At the beginning of 1945, the 1st Czechoslovak Separate Fighter Aviation Regiment was transformed into the 1st Czechoslovak Mixed Air Division (consisting of 65 aircraft) under the command of Colonel Ludvik Budin. The aviation division took an active part in the battle for Moravia.
In January 1945, the corps took part in the West Carpathian operation, and in March - in the Moravian-Ostravian operation. On April 4, 1945, Brigadier General Karel Klapalek was appointed commander of the formation. On April 30, the Czechoslovak Corps entered the Czech Republic itself and continued stubborn battles with German troops until Germany surrendered. On May 10, 1945, the advanced units of the corps entered Prague on Soviet tanks. Losses of the Czechoslovak Corps, together with the losses of a separate battalion and a separate brigade, in 1943-1944. There were 4,011 people killed, missing and died from wounds, and 14,202 people were hospital workers.
On May 17, 1945, a parade of the entire Czechoslovak Corps took place in Prague: together with the rear and training units, its strength at that time was 31,725 people. Since June 1945, the 1st Army of the Czechoslovak People's Army began to be formed on the basis of the corps.
IS-2 tank of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the center of Prague.
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The Armed Forces of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (Regierungstruppe des Protektorats Bohmen und Mahren) were created by the German authorities to maintain internal security and order on July 25, 1939, which, in their opinion, gave the new entity some features of autonomy.Only “Aryans” were allowed to serve, that is, not Jews or Gypsies. Most of the soldiers and officers previously served in the army of the Czechoslovak Republic. They retained the old Czechoslovak uniform, emblems and system of awards. In 1944, a uniform corresponding to German standards was introduced.
The protectorate's armed forces initially numbered 7,000 men and consisted of 12 battalions of 480 men each. In addition to infantry companies, they included bicycle companies and horse squadrons.
The armament consisted of modernized Mannlicher rifles, light and heavy machine guns, produced at the Ceska Zbrojovka factories.
The protectorate's armed forces were required to guard roads, bridges, warehouses and other strategic facilities, carry out rescue and engineering work, and assist the police. The former brigadier general of the Czechoslovak army Jaroslav Eminger (1886 - 1964) was appointed commander (inspector general).
On May 8, 1944, 11 Bohemian battalions arrived in Northern Italy to guard rear communications. During the first months, 800 Bohemian soldiers went over to the side of the Italian partisans.
Soon they had the opportunity to reach the location of the Anti-Hitler Coalition troops, join the Czechoslovak armored brigade under the command of General Alois Lisa and participate in hostilities in France, in particular, in the siege of the port of Dunkirk. The remaining soldiers were disarmed by the Germans and sent to fortification work.
The battalion remaining in the protectorate guarded the residence of President Emil Gaha in Hradcany. On May 5, 1945, his soldiers took part in the Prague Uprising. They took part in the battles for the city radio station and Prague Castle, and also captured a German armored train.
After the liberation of Czechoslovakia, General Jaroslav Eminger was accused of collaboration and on March 31, 1947, he was stripped of his military rank and awards.
General Jaroslav Eminger (fourth from left in a raincoat).
Bohemian Battalion during the Prague Uprising in May 1945
Czechs in the SS.
Germans born in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia could join the Wehrmacht and the SS without restrictions. There were no restrictions for the Czechs, but they mainly carried out labor duties.
At the same time, in 1939 - 1944. some Czechs joined the SS and took part in the fighting on the fronts of World War II. For example, the son of the Minister of Education in the Czech government of the protectorate, Emmanuel Moravec, Igor volunteered for the SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf") and was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.
Membership card of the "Aryan Guard - Czech Fascists", 1939.
On May 29, 1942, the so-called “Kuratorium pro vychovu mladeze v Cechach a na Morave (KVMCM)” arose in the protectorate. This organization accepted youth aged 10 to 18 years. Lectures were given here about National Socialism, the benefits of cooperation with the Germans, and the victories of the German army.
The authorities provided “Curatorship” with sports grounds and camps where competitions were held in hockey, skiing, athletics, and football. The organization trained instructors (from among Czech supporters of Nazism), the youth of “Curatorship” participated in racial studies of the Nazis.
Senior members of the "Curatorship" could enlist in the SS special forces (Oddily ZZ), and junior members - in the "Exemplary Link" (Vzorne roje). In the future, these units were to become the basis of the Czech SS.
A delegation of Czech peasants at a reception with the Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heindrich. Autumn 1941
In February 1945, the first recruitment of Czechs took place into the SS police regiment "Brisken", which was included in the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division, sometimes called "Bohemia-Moravia" (German: Bohmen-Mahren) or "Bachka" (31. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division). The division was severely understaffed. Retreating under the attacks of the Red Army, probably defeated in Königgrätz on 5.1945.
In the same year, about one thousand former soldiers and commanders of the Czechoslovak cavalry became part of the newly formed 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow".
Subordinate to the 1st SS Panzer Corps "Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler", the division's battle group, retreating through Hungary to Austria, took part in fierce battles with the advancing units of the Red Army.
