Jan Šejna

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Jan Šejna (born May 2, 1927 in Radhostice , † August 23, 1997 in New York City ) was a Czechoslovak officer, most recently in the rank of major general . Because of his escape from the ČSSR, this rank was revoked again.

Šejna was the chief political officer in the Czechoslovak People's Army . After the beginning of the Prague Spring and allegations of corruption, he fled to Italy via Hungary and Yugoslavia in February 1968. He made his knowledge available to the American CIA . Šenja gave the CIA photographs of the secret mobilization plans of the Warsaw Pact troops, and his escape accelerated the defeat of his supporter, President Antonín Novotný, who had already been deposed as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia .

Rank

Šejna, who was friends with the son of the then President Novotný and (without having passed a high school diploma) only enjoyed marginal higher and officer training (three months at the Political University and a short distance learning course at the Military Academy in 1960), became a colonel at the time Novotný was named major general on his own initiative in 1967, which was not the usual practice. After his escape in 1968, this rank was revoked on March 9, 1968. In February 1968, when he reported to the US representation in Italy, he still held this rank.

Works

  • We will bury you. Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1982.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Schulze Wessel: The Prague Spring, Reclam 2018, pages 156 to 157
  2. ↑ Před 46 lety se uskutečnil each z nejpřekvapivějších útěků studené války . Report of the Historical Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, online at: vhu.cz / ...

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Šejna, Jan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak major general
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Radhostice
DATE OF DEATH August 23, 1997
Place of death New York City