Zdeněk Tvrz

Zdeněk Tvrz (born October 4, 1902 in Velká Lhota , † September 2, 1942 in Berlin ) was a Czechoslovak soldier, Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak Army , and as a leading member of the Obrana národa resistance group, a figure in the Czechoslovak resistance against National Socialism .

Life

After attending grammar school and a business school in Přerov, Tvrz enlisted in the army in 1922, attended military courses and served in the cavalry in Carpathian Ukraine and in Olomouc , where he stayed until 1933. After a stay in Košice , he attended the Vysoká škola válečná ( War College ) in Prague between 1934 and 1936 and then served in the cavalry staff in Pardubice , from August 1938 he finally worked in the general staff.

After the occupation of the country by the armed forces and the proclamation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, Zdeněk Tvrz stayed in Pardubice for four months until the army was completely disbanded. After that, Tvrz worked in a managerial position in the agricultural department of the district authority in Pardubice.

At the same time he joined the resistance organization Obrana národa in the spring of 1939 , where he was also active in the resistance group Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme (PVVZ). From June / July 1939 he worked in the management structure of Obrana národa in the staff for Bohemia East. He was in contact with the intelligence officer of the Bohemian Headquarters, Hynek Němec . Because of this illegal activity, Tvrz was arrested with other staff officers on February 6, 1940 by the Gestapo in Pardubice. From here he was transferred to Dresden, Leipzig, Gollnow near Stettin and finally on December 1, 1941 to Berlin Alt-Moabit . On December 17, 1941, a trial took place with all members of the staff for Bohemia East before the Berlin People's Court , apart from Zdeněk Tvrz, Josef Tacl , Josef Toušek , Karel Zadina and others. On December 18, 1941, Tvrz and Tacl were sentenced to death for high treason and transferred to Berlin-Plötzensee , where they were executed on September 2, 1942.

After the war, Tvrz received the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 in memoriam .

Awards

• Czechoslovak War Cross 1914–1918
• Czechoslovak Revolution Medal
• Interallied Victory Medal (Czechoslovakia) (Czechoslovak Victory Medal 1918)
• Legion of Honor (Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur)
• Order of St. Sava
• Order of the Crown of Romania
• Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 in memoriam

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• TVRZ Zdeněk , 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. 303, online (archived) at: vojenskaakademiehranice.ic.cz / ...