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Jan Žižka partisan brigade

The 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka (Czech: 1. československá partizánská brigáda Jana Žižky or Partyzánská brigáda Jana Žižky z Trocnova), initially known as Ušiak-Murzin Unit, was the largest partisan unit in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (modern day Czech Republic) during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. After its core membership of Soviet-trained paratroopers were dropped into Slovakia in August 1944, the brigade crossed into Moravia and began operations in earnest at the end of 1944. Its focus was guerrilla warfare, especially sabotage and intelligence gathering.

1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka
1. československá partizánská brigáda Jana Žižky
Lieutenant Ján Ušiak, unit's first commander
Active21 August 1944–26 May 1945
Country Czechoslovakia
Allegiance Soviet Union
TypePartisan brigade
RoleGuerrilla warfare
Size1,232 partisans (on 5 May 1945)[1]
PatronJan Žižka
EngagementsBattle of Štiavnik
Battle of Velké Karlovice
Operation Grouse
Commanders
Commanders Lieutenant Ján Ušiak [cs; sk]
Captain Dajan Bajanovič Murzin [cs]
Lieutenant Ivan Petrovič Stěpanov

Background edit

German occupation edit

 
The Protectorate, Slovakia, and neighboring countries

In 1938, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler announced his intentions to annex the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with a high ethnic German population. As the previous appeasement of Hitler had shown, the governments of both France and Britain were intent on avoiding war.[2] British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and other Western political leaders negotiated with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and ultimately acquiesced to his demands at the Munich Agreement, in exchange for guarantees from Nazi Germany that no additional lands would be annexed. No Czechoslovak representatives were present at the negotiations.[3] Five months later, when the Slovak Diet declared the independence of Slovakia, Hitler summoned Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha to Berlin and forced him to accept the German occupation of the Czech rump state and its re-organisation into the German-dominated Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.[4] Germany promptly invaded and occupied the remaining Czech territories. Although France had a defensive alliance with Czechoslovakia, neither Paris nor London intervened militarily.[5]

The Nazis considered many Czechs to be ethnically Aryan, and therefore suitable for Germanisation.[6] As a consequence, the German occupation was less harsh than in other Slavic nations. For example, food rations in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were almost identical to those in Germany.[7] The occupation influenced the daily life of ordinary Czechs by the militarisation of the economy, the elimination of political rights, and transportation to Germany for forced labour.[8] More than 20,000 Czechs were executed, and thousands more were deported to concentration camps.[9] While the general violence of the occupation was less severe than in Eastern Europe,[10] it nevertheless caused many Czech people to hate the Germans living within the Protectorate, and support partisan groups.[11]

Military situation edit

Although there was wide popular support for the resistance, in other ways the Protectorate was ill-suited to partisan activity. There were very few guns, despite the relatively liberal firearms policies in place prior to the occupation.[12] The Protectorate was highly urbanized, which made the establishment of partisan field camps in woods or mountains impractical, and the excellent transport and communications infrastructure was at the disposal of the Nazi security apparatus. Also, the ethnic German minority tended to cooperate with the occupiers and some local Germans joined the security forces, which benefited from their fluency in Czech and knowledge of the local geography.[12]

 
Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains, base of the Green Cadre

The Nazi administration brought in Reinhard Heydrich as Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia in order to enforce policy more harshly.[13] His brutality led to the Allies ordering his assassination in May 1942.[14] In the violent crackdown that followed, known in Czech as the Heydrichiáda [cs], more than a thousand Czechs were murdered, including the entire village of Lidice.[15] Some former members of the resistance evaded arrest by fleeing into the Moravian mountains and forming partisan groups.[16] The first documented partisan group was the Green Cadre (Czech: Zelený kádr), active in the Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains along the Czech-Slovak border from early 1942.[17] There were also urban resistance groups, such as the White Lioness (Czech: Bílá lvice) active in the areas of Silesia around Frýdek-Místek and Ostrava.[18][19] Such partisan groups depended on the support of the local population and acted by cutting power lines and sabotaging railways.[20] Beginning in April 1944, several paratrooper groups trained in Britain were dropped in Moravia in order to gather intelligence.[21][a] However, according to historian Detlef Brandes, the emergence of the Žižka brigade was the beginning of effective guerilla resistance in the Protectorate.[26]

