V boj

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Title page V boj , No. 50/1940

The periodical V boj , German "In den Kampf" (often written as an imperative with an exclamation mark: V boj! ), Was a magazine that stood up for the statehood of Czechoslovakia from 1917 to 1919. From 1939 to 1941 it was one of the most important illegal journals of the Czechoslovak resistance in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia with close ties to the Obrana národa resistance group .

The period 1917–1919

During the First World War , Czech and Slovak soldiers who fought in the Austro-Hungarian armed forces were also captured on the Austro-Italian front . From 1915 they were interned in the prison camp of Santa Maria Capua Vetere near Naples. The Czechoslovak Volunteer Corps (Československý dobrovolnický sbor) was established here on January 17, 1917, a forerunner of the Czechoslovak Army abroad, also known as the Czechoslovak Legions , which fought on the side of the Entente in Italy . From March this corps published the magazine V boj , which was continued as the official magazine of the Czechoslovak National Committee from February 1918 and was published in Rome. The last edition appeared in July 1919.

The period 1939–1941

During the time of the Protectorate, numerous illegal periodicals were published by the various resistance groups. The most important of them was the non-communist oriented magazine V boj , which appeared in the period from 1939 to 1941 and was edited by various editorial offices (it is not uncommon for people not to talk about the magazine V boj , but about the group V boj ). The impetus for this was provided by President Edvard Beneš in his radio address on March 19, 1939 in Chicago, in which he called for resistance. The supraregional issues were published and distributed in Prague by a total of three editorial groups: first from May to November 1939 by a group around Josef Škalda , who also called themselves “Družstvo v prvním sledu” (German roughly “Cooperative of the first episode”); After their arrest and liquidation by the Gestapo, the publication was taken over by a group around Vojtěch Preissig , who had been responsible for the artistic design from the start - they called themselves “Druhý nástup” (roughly “Second Deployment”) and were active until the end of 1940 ; parallel to this, the magazine was also produced from December 1939 to March 1941 by members of the Obrana národa resistance group , which consisted of former army members and was a kind of underground military army . While the latter two groups did not know about each other at first and only made contact later, Obrana národa partially contributed to the financing of the first group. In summary, there were three groups:

  • Group “Družstvo v prvním sledu”, March 1939 - November 1939
  • Group Spořilov / Preissig, November / December 1939 - late 1940 / early 1941
  • Holešovice / Obrana národa group (most recently ÚVOD), November 1939 - March / April 1941

Group “Družstvo v prvním sledu” / Škalda

Commemorative plaque on Budečská ul. 14 in Prague, where V boj was founded

After March 15, 1939, the former legionnaire Josef Škalda formed the first group that wanted to publish a magazine for the anti-Nazi resistance; Right from the start, this included the well-known illustrator, draftsman and graphic artist Vojtěch Preissig , who, together with Josef Sejkora, proposed regularly publishing a magazine and using the title of 1917 for it - V boj . The first issues of the magazine appeared in an edition of about 500 copies, which was later increased considerably.

Other resistance groups such as Obrana národa , Politické ústředí and Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme also showed their interest in illegal journalism . Through contacts with the Obrana národa resistance group , it was possible in the summer of 1939 to receive a financial contribution of 50,000 kroner, which then enabled a circulation of around 5,000 copies (according to other information, 7,000 copies) - although most of the editions were copied and spread. At the same time, the original editorial team had to defend itself against the influence of the new sponsors. In addition to comments and assessments of the general political situation, the magazine also published translations from the foreign press, news from the government in exile in London (listened to on the radio or delivered with couriers), but also poems and graphics. One of the editors was the writer Milena Jesenská , who temporarily took on the leading role. The group managed to publish a total of 27 issues until it was excavated by the Gestapo in November 1939, after they dedicated issue number 26 to the issue of October 28 (demonstrations on the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918). Škalda's group, including all employees who were also responsible for sales, comprised more than 500 people and was able to supply practically the entire area with the magazine.

Spořilov / Preissig Group

Some members from the Spořilov district of Prague, headed by Vojtěch Preissig and his daughter Irena Bernášková, escaped the arrest of the first editorial group . Just two weeks after the editorial staff was arrested, they continued to publish the magazine with issue No. 28. The editions were considerably smaller, at first only several hundred copies, because the financial support of Obrana národa was not available ; Irena Bernášková became increasingly the driving force, while the artist Milada Marešová excelled in the design . On September 21, 1940, the entire group, over 40 people, was arrested after having published a total of 37 issues of the magazine.

After the group was broken up, however, a few more irregular editions appeared, it is estimated that there were around six in total, the last at some point in early 1941; Responsible was one of the very few members who were not arrested, Vladimír Hruban , Růžena Pelantová and Vladimír Krajina .

