Josef Valčík

Josef Valčík

Josef Valčik (born November 2, 1914 in Valašské Klobouky , † June 18, 1942 in Prague ) was a personality of the Czechoslovak resistance 1939-1945 against National Socialism . As a member of Operation Silver A, he was involved in the assassination attempt on the deputy Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich . Valčik died fighting with the German troops in the Church of St. Cyril and Method . In 2002 he was promoted to colonel in memoriam .

Life

Josef Valčik came to Smolině near Valašské Klobouky as the son of Jan Valčík and Veronika Valčíková, nee. Bětíková, to the world. He had seven siblings, three brothers and four sisters (Alois, Emil, Terezie, Františka, Marie, Antonín, Ludmila). He completed three general classes and two years at secondary schools in Smolině and Lačnov , then he learned the trade of tanner in Julius Matyáš's company in Valašské Klobouky. From 1934 to 1936 he worked as a tanner in the Bat'a factory in Otrokovice and Zlín .

On October 1, 1936, he entered the military service of the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Jičín , in the course of which he received the rank of sergeant. In the period after the Munich Agreement , his regiment moved to the Giant Mountains . After the smashing of the rest of the Czech Republic by German troops on March 15, 1939, he was released from the army and returned to Otrokovice as a tanner on March 22.

He last came to work on August 11, 1939. He then fled through Slovakia , Hungary , Yugoslavia , Greece , Turkey , Syria and Egypt . In 1940 he came to France . In the city of Agde he was presented to the Czechoslovak Army on March 6th. After participating in the attack against France, he fought as a member of Infantry Regiment No. 2 against German troops. The endangered army left France on July 7, 1940 from the port of Sète on the Egyptian ship Mohamed Ali al Kebir . Czechoslovak soldiers were transported through Gibraltar on the shores of Africa to Liverpool , where they landed on July 13th.

First Valčik was taken to a makeshift tent camp in Cholmondeley near Chester near Liverpool. After graduating from the Sergeant School, he was appointed Executive Sergeant 1st Company on September 27, 1940. In 1941 he volunteered to perform tasks in occupied Czechoslovakia and therefore took part in special preparation courses: first on a 10-day parachutist course at Ringway Paratrooper School in Manchester and then at the special school on the Cammus Darrah farm on Loch Morar at the West coast of the Scottish Highlands. Here he gained the experience of special British commands from the Scottish Elite Guard. Shortly before the planned departure for the Protectorate , he underwent a one-week parachute jump course at the Ringway Parachute School near Manchester from October 21 to 28, 1941 . He completed further courses at the STS 51 training school of the Special Operations Executive Dunham House, Altrincham , Cheshire (parachute training) and STS 2 Bellasis near Dorking .

During his training, he showed excellent endurance and dexterity. The school commander, Major Edward, wrote:

"... Happy, friendly, arrogant, sometimes overrated, courageous, too independent, with less sense of collective work, initiative, works well at night, reliably ... Strong construction, well developed muscles, capable of the most difficult exertions and long marches, fierce and skillful in the pineapple fight ... Overall assessment: physically and mentally advanced, brave, very well suited to carry out independent tasks under the most difficult conditions. "

resistance

On 22 October 1941, a comprehensive training has been completed, at the Josef Valčík for Operation Silver A is selected. His colleagues were the group commander Lieutenant Alfréd Bartoš and the radio operator Jiří Potůček .

The main task of Operation Silver A was to maintain contact with England and to transmit important news about the events in the Protectorate through a transmitter codenamed Libuše . After several failed attempts on October 29, November 7 and November 30, the landing team was flown out on the night of December 28 to 29, 1941 together with participants from the Anthropoid and Silver B groups . Valčik was deposed together with Bartoš and Jiří Potůček near Senice near Poděbrady (instead of the originally planned position at Heřmanův Městec ). He was provided with protectorate documents under the code name Emil Sedlák .

The first person who went to Valčik was František Burša, an official of the municipal savings bank in Chrudim . However, he was arrested by the Gestapo in October 1941 . So he walked to Mikulovice , where a worker named Adolf Švadlenka was already helping him. Together with him, the teacher Josef Janáček and the driver František Valenta, he managed to hide the transmitter and receiver. He met his commander Bartoš on December 31 in Mikulovice.

In January 1942, the parachute agents managed to obtain the baptism certificates of people who had already died, on the basis of which official documents were issued to them. Valčik became Miroslav Solc from Hodonín . These documents were given to Alfred Bartoš by the religious pastor František Dobiáš (1901–1985) in his rectory in Semtěš . Dobiáš was reported and for the rest of the war in concentration camps ( Theresienstadt concentration camp , Buchenwald , Dachau Concentration Camp detained). After the war he returned to Semtěš.

