Národní souručenství
Národní souručenství (NS), German for "National Community", was the only political party-like organization in the former Czechoslovakia during the existence of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia .
backgrounds
After the formation of the Protectorate on March 15, 1939, all previous parties were banned. In their place should come a construct that should channel all political currents and prevent any opposition. The President of the Protectorate Emil Hácha was appointed chairman of this only party organization approved by the National Socialists , who appointed other leading positions on March 21, based on the composition of the government coalition at the beginning of 1939. On April 6, 1939, Národní souručenství was declared the only political party in the Protectorate. Jews were not allowed to become members. When the organization was set up, it was based on experience with the Strana národní jednoty - "Party of National Unity" from 1938, which had been functioning for a few months .
On the one hand, the establishment of this collective movement meant the end of parliamentary democracy; on the other hand, President Hácha hoped that this measure would prevent a direct takeover of power by Czech fascists . In the days before the protectorate was proclaimed, the Czech fascist party Národní obec fašistická of the former General Radola Gajda and the right-wing extremist party Vlajka made contact with German authorities in Prague and explored the possibility of forming a government. At the beginning it was assumed that the organization could serve as a platform for the defense of any kind of autonomy of Czech self-government; there was also cooperation with the groups of the Czech resistance in the country. However, this strategy did not work, from 1941 the strategy of collaboration with the Nazi regime prevailed .
On January 15, 1943, Národní souručenství was dissolved as a political party and converted into a cultural and educational organization. In 1945 the organization was dissolved.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c CoJeCo, an online encyclopedia, keyword "Národní souručenství", online at: www.cojeco.cz / ... , in Czech, accessed on January 27, 2013
- ↑ a b Ladislav Kudrna, Českoslovenští vojáci v prvním roce okupace, online at: www.valka.cz / ... , in Czech, accessed on January 27, 2013
- ↑ a b Adolf Hrubý a Národní souručenství , Sborník Archivu bezpečnostních složek 8/2010, material and publication of the Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů ( ÚSTR ), online at: abscr.cz / ...
- ↑ The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933–1945, Volume 3: German Reich and Protectorate September 1939 - September 1941, Oldenbourg, Munich 2012, online at: books.google.de / ... , p. 21 , accessed January 27, 2013