Holešovice / Obrana národa group

After the group around Josef Škalda was broken up in November 1939, members of the Obrana národa resistance group also became active , who also felt obliged to continue the illegal magazine, especially since they had been involved in the magazine both financially and editorially since August 1939. The officers Karel Lukeš , Jan Sadílek , Ladislav Brázda and later Josef Sojka were among the most active employees ; There were also close contacts with the Tři králové group ( Josef Mašín , Václav Morávek and Josef Balabán ) affiliated with Obrana národa . Due to the militarily tight organizational structure and the available financial resources, it was possible to quickly create all technical and editorial requirements, so that the first edition could already appear at the end of November 1939 - also consecutively numbered as edition no.28. The group's infrastructure was in place in the beginning in the Prague district of Holešovice, which is why the group and magazine was also called "military V boj" or "V boj from Holešovice", and it appeared in the title with the addition "Vydává H" ("published in / by H"). Some episodes of the magazine published by Obrana národa were produced in the premises of Josef Líkař's plumbing company on Karlovarská Street (Bílá Hora district); Líkař, who was later also executed for his resistance activities, made his company available to ON as a weapons and explosives depot (and in some cases also produced them); besides him, his whole family was included.

It was not until early 1940 that it became apparent to the individual editorial groups that there were several editorial teams. In the spring of 1940 there were talks between the groups from Spořilov and Holešovice, which only partially led to agreements because both groups felt they were successors to the original magazine and refused to give up the respective magazine version. As a compromise, it was agreed that both magazines would appear alternately on a weekly basis and, as far as possible, could use the other's distribution networks.

Several arrests took place against the resistance group Obrana národa and, as a result, against the staff of the magazine, among others in February (and in the following weeks), in July and June 1940, a particularly large wave of arrests occurred in September 1940, when 100 allegedly within a short time People were arrested, this led to a significant weakening of the infrastructure. The magazine continued to appear, but only once a month, and during this time it was taken over by the ÚVOD resistance group ; it was probably received in March or April 1941.

Other groups

In the area of ​​the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia there were also numerous other groups at the local level that were attached to the journal. It was not just a matter of distribution networks for the respective magazine from Prague, but also of suppliers of printing material, editorial staff, or groups that were responsible for the outsourced duplication, at that time often with the inefficient, spirit- oriented original process that was due to the Die wear was only suitable for very short runs. In addition, there were also groups that had no permanent connection to others and who continued to reproduce the copies that had only come to them by chance. Even less is known about these groups than about the three main Prague groups.

According to reports, there were some active resistance groups, especially in northeastern Bohemia. In the region of Hradec Králové , a group arose, benefiting from family relationships, already parallel to the Prague editorial staff of Josef Škalda, who from around May 1939 first reprinted the magazine in the form of leaflets, later also rewrote and reprinted entire issues on matrices and also helped distribute the Prague V boj . Your big distribution network supplying large parts of the northeastern Bohemian region, including the cities and towns of Pardubice , Chrudim , Ústí nad Orlicí , Jaroměř , Dobruška , Rychnov nad Kněžnou , Žamberk up to Poděbrady , Pečky , Nymburk , Česká Třebová , Trutnov and aqndere; In some of these parishes, smaller groups were then instructed on how to reproduce selected texts as leaflets. Among the most active people were František Holický and Václav Škalda (brother of the Prague activist Josef Škalda). The group was closely intertwined with the OVV (Military District Command ) of Obrana národa , which also directed two of its own mutations in the Prague magazine - Boj pod Zvičinou (Boj under Zvičina, a hill or a mountain in the vicinity of which there are several communities are located.) and Boj v Podkrkonoší (Boj in the Giant Mountains foreland).

Dělnický dům in Semily , later Sokolovna , where the magazine "V boj" was produced for a time.

In Hořice in the same region, an illegal group was formed around the former Russian legionnaire Jan Hakl after March 15, 1939 . She first produced leaflets with texts from the Škalda group's Prague V boj and other sources. From December 1938, after the first editorial staff in Prague had been removed, a new series appeared in Hořice, beginning (similar to the two successor magazines in Prague) with no. 28; It was partly self-written texts, but also articles that were taken from the two Prague magazines. At the same time, similar groups emerged in the nearby communities of Miletín and Semily , which were also active in editorial and publishing. They all worked closely together and had contacts with Prague and with local groups of the Obrana národa . A total of 23 issues of this independent magazine were created, eleven of them in Semily, the last No. 50 appeared at the end of May 1940.

meaning

The illegal magazine V boj had the merit of being able to take on the role of the voice of the resistance throughout the territory of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, both by reporting on the resistance itself, by transmitting news from abroad and especially by the government in exile in London as well as by conveying the views and plans for the future as they prevailed in the broad resistance. In the journal, which was open to all sides, there were many contributions from various leading figures in the resistance groups, apart from Obrana národa , the organization of former members of the army, and ÚVOD , the umbrella organization of the resistance at the time, especially by representatives of Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme (PVVZ). This important group, which did a lot of theoretical work, wrote the programmatic document Za svobodu ... (For Freedom ...) in the years 1939–1941 , which was based on left-wing social democratic documents from 1933 and in many ways a more precise assessment of the location as well as more structured ideas about post-war developments than others. The collaboration of leading writers, painters and other artists was also important.

