Václav Morávek

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Václav Morávek

Václav Morávek (born August 8, 1904 in Kolín , † March 21, 1942 in Prague ) was a figure in the Czechoslovak resistance against National Socialism from 1939 to 1945 . Morávek was a soldier and officer in Czechoslovakia . Together with Josef Balabán and Josef Mašín he formed the leadership of the Tři Králové (Three Kings) resistance group , which, as part of the Obrana národa group, which also consists of military personnel, specialized in acts of subversion and sabotage not only in the area of ​​the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . One of Morávek's closest collaborators was František Peltán , the group's radio operator .

Václav Morávek died in 1942 in an exchange of fire with the Gestapo . After the war he was promoted to brigadier general in memoriam .

Life

Václav Morávek attended high school in Kolín from 1915 to 1923. After graduating from high school, he volunteered for the army and served in Theresienstadt . He attended the two-year military academy in Hranice na Moravě and then served in the artillery in Olomouc. Before the occupation of Czechoslovakia he had the rank of captain of the staff and commanded a battery .

resistance

Memorial plaque for Václav Morávek in Kolín (2004)

Immediately after the invasion of the Wehrmacht to Czechoslovakia he tried to flee to Poland, but this failed. He went to Kolín, where he was briefly charged with the so-called "liquidation" of the Czechoslovak army at the Ministry of Defense. However, he concentrated more and more on building up the resistance organization Obrana národa - for example, he built up the “Pribina” division, which was subordinate to the Obrana národa regional leadership in Bohemia , while Morávek held the post of intelligence officer on the staff. As such, he got to know the members of the Bohemian National Management Josef Balabán and Josef Mašín, with whom he soon set up the Tři Králové (Three Kings) special group, which specializes in acts of sabotage . The news came from its own channels, from other resistance groups and sources.

The contact with Paul Thümmel , the famous double agent A-54, was particularly important here . Morávek was commissioned by the London government in exile to contact and involve Thümmel. In the beginning they were sent by courier, later the radio stations were preferred. At the turn of the year 1940/1941 Morávek set up the Sparta II radio transmitter together with Balabán and Mašín , while his colleague František Peltán provided the link with London.

A short time later, the Gestapo managed to gain access. Josef Balabán was arrested on April 22, 1941, and on May 13, 1941, a Gestapo attack squad shot and arrested Mašín in a conspiratorial apartment from which Morávek, Mašín and Peltán radioed to London. Morávek, who (with Peltán) was able to escape from a window on the third floor, then managed to reestablish contact with the government in exile, he also maintained contact with Paul Thümmel. He campaigned with the London government for the prisoner exchange of his two arrested colleagues; the government also tried to do this, but failed due to the refusal of German authorities. Increasingly, however, he was cut off from his previous contacts - mainly due to further arrests in the area around Obrana národa . Morávek contacted the resistance groups Kapitán Nemo and Jindra at short notice , hid in several places and had to evade arrests at gunpoint. On March 21, 1942, he was finally caught and shot in the Hradčany district of Prague . According to a few reports, Paul Thümmel warned him about the action shortly before.

After the liberation of the country, Václav Morávek was promoted to lieutenant colonel and in 2005 to brigadier general in memoriam .

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g MORÁVEK Václav , detailed curriculum vitae in: Vojenské osobnosti československého odboje 1939–1945 , publication of the Historical Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, AVIS, Prague 2005, p. 198, online (archived) at: vojenskaakademiehranice. ic.cz / ...
  2. ↑ a b Václav Morávek , detailed curriculum vitae on the server of the Prague 6 district on the occasion of the (since 2002) annual award of honorary citizenship to deserving citizens, here to all three members of the Tři králové resistance group in 2012, online at: praha6.cz/ .. .
  3. ↑ a b c František Moravec : Špión, jemuž nevěřili , translation (from English) by Hana Moravcová-Disherová. Sixty-Eight Publishers, Vol. 32, Toronto 1977, ISBN 0-88781-032-2 (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 )
  4. ↑ POHNUTÉ OSUDY: Legenda Tří králů Václav Morávek: Věřím v Boha a své pistole , online newspaper Lidovky.cz, March 21, 2017, online at: lidovky.cz / ...

literature

  • 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.
  • Martin Schulze Wessel, Martin Zückert: Handbook of the religious and church history of the Bohemian countries and the Czech Republic in the 20th century. Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, p. 467.
  • Gerd R. Ueberschär (Hrsg.): Handbook on the resistance against National Socialism and Fascism in Europe 1933/39 to 1945. Berlin 2010, p. 158.

Web links

Commons : Václav Morávek  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Morávek, Vaclav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES León (alias in the resistance); Mladý (alias in the resistance); Vojta (alias in the resistance); Ota (alias in the resistance); Procházka (alias in the resistance)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak general and resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolín
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1942
Place of death Prague