History edit

Formation of the unit edit

At the end of 1943, Czechoslovak Communist politicians asked the Soviet government to organize a partisan movement in the Protectorate and Slovakia. Partisan units for deployment in Czechoslovakia received training in Sviatoshyn, a suburb of Kiev. To support advancing Soviet troops, paratroopers were deployed in advance, initially in Carpathian Ruthenia, then in Slovakia and finally also in Moravia.[27]

The partisan group that would become known as the Jan Žižka brigade was formed during training in Sviatoshyn. Most of its initial twenty-one members, including the commander, Lieutenant Ján Ušiak [cs; sk], were ethnic Slovaks, in accordance with the initial plans to deploy in Slovakia. Before the training at Sviatoshyn, some of them had fought as partisans in Belarus or in the Crimea/Odessa region. The unit also included Hungarian defectors and seven Soviets, including Captain Dajan Bajanovič Murzin [cs], second-in-command.[28]

The "Ušiak-Murzin Unit" parachuted near Sklabiňa, Slovakia in two groups, on the night of 21–22 August 1944 and the night of 30–31 August.[29] The day before the first group arrived, a local partisan group which controlled the area had publicly announced the restoration of the Czechoslovak state.[30] The original orders had been for the unit to cross the Fatra mountain range and begin operations in northwest Slovakia. However, the plans were disrupted by the Slovak National Uprising, began on 29 August. Initially, the unit conducted reconnaissance on a German counter-offensive, but soon Ušiak received orders to redeploy to Moravia, and on 6 September they began to move north. The Ušiak-Murzin Unit was joined by many Czech fugitives who wanted to fight on their own territory.[31] Other recruits were former Slovak Army soldiers.[32]

Transfer to Moravia edit

 
 
Štiavnik
 
Velké Karlovice
 
Sklabiňa
class=notpageimage|
Movement through 10 October

Although the partisans had intended to reach the border undetected, there were two skirmishes before the unit reached Štiavnik, a Slovak town near the border. Since the Štiavnik police and other Slovak forces in the area had defected to join the Slovak National Uprising, the unit, now grown to 150 members, established itself around Štiavnik, controlling a small area to the rear of the German forces.[32] In Štiavnik more troops joined the unit, mostly Czechs crossing the border from the Protectorate in order to join the Uprising, but they also included escaped Soviet prisoners of war who had fled from camps as far away as Saxony and crossed Bohemia and Moravia with the help of the local population. The unit was formally named after Jan Žižka, the 15th-century leader of the Hussite army, whose fight for religious freedom and use of innovative military techniques had made him a Czech national hero.[33]

 
View of Štiavnik from Doktorovec hill

In order to stem the flow of Czechs joining the Slovak National Uprising, the Germans closed the border and made unauthorized crossing punishable by death on 16 September.[34] Attempts to cross the border as a unit were made on the nights of 21-22 and 24–25 September near Velké Karlovice. As both attempts failed after skirmishes with German border guards, Murzin crossed the border with a smaller group of 60 partisans on the night of 28–29 September.[35] Some 300 partisans remained in Slovakia, their numbers daily augmented by newcomers.[36] In early October, the border was reinforced by about 300 SS military policemen, making it more difficult for the Žižka partisans to cross back into Moravia.[37] On 10 October, the Germans attacked Štiavnik. Fighting lasted for about three days with partisan losses estimated at 200[clarification needed] around Štiavnik and in skirmishes with border guards while attempting to cross into Moravia.[38] Only 130-140 guerrillas managed to cross the border;[39] those left behind included twelve of the fourteen Soviet-trained Slovaks.[40]

Consolidation at Čertův Mlýn edit

 
 
Vsetín
 
Trojačka
 
Magurka / Čertův Mlýn
class=notpageimage|
Operations in October 1944

In Moravia, the unit settled in a hunting lodge on the slopes of Magurka Mountain [cs][35][41] and made contact with the British-trained Wolfram partisan group.[b] Concerned that an attack by American bombers on 14 October had drawn unwanted attention from German security forces, the Murzin partisans took refuge in the Wolfram group's base at Trojačka [cs; sk; sv].[40][41][43] Because the Wolfram group was expecting an airdrop of supplies from Britain, twenty-one partisans were transferred from the Murzin group to Wolfram. In exchange, Murzin received a significant amount of money necessary to fund his operations.[44]