Some soldiers from the division took part in the mass escape from the prisoner of war camp in Altheim (date of escape - May 13, 1945); The escape was undertaken after the regular Wehrmacht units were liberated from the camp, while the SS remained imprisoned.
The surviving Czech SS men were captured by Soviet and American troops. Some soldiers and officers escaped captivity and returned to Czechoslovakia in May 1945.
During the anti-German Prague Uprising on May 5, 1945, the SS Volunteer Company "St. Wenceslas" (Svatovaclavska dobrovolnicka rota ZZ) was formed from young activists of various Czech fascist organizations that appeared in the country during the occupation, and soldiers of the SS special forces (Oddily ZZ). . The company joined the German garrison of the Czech capital.
At the beginning of March 1945, secret negotiations were held in Germany on the urgent mobilization of Czech and Slovak volunteers who were supposed to delay the advance of Soviet troops in Germany and Czechoslovakia.
Young Czech fascists. 1942
The initiative to attract Czechs and Slovaks to the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS was expressed by Emmanuel Moravec, Minister of Youth Affairs of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, who was supported by the Czech Anti-Bolshevik League and even the Government of the Protectorate.
The idea was also supported by Dr. Toyner (a Czech fascist, one of the leaders of the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Protectorate), Dr. Victorin and the German consultant Dr. Kraniche. According to the plans, the Germans were going to attract at least a thousand volunteers.
The commander of the Czech SS company is SS Brigadeführer Bernhard Voss.
The formation began on March 5 by order of Karl-Hermann Frank, the training camp was located in the village of Ukhnosht-Chepertse. However, anti-war sentiment among the population of the occupied lands was so high that only 50 people came to the camp by March 21.
By the end of April, the number of volunteer detachments barely exceeded 70 people. Most of the volunteers were members of the SS paramilitary forces, where they were recruited only due to their good knowledge of the German language and supposedly being granted a pure-blooded German ancestry.
SS Brigadeführer Bernhard Voss was invited to command the company; the training was conducted by Lieutenant Bavel. This company was a Czech SS unit, their only weapons were outdated rifles with bayonets and one machine gun. Their uniform was exactly the same as that of the government troops of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
After fighting with their rebel compatriots and soldiers of the First Division of the Russian Liberation Army under the command of General Vlasov in Prague, this unit was able to reach the American occupation zone (Karlovy Vary - Pilsen - Ceske Budujevice).
On April 5, one of the soldiers tried to desert, but their escape was discovered, and those who escaped were shot on the spot. On the night of May 8-9, some soldiers loyal to the Reich fled into the forests, but were captured by Soviet or American units.
Those who managed to break through to the West escaped prosecution by joining the French Foreign Legion. Some of them even participated in the Indochina War (they took part in the Battle of the Valley of Clay Jars) and the Vietnam War.
ROA soldiers in Prague.
Bohemian and Moravian Germans who became citizens of the Reich overwhelmingly supported the de facto occupation of the Czech Republic by Germany. They actively joined the SS, the Wehrmacht and provided all possible assistance to the German authorities. Anti-German and anti-German sentiments grew among the urban population - part of the workers, intelligentsia and students.
The first significant act of civil disobedience was the rallies on October 28, 1939 in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Kladno and other cities of Bohemia and Moravia, dedicated to the anniversary of the creation of the Czechoslovak state.
The crowd chanted: “We want freedom!” and "German police are German pigs!" Clashes occurred with Czech police and Gestapo agents, during which one person, 22-year-old miner Vaclav Sedlacek, was killed and several were seriously injured. About 700 protesters were also arrested.
Young Czech Nazis.
On November 11, 1939, Charles University medical student Jan Opletal died from wounds received during the dispersal of a rally. His funeral on November 15 turned into a massive student demonstration, which was dispersed by the police.
About 1,000 people were arrested and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On November 17, 9 participants in this demonstration were executed. After this, all Czech higher education institutions were closed, including Charles University.
The situation escalated sharply after Czech saboteurs, abandoned by British intelligence, made an attempt on May 27, 1942, on Reinhard Heindrich, who, being slightly wounded, died as a result of blood poisoning after surgery.
Czech saboteurs Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis took refuge in the crypt of the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague. Their location was revealed by the traitor Karel Curda.
The priest and members of the church clergy who sheltered Heydrich's killers were arrested. The Orthodox Bishop of Prague, Gorazd (Matej Pavlik), who was in Berlin at that time and knew nothing about these events, arrived in Prague and declared that he was ready to share the punishment that his subordinates would suffer.
He was executed on September 4, 1942. Along with him, the cathedral priests Vaclav Cikl and Vladimir Petrk, as well as the church elder Jan Sonnevend, were executed.
The Czech Orthodox Church was banned, its property was confiscated, churches were closed, the clergy were arrested and imprisoned. Throughout the Protectorate, the German authorities introduced martial law, which was lifted on July 3, 1942.
Acting Reich Protector of the Czech Republic after the assassination of Heydrich, Colonel General of Police Kurt Daluege. After the war he was handed over to the Czechs and hanged.
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