A precise overview of how many employees were arrested or even executed is still not available.

literature

  • Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu “V boj” 1939–1942. [Women associated with the illegal magazine V boj 1939–1942], online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  • Žaneta Málková: Odbojová činnost v okrese Semily v letech 1939–1945. [Resistance activities in Semily district from 1939–1945], online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... (PDF; 8.7 MB)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jan Brunclík: V boj. In: Jan Brunclík, Růžena Hlušičková: Lidé z Obrany národa a spolupracovníci časopisu V boj ve východních Čechách 1939–1940. Státní Oblastní Archív, Zámrsk 1987, ISBN 8025404587 , pp. 43–51, cited from online publication [https://www.facebook.com/notes/svaz-bojovn%C3%ADk%C5%AF-za-svobodu- ov-hradec-kr% C3% A1lov% C3% A9 / v-boj-jan-bruncl% C3% ADk / 191659074246916 www.facebook.com/notes / ...] (Notes from the Association of Fighters for Freedom ČSBS)
  2. ↑ Den po dni. (Chronicle), online at: www.karelvasatko.cz/historie-ceskoslovenskych-legii / ...
  3. ↑ Československé legie v Itálii. online at: www.33pluk.cz ( Memento of October 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 23, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  5. ↑ Arnošt Polavký, V boj , Nakladatelství Antonín Dědourek, Třebechovice pod Orebem 1946, cited above. after Žaneta Málková: Odbojová činnost v okrese Semily v letech 1939–1945. P. 16f., Fn. 40, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... (PDF; 8.7 MB)
  6. ↑ a b Jan B. Uhlíř, Zapomenutý hrdina Josef Škalda , In: Noviny Prahy 2, 12/2012, p. 9, online at: www.praha2.cz/files ... ( Memento from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Činnost skupiny V boj v době okupace 1939–1941 , in: VHA (Military Historical Archive), fund 308, sgn. 51-10, of July 10, 1947, cit. after Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 25, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  8. ↑ JA Koutek, A národ se bránil: K historii českého nekomunistického odboje v letech 1939–1945 , quoted. after Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 28, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  9. ↑ V boj , short entry in the Internet encyclopedia CoJeCo, online at: www.cojeco.cz/.../V boj
  10. ↑ Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 29, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  11. ↑ Obrana národa 1939–1945 , publication by the Codyprint publishing house, online at: www.codyprint.cz / ...
  12. ↑ V boj proti nacismu , online at: preissig-pro- Republiku.webnode.cz
  13. ↑ Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 43 and 58f., Online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  14. ↑ O. Janeček et al., Z počátků odboje , 1st edition, Naše vojsko, Prague 1969, pp. 297f., Cited above. after: Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu “V boj” 1939–1942. P. 60, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  15. ↑ Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. Cape. 4.3 Vojenský "V boj", p. 70ff., Online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  16. ↑ Zásobovali odboj výbušninami, gestapo per popravilo. Teď se dočkali pomníku , report by the Český rozhlas radio station on the occasion of the inauguration of a monument in Prague, May 13, 2013, online at: irozhlas.cz/
  17. ↑ Josef Líkař, Václav Řehák a bělohorská 'cukrárna' , news portal of the Tiscali.cz server, online at: tiscali.cz / ...
  18. ↑ Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 56 and 70ff., Online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  19. ^ A message from the Gestapo dated September 20, 1940, VHA archive (military historical archive), cited above. after Blanka Jedličková: Ženy okolo ilegálního časopisu "V boj" 1939–1942. P. 73, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.3 MB)
  20. ↑ Tomáš Richter: Činnost Obrany národa ve východních Čechách v době nacistické okupace , University of Pardubice, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... (PDF; 1.9 MB), p. 73
  21. ↑ 1909 built as "Dělnický dům" - club house of the Czech workers in Semily and after the First World War it became the club house of the Czech patriotic gymnastics club Sokols : "Sokolovna"
  22. ↑ Žaneta Málková: Odbojová činnost v okrese Semily v letech 1939–1945. P. 24, online at: dspace.upce.cz / ... (PDF; 8.7 MB)
  23. ^ Václav Průcha, Lenka Kalinová: Koncepce budoucí hospodářské a sociální politiky v čs. odboji za druhé světové války. In: Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 3/2005, ISSN  0572-3043 , online at: www.vse.cz/...pdf=152 , here in particular Chapter 2. Domácí český odboj (p. 93ff.).