 
Woods around Trojačka

One of those transferred was Stanislav Kotačka [cs],[45] a petty thief who had joined the partisans to avoid detention in a concentration camp.[46] After murdering a Wolfram partisan,[47] he turned himself in and offered to inform on the partisans in exchange for erasing his criminal record.[41][48] At 4:30 on 23 October, he led 300 German soldiers to the base, but the partisans managed to escape.[49][50] While German security forces burned buildings and terrorized civilians in the area around Trojačka, the Žižka partisans separated from the Wolfram group and established a new, more permanent base at Čertův Mlýn [cs; pl].[c] They benefited from supplies and information provided by friendly Czech civilians, some of the members of Obrana Národa.[51][52]

Two groups were sent further southwest, under the command of Ivan Petrovič Stěpanov and Viktor Ševcov-Grekovskij.[53] They made contact with other groups already established in and around Vsetín.[54][d] The groups gathered clothing and provisions for the winter and raided police stations (sometimes in cooperation with local Czech policemen) for firearms and ammunition.[56] By the end of October, the unit had grown to over 200 men and women, divided into four sub-groups: one guarded the base while the other three operated in the surrounding area.[57]

German countermeasures edit

Gestapo ruse edit

The Gestapo attempted to lure the unit's leaders into a meeting with agents who presented themselves as leaders of communist resistance groups. Ušiak was unaware that almost all resistance organizations had been infiltrated by the Gestapo and their members caught and executed. Therefore, he agreed to a meeting on 2 November, in a location not far from the base. Unbeknownst to the Gestapo, however, anti-partisan army units were also deployed in the area and by chance turned up at the meeting, spoiling the Gestapo's plans.[58][59] Both Ušiak and Murzin were wounded in the ensuing gunfight, and fled in different directions. Ušiak was hidden by civilians in Čeladná, but was soon tracked down and committed suicide to avoid capture.[60] Murzin was hidden for three weeks in a forest dugout, but the partisans did not know his whereabouts.[61][62] Meanwhile, Germans captured another partisan who revealed names of civilians who had aided the partisans.[59][63] In a raid on the base the next day, four partisans were killed and two others captured.[64]

Operation Grouse
Part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia
 
 
Rožnov
 
Frenštát
 
Čeladná
 
Staré Hamry
 
Chata Bečvice

German cordon area[65]
Date16–22 November 1944
Location
Result Dispersal of partisan forces
Belligerents
  Nazi Germany   Czechoslovakia
Commanders and leaders
  Josef Otisk [cs]
Units involved
  Jan Žižka partisan brigade
  Wolfram group [cs]
Strength
13,059[66] ~ 200
Casualties and losses
6 killed, 3 wounded[67] 8 killed, 4 captured[67]
13-40 civilian suspects were arrested and executed[67]

On 3 November, Higher SS and Police Leader Karl Hermann Frank ordered the summary executions of suspected partisans along with those suspected of helping them. The bodies of executed suspects were to be hanged in public for 48 hours.[68][69] A wave of arrests and executions decimated the civilian supporters of the partisans.[70] Although the Czech police forces often supported the partisans,[71] they undermined the public approval for them by stealing from Czechs,[72] and some civilians did inform on the partisans.[73] Due to the increasing partisan activity in the area, the Germans posted guards at railway bridges to prevent sabotage.[74]

Operation Grouse edit

Operation Grouse (Czech: Tetřev, German: Auerhuhn) started on the morning of 16 November, when the Germans sealed off a cordon area defined by the towns of Rožnov, Frenštát, Čeladná, Staré Hamry, and Chata Bečvice.[65] The 55-kilometer cordon was carefully monitored and no one was allowed entry or exit; a system of passwords was employed to prevent guerrillas from impersonating German soldiers.[75] The commander, Generalleutnant Hans Windeck [de], aimed to flush the partisans out of the dense forests on the east of the cordon area into the more open areas to the west,[76] and there decisively destroy both Wolfram and the Žižka partisans.[77] The Germans committed some 13,000 soldiers and police to the operation.[66][77][e] However, due in part to inclement weather, the cordon was not as impervious as the Germans intended, and the local population helped partisans escape at night.[79] Poor coordination between the Wehrmacht and police forces hampered the effectiveness of the operation.[80] Georg Attenberger, an SS officer involved in the operation, also blamed the insufficient training of the Wehrmacht units[81] and the laziness of the police.[82]