On January 6, 1942, the former Czechoslovak Army Lieutenant Jindřich Vaško met with members of the Silver A group . The first bilateral contact with England took place on January 15th. A day later, London headquarters announced the promotion of all three landing members, while Josef Valčik finished second Podporutschik . At the same time they were awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross for their bravery in front of the enemy.

Josef Valčík settled briefly in the first-class Hotel Veselka in Pardubice , Hlaváčova 230, whose owner Arnošt Košťál took the risk and employed him as an assistant waiter with false documents. He was also often used outside of Pardubice. In mid-January he was sent to Prague to contact the Sokol resistance organization and also tried to find members of the Anthropoid group. He did so in the second half of February when he met Gabčík and Kubiš at Mr and Mrs Khodlová's apartment on Valdecká Street in Vysočany . He went several times in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, where he was trying to contact with the away team Silver B record.

At the beginning of March 1942, the Gestapo found irregularities in Miroslav Šolc's card during regular checks on police operations. Officials went to the Veselka Hotel in Pardubice, but did not find Valčik there. The hotelier Arnošt Košťál warned Valčik and informed the Gestapo the next day that he had been released for an hour due to absence and broken plates. The Gestapo had Košťál monitored and searched for Valčik throughout the Protectorate. Therefore he had to leave Pardubice immediately. His escape was supported by the planning and organization of the teacher Lidmila Malá, in whose apartment Valčík often lived near the Wenceslas Train Station. Hiding in several villages around Pardubice ( Dašice , Mnětice, Trnová ), he went to his family in Moravian Wallachia on March 19 . In Valašské Klobouky he met the local chaplain František Borák (1910–1975), who became an important assistant and confessor. In the summer of 1968 Borák spoke to Milan Hlavica, a teacher, about this subject. It was recorded: “Valčik found himself in a situation from which he could not see the way out. He did not want to endanger his family, but refused to go to the police station. He has no choice but to end it on himself. He wanted to kill himself. I told him it was a manifestation of personal weakness, but also a betrayal of the things that were entrusted to him. He lowered his eyes in shame. It was quieter. Before leaving I gave him a talisman of St. Wenceslas by Mikoláš Aleš. I was very angry."

On April 4, he left Smolině for Prague, where he joined the members of Operation Anthropoid , with whom he began to cooperate, together with Marie Moravcová and Jan Zelenka-Hajský .

On April 25, he worked on a varied event entrusted to the Out Distance group in preparation for the Allied bombing raid on the Škoda plants in Pilsen . Together with Kubis, he lit a pile on one side of the Škoda plant, while Adolf Opálka and Karel Čurda lit the fire. However, the raid failed because the bombs were dropped outside the factory.

In Prague he then took an active part in the preparations for the murder of Reinhard Heydrich. Almost every day he rode his bike with Kubiš and Gabčík to the manor house in Panenské Břežany and looked for a suitable location for an assassination attempt. The final details of the implementation of the project were announced on the evening of May 26th at a meeting in the home of high school teacher Josef Ogoun.

A widespread legend has it that on the day of the assassination on May 27, 1942, Valčik stood on the opposite side of the street (today's Zenklova) and Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš signaled the arrival of Heydrich's car with a small pocket mirror. According to research by leading Czech historians, however, he was not directly involved in the attack. This was mainly due to the fact that it was known to the German police forces, which could jeopardize the course of the incident. He spent a few days after the attack with the Sulka family in Dejvice , where he had lived since the beginning of May, on Špinkovy Street, 7 Biskupcova Street and one night with Vladimír Tichota.

Search for Josef Valčík; signed Dr. Geschke , SS-Standartenführer, May 28, 1942

On the day after the assassination, in addition to the martial law ordinances, posters appeared on the streets demanding the capture of Sergeant Josef Valčík, although they did not mention this directly in connection with the assassination. The search call, written in German (left half of the picture) and Czech , signed by SS-Standartenführer Dr. Hans-Ulrich Geschke on May 28, 1942, provides a personal description and offers a reward:

“ 100,000 crowns reward! Who knows this man and where is he? The person pictured is called Miroslav Valčik, born on January 20, 1920 in Göding. The man is described as follows: Approximately 1.65 tall, blond to light blond hair, which falls slightly to the side on the right side, giving the impression of parting. Round, full face, healthy reddish complexion, clean skin (no pimples), beardless, cleanly shaven. Blue eyes, normal nose and somewhat small and close-fitting ears. "

