František Pecháček (gymnast)

František Pecháček (born February 15, 1896 in Záhornice ; † February 3, 1944 in Mauthausen ) was a Czechoslovak gymnast , world champion in all- around individual and resistance fighter against the National Socialists.

Life

František Pecháček was the son of a rural deputy wage-earner from Záhornice. He grew up in Stará Paka , where his parents moved shortly after giving birth, and joined the Sokol . In 1920 Pecháček belonged to the Czechoslovak team at the Olympic Games in Antwerp . In 1922 Pecháček became world champion in the individual all-around gymnastics discipline together with the Yugoslav Peter Sumi in Ljubljana .

Pecháček was the choreographer of the exercise "Přísaha republice" performed at the 10th general meeting of the Sokol clubs in 1938 in the Strahov Stadium by 28,600 men.

After the German occupation, Pecháček joined the illegal Sokol organization "Jindra" in 1939, which he headed from 1941. He gave active support to the parachutist group “Antropoid” in their preparations for the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich . After Heydrich's death, the Gestapo tracked him down through treason and in July 1942 Pecháček and his wife Emilie hid with his brother in Zlámanin near Nová Paka . He was arrested on July 20, 1942 and sentenced to death by a court martial on January 8, 1943, together with his wife. Pecháček was taken to Mauthausen concentration camp and executed there by shooting.

Sporting successes

• 1922: World champion in all-around singles, together with Peter Sumi

Web links

• František Pecháček in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )