ÚVOD

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Monument in Oselce .

The ÚVOD ( Czech Ústřední vedení odboje domácího ; German  Central Management of the Resistance in the Homeland ) was an umbrella organization of the national, non-communist Czechoslovak resistance groups in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia against the National Socialist occupation of Bohemia and Moravia . ÚVOD is an apronym and means introduction or foreword .

history

The ÚVOD was founded in early 1940 by the three large non-communist resistance groups in Bohemia, each of which sent two representatives to the coordination committee. The main task of the umbrella organization was to coordinate the activities of the resistance in the protectorate. Founding organizations were:

In addition to these three large resistance groups, other smaller groups have joined the ÚVOD, such as Jindra (a group of the forbidden Sokol gymnastics movement , represented by Ladislav Vaněk ) or Parsifal (led by the politician and diplomat Arnošt Heidrich ).

The ÚVOD was founded “on the ruins of previous resistance groups”. Under the military leadership of Colonel Josef Churavý , radio communication with the Czechoslovak government- in- exile in London was restored on March 22, 1940 , which from then on existed regularly. Great Britain supplied radios and other equipment for the construction and operation of two radio stations ( Sparta I and Sparta II ), over which more than 6,000 messages were sent between April 1940 and May 1941. The radio stations were finally discovered and dug up by Gestapo agents.

The government in exile also gave instructions to the ÚVOD. The ÚVOD ensured communication between the government-in-exile and some members of the government in the protectorate, and indirectly via Alois Eliáš with President Emil Hácha . Between 1940 and 1941 ÚVOD members built up extensive intelligence networks and passed on the secret information obtained in this way to the government in exile in London and to the Western Allies, and thus indirectly to the Soviet Union .

The ÚVOD's political goals for a liberated Czechoslovakia largely coincided with the goals of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, and included:

  • A united, independent Czechoslovakia
  • “Democratic Socialism” and Democracy in the Economy
  • Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans

There was disagreement with the government in exile over the type of resistance. Edvard Beneš , under the impression of England fighting for its existence, demanded visible signs of resolute resistance in the protectorate, including by means of violence against the German occupiers. Parts of the ÚVOD, however, wanted to limit the resistance to intelligence gathering, sabotage and propaganda; Force should only be used against Czech collaborators , but not against Germans (this debate ended with the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich on May 27, 1942).

In September 1941, the ÚVOD and the illegal leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) formed the Central National Revolutionary Committee (ÚNRV, Czech Ústřední národní revoluční výbor ) as a common instrument of communist and non-communist resistance.

After SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich was appointed Deputy Reich Protector in September 1941, the situation for the ÚVOD visibly deteriorated. With the arrest of Vladimír Krajina in January 1943, the ÚVOD's activities practically ended. In September 1942, ON and PVVZ founded a new conspiratorial organization under the name Přípravný revoluční národní výbor (PRNV, Revolutionary National Preparatory Committee) , which did not become active until 1944 after the Allied landing in Normandy , then under the name Rada tří (Council of Three ). Rada tří (or R3) is the official successor organization of the ÚVOD.

Members

Josef Mašín

The composition of the ÚVOD changed constantly, as many members were arrested by German security forces and mostly executed. Well-known members of the ÚVOD were:

For the ON
  • Josef Churavý (1894–1942), Czech colonel and professor at the military academy, arrested by the Germans in October 1941 and executed on June 30, 1942.
  • Josef Balabán (1894–1941), Czech lieutenant colonel , organized the ÚVOD's intelligence service together with Mašín and Morávek, arrested by the Germans in April 1941 and executed on October 3, 1941.
  • Josef Mašín (1896–1942), Czech lieutenant colonel , responsible for several acts of sabotage in Germany in 1940, including an explosion at Anhalter Bahnhof . Arrested by the Germans in May 1941 and executed on June 30, 1942. Mašín was the father of the Mašín brothers .
  • Václav Morávek (1904–1942), Czech captain in the general staff, was shot dead on March 11, 1942 in a gun battle with the Gestapo .

A group of Balabán, Mašín and Morávek were also referred to as the Three Kings ( Tři králové in Czech ).

For the PVVZ
  • František Andršt (1907–1941), worker and member of the ČSSD . After the occupation head of the PVVZ, code name Malina . Arrested by the Germans in April 1941, executed on September 30, 1941.
  • Volfgang Jankovec (1896–1944), Czech social democrat, journalist and English teacher at a business school. Management member of the PVVZ. Arrested by the Germans in December 1941 and executed on December 20, 1944.
For the PÚ
  • Antonín Pešl (1891–1942), journalist, co-founder of the Czechoslovak legions on the Italian front during World War I , later editor-in-chief. Founding member of ÚVOD, code name Šimek . Arrested by the Germans in September 1940, executed on December 22, 1942.
  • Václav Holý (1900–1941), employee of the Czech People's Welfare (Sociální péče) and official of the ČSSD . Arrested by the Germans in April 1941, executed on September 30, 1941.
  • Vladimír Krajina (1905–1993), professor of botany at Charles University . Arrested in January 1943, survived the war as a “celebrity prisoner” in the Theresienstadt concentration camp . From 1945 general secretary of the anti-communist party ČSNS and member of the Czechoslovak parliament. Emigrated to Canada in 1948.

literature

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.ghetto-theresienstadt.info , accessed on November 16, 2009.
  2. ↑ Heidrich's short biography (Czech), accessed on November 16, 2009.
  3. ↑ a b Zbyněk Zeman and Antonín Klimek: The life of Edvard Beneš . Oxford 1997, p. 181.
  4. ^ A b Chad Bryant: Prague in black . Cambridge 2007, p. 95.
  5. ↑ Andrea Orzoff: Battle for the Castle: The Myth of Czechoslovakia in Europe 1914-1948 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-536781-2 , p. 206.
  6. ↑ Edvard Beneš a nástin obrysu jeho vztahů k české straně sociálně democické… (Edvard Beneš and a breakdown of his relations with the Czech Social Democratic Party…), page no longer available , search in web archives: Online at masarykovaakademie.cz (Czech). (Retrieved November 13, 2009.)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.masarykovaakademie.cz
  7. ↑ Václav Kural: Vlastenci proti okupaci . Prague 1997, p. 115.
  8. ↑ Václav Kural: Vlastenci proti okupaci . Prague 1997, p. 99 and p. 254.
  9. ↑ Václav Kural: Vlastenci proti okupaci . Prague 1997, p. 54 and p. 256.

literature

  • František Moravec : Špión, jemuž nevěřili , translation (from English) by Hana Moravcová-Disherová. Sixty-Eight Publishers, Vol. 32, Toronto 1977, ISBN 0-88781-032-2 (3rd edition: Academia, Prague 2002, ISBN 80-200-1006-8 ); English original edition: František Moravec: Master of spies. The memoirs of General Frantisek Moravec. Bodley Head, London et al. 1975, ISBN 0-370-10353-X (also: Time-Life Books, Alexandria VA 1991, ISBN 0-8094-8570-2 )