František Peltán

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František Peltán (born April 1, 1913 in Jindřichův Hradec , † July 20, 1942 in Prague ) was a figure in the Czechoslovak resistance from 1939 to 1945 against National Socialism . Peltán was a professional soldier and officer in Czechoslovakia and radio operator for the resistance groups Obrana národa and Tři králové (Three Kings). František Peltán died in 1942 after an exchange of fire with the Gestapo .

Life

In 1927 František Peltán finished his basic training and did an apprenticeship as an upholsterer and decorator. In 1933 he was drafted and trained as a radio telegraphist, later he became a trainer for radio operators and radio telegraphists. As such, after 1939, after the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia had been declared, he got in touch with colleagues who were interested in working in the resistance.

resistance

Peltán joined the Obrana národa resistance group and was commissioned to maintain the very important radio contact with the Czechoslovak government- in- exile in London, which first took place with the help of the Sparta I radio station . After the Gestapo arrested several active employees in early 1939/1940, Josef Balabán approached Peltán and offered to help him set up the Sparta II transmitter . This broadcaster was supposed to work primarily for the Tři králové group and Balabán was responsible for the intelligence department of the resistance group. In reference to the group's name, "Three Kings", Peltán was often called "the fourth king".

Memorial plaque at 19 Čiklova Street in Prague, where the group was surprised by the Gestapo

Over the next few months, incidents, some of which were serious, occurred on several transmission dates. On May 13, 1941, František Peltán, Josef Mašín and Václav Morávek sent from an apartment in Prague (Čiklova ul. 19) and were surprised by the Gestapo; Mašín was seriously injured in the shooting and arrested, Peltán and Morávek were able to escape. In June 1941, Peltán had to escape twice in total, and in October 1941 he had a similar experience in another apartment in Prague. Peltán hid in several places in Bohemia and Moravia. On June 30, 1942, while trying to re-establish contact with the London government with his transmitter from a brewery in Cerhovice , the Gestapo surprised him with Čeněk Šillinger, the owner of the brewery and his colleague. They were able to escape first, shooting at a Gestapo agent. Šillinger was seriously wounded by gunfire in the subsequent pursuit and killed himself. The short-wave transmitter hidden in the brewery was only found in 1950 by accident. On July 3, Peltán met with the head of the radio department of the umbrella organization of the ÚVOD resistance groups , Rudolf Mareš . This meeting was presumably betrayed to the Gestapo, both were shot and seriously injured. It could not be clarified whether Peltán was hit by a shot by the Gestapo or whether he inflicted the injury (bullet through the head) himself. František Peltán died as a result of the injury on July 20, 1942.

Honors

In 1946 František Peltán was awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 in memoriam .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Karel Ludvík: Četař František Peltán, čtvrtý ze "Tří králů" , curriculum vitae on the server of the Československá obec legionářská (Czechoslovak Legionnaires' Community), online at: csol.cz / ...
  2. ↑ František Moravec : spy, jemuž nevěřili , translation (from English) Hana Moravcová-Disherová. Sixty-Eight Publishers, Vol. 32, Toronto 1977, ISBN 0-88781-032-2 , especially page 255 (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 )
  3. ↑ a b František Peltan, radiotelegrafista , in: Jarošovský zpravodaj (quarterly journal of the Jarošov district (Jindřichův Hradec)), page 26f., Online at: [1]
  4. ↑ a b Oldřich Dvořák, Čeněk Šillinger a ti druzí: Odbojáři, kteří mohli být válečnými veterány , report of the information portal Tiscali.cz, November 9, 2017, online at: zpravy.tiscali.cz / ...
  5. ↑ Oldřich Dvořák , article in the Internet encyclopedia of the city of Brno, online at: encyklopedie.brna.cz / ...

Web links

Commons : František Peltán  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Peltán, František
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zeman, Karel (alias in the resistance)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak soldier, radio operator and resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Jindřichův Hradec
DATE OF DEATH July 20, 1942
Place of death Prague