Valčik found the last shelter together with members of other aerial groups in the Orthodox Church of St. Cyril and Methodius on Resslova Street. Jan Sonnevend, chairman of the parish of the older Czech Orthodox Church, brought in coordination with the chaplain ThDr. Vladimír Petřek, chaplain of the temple, taking the parachute agents in an underground crypt . Petřek, who then took care of the hidden men, gradually became aware of the presence of pastor Vaclav Cikl, Orthodox Bishop Gorazd of Prague , cleric Vaclav Ornest and his son-in-law Karel Louda.

According to the traditional version, Vojtěch Paur's hearse was supposed to arrive on the morning of June 18 for parachute agents and take them out of town. It should go to Ruprechtov in Moravia. However, this did not happen because the member of the sabotage group Out Distance Karel Čurda volunteered to report to the Gestapo and betrayed known assassins. The Gestapo seized Vlastimil Moravec, who after cruel torture revealed the names of other collaborators and the whereabouts of the parachute agents. On June 18, 1942 at 4:15 a.m. the Church of St. Cyril and Method was encircled by more than 750 SS members. The Germans first tried to get signs of life from the parachute agents, but gave up this strategy after about two hours of unsuccessful siege. While defending the church, Opálka, Kubiš and Bublík died first. The remaining four, Valčik, Gabčík, Švarc and Hrubý, defended themselves in the church crypt. In a hopeless situation, they ended their lives by suicide . The bodies of the parachute agents were taken to the pathological institute , where they were identified.

Monument to Josef Valčík and his loved ones in his native village Smolině

Posthumously, Sergeant Josef Valčík was honored by his fatherland for participating in the command.

See also

• Jozef Gabčík
• Jan Kubiš
• Adolf Opálka

literature

• Rudolf Ströbinger : The attack in Prague. Political Archive Publishing House, Landshut 1976.
• Hugo Theisinger: The Sudeten Germans: Origin, the time under Konrad Henlein and Adolf Hitler, expulsion - a contribution to Sudeten German history. Publishing house / printing house Hans Obermayer, Buchloe 1987.
• Zdeněk Jelínek: Operace Silver A . Prague 1992.
• P. Kubánek: Dal signál k atentátu na Heydricha. Životní příběh parašutisty Josefa Valčíka , Uherské Hradiště 1993.
• Erika Härtl Coccolini: Prague Časlavska 15 - A journey through eventful times. Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8334-7713-3 , p. 140.
• Bernd Mollenhauer: The whip. An almost forgotten accessory of Nazi tyranny. tredition, Hamburg 2019.
• Andrew Roberts: Firestorm. A history of World War II. CH Beck, Munich 2019.

Web links

Commons : Josef Valčík  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Reichl: Cesty osudu. Svět křídel, 2004, p. 32.
2. ↑ Eduard Stehlík: “BARTOŠ Alfréd.” In: LÁNÍK, Jaroslav, a kol. Vojenské osobnosti československého odboje 1939–1945. Ministerstvo obrany České republiky-Agentura vojenských informací a služeb (AVIS), Prague 2005, ISBN 80-7278-233-9 . S. 16-17, online (archived) on: vojenskaakademiehranice.ic.cz / ... .
3. ↑ Interview of P. František Borák with the teacher Milan Hlavica, Summer 1969 (estate Hlavica).
4. ↑ Rudolf Ströbinger: The assassination of Prague. Verlag Politisches Archiv, Landshut 1976, p. 130.
5. ↑ Eduard Stehlík: Čvančara, Jaroslav, a kol. Legendy, mýty a nesmysly heydrichiády [online]. Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, 2012 [accessed 2017-05-27].
6. ↑ Zdeněk Jelínek: Operace Silver A . Praha 1992, p. 63.
7. ↑ Illustrated by Ströbinger, 1976, p. 160; Theisinger, 1987, p. 400.
8. ↑ Vlastislav Janik, however, states in a document published by the ÚSTR that Vojtěch exported Paur in the hearse from Svépravice and hid parachutes; he does not mention the planned removal of the men from the crypt. Paměť a dějiny 2/2017, Vlastislav Janík: Příběh rodiny Smržovy [online]. Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů [cit. 2019-09-28].
9. ↑ As Colonel in memoriam; Plukovník in memoriam Josef Valčík. ( Czech ) Retrieved March 24, 2014.