Imrich Gablech

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Imrich Gablech (born November 4, 1915 in Hrachovište , † December 16, 2016 in Havlíčkův Brod ) was a Czechoslovak soldier, brigadier general in the Czechoslovak army , prisoner in a labor camp in the Soviet Union, member of the Czechoslovak army in exile in London (service in the RAF ) and thus also a personality of the Czechoslovak resistance 1939–1945 against National Socialism .

Life

Born in Slovakia, Gablech attended general schools in Hrachovište and Nové Mesto nad Váhom . After attending a military school in Prostějov a Cheb , he was stationed in Piešťany and Žilina in October 1937 as an air force pilot . After the break-up of Czechoslovakia and the proclamation of the Slovak state , he became a member of the Slovak army. Because he did not agree to the establishment of the state dependent on Hitler's mercy (he had previously had conflicts with the Hlinka Guard ), he fled to Poland on June 7, 1939 with seven other officers. There they were given asylum and joined the Polish Air Force. In the meantime, they have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Slovakia. After the occupation of Poland, Imrich Gablech tried to flee to Romania with many other soldiers , but was arrested by the Red Army on September 18, 1939.

Gablech was sentenced to five years of forced labor in a labor camp for alleged espionage . First he spent some time in the manganese ore mine in Marhanez . In May 1940 he was in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR Komi) in the camp Pechora ITL (also PetschorLag) laid, where he in camp no. 19 with about 700 other prisoners in the construction of the Pechora-Vorkuta railway was used . His sentence was extended for another ten years after a riot in the camp in 1941. Gablech lost about 40 kilograms during his imprisonment and became temporarily blind as a result of malnutrition.

After the attack on the Soviet Union , he was released in September 1941 and was able to emigrate to Great Britain by ship, where he arrived on October 13th. Imrich Gablech immediately reported to the RAF, in which Czechoslovak air force units were also formed. As a result of the health problems he had suffered in Soviet labor camps, however, he was shortly suspended from active duty and served on the ground as an airport controller (airfield controller). He finished his service in the RAF with the rank of flying officer (first lieutenant ).

In August 1945 Gablech returned to Czechoslovakia. He served in the Air Force and was promoted to staff captain. In 1949, like most soldiers who had served in the West, he was discharged from the army. He was interrogated, but not arrested, and from then on worked in various subordinate professions, from 1970 he was retired. In the following years he was promoted further - partly during the rehabilitation of the late 1960s - after 1989 he was also promoted to the rank of colonel , and on his 100th birthday he was given the rank of brigadier general .

Imrich Gablech died on December 16, 2016 at the age of 101 as the oldest war veteran and one of the last RAF pilots to take part in the fighting of World War II .

Awards

and other

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jiří Rajlich: Zemřel generál Imrich Gablech, each z posledních čs. válečných letců , publication of the Vojenský historický ústav VHÚ (Military History Institute) of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, online at vhu.cz / ...
  2. ↑ Miroslav Čaplovič, interview with Imrich Gablech, In: spravy.pravda.sk, November 8, 2009, online at: spravy.pravda.sk / ...
  3. ↑ Zemřel nejstarší český válečný Veterán Imrich Gablech. Bylo mu 101 let , In: iDNES.cz, December 16, 2016, online at: zpravy.idnes.cz / ...
  4. ^ Ve věku 101 let zemřel válečný veterán Imrich Gablech. Chtěl létat, i když ho gulag připravil o zrak , In: Künstne.cz, online at: zpravy.aktualne.cz/
  5. ↑ Imrich Gablech , keyword of the portal gulag.online, online at: gulag.online/

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gablech, Imrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak soldier and aviator of the RAF
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Hrachovište
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 2016
Place of death Havlíčkův Brod