For their extensive manpower deployment, the Germans had little to show: only eight partisans killed and between 13 and 40 suspected civilian supporters captured and executed, at the cost of six German soldiers killed and three wounded.[67] After the operation, no guerrilla activity was reported in the cordon area, but increased outside of it.[83] The Žižka brigade had lost its base, provisions, and radio communication with the Red Army.[84] The German show of force discouraged the civilian population from providing food and intelligence to the partisans.[85][86] To make matters even worse, the fate of the unit's commanders remained unknown. It took another two weeks to transport Murzin, the surviving commander, to the partisans' new operational area in the Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains.[61]

Reorganization edit

Stěpanov's and Ševcov-Grekovskij's groups had established themselves outside the area blockaded by Operation Grouse.[87] After being transported to the new base, Murzin assumed command. The unit was restructured and its tactical approach transformed. It was divided into smaller groups which were spread over a wider area, and avoided staying in one place for too long.[88] Most command positions were taken by escaped Soviet POWs, who had more military experience. By the end of the war, the command structure was largely decentralized and the brigade was operating in a large area in eastern and central Moravia.[89]

With brigade membership rising, Murzin decided to restrict the number of partisans accepted into the forest units due to the limited supply of food and weapons.[f] Preference was given to escaped POWs and to Czech resistance members who had been exposed and were evading arrest. Those turned away were instructed to start their own partisan units in the urban areas. Some members lived a double life, joining the partisans only for night raids.[90]

Operations edit

Sabotage edit

Specific aspects of waging partisan warfare in Moravia involved the following factors:
  • a dense network of military garrisons
  • military control and protection of military and industrial premises, roads, railway stations, bridges and administrative institutions
  • a diversified Gestapo network supported by spies in towns, settlements and villages
  • special penal units of SS, Schutzpolizei, [Russian Liberation Army] and field gendarmes in the mountains and woods, in areas known to contain partisan bases and battalions
—Murzin's notes[88]

The extent of brigade operations was constrained by availability of armaments. Following Operation Grouse, the brigade was scattered and had lost most of their ammunition and explosives.[91] Therefore, in December the partisans were forced to focus on consolidation and acquiring weapons, with offensive operations gradually increasing from January.[92] During the early months of 1945, many retreating German and Hungarian units passed through or were stationed in the brigade's operational area. This led to the acquisition of a large number of guns from raids; demoralized Hungarian soldiers would often trade their weapons for food or drink.[93]

Avoiding direct encounters with larger German units, the partisans sabotaged railways, bridges, telecommunications and factory power-lines.[92] The brigade's most important operations relied on the use of improvised explosive devices. Most of the explosives were either seized from the German forces or from civilians. For example, 600 kg (1,300 lb) originally intended for a quarry was stolen in January. The explosives experts were mostly Czech civilians who joined the brigade.[94] By March 1945 the brigade was conducting raids on daily basis.[95] One of its most celebrated operations was the capture of Generalleutnant Dietrich von Müller, the commanding officer of Germany's 16th Panzer Division, on 19 April.[96]

 
Memorial to fallen members of the brigade's group Olga, which captured Müller

When the front-line reached the brigade's operational area on 26 April, the partisans took part in front-line operations. Many then joined the army units in their campaigning further west, being used mostly as armed intelligence personnel.[97]

Intelligence edit

Apart from disruption of the German rear, the brigade's other strategic objective was gathering intelligence. Effectiveness of intelligence support to the Soviet war effort was much reduced with the loss of radio communication on 12 November. By the end of December, the brigade's staff were back in contact with the Red Army, using the radio of the Luč intelligence unit which had recently been parachuted to the area. However, the communications disruption also necessitated a period of confidence rebuilding; during the weeks of radio silence the Soviet commanders had believed the unit lost.[98] By then, a rivalry had developed between the brigade and 1st Ukrainian Front's intelligence officers.[99]

The partisans gathered information on the positions, armaments and strength of German units, the locations of armories and warehouses, the position of fortifications, and status reports concerning airfields, movements and transportation of German units. Information was also provided on ethnic Germans, Czech collaborators and informers, as well as on the fighting operations of the brigade itself and on its civilian supporters.[100] Much important intelligence came from Government Army policemen, some of whom actively assisted the partisans by causing diversions for raids or fighting alongside the partisans. However, the brigade's most valuable intelligence source was the commander of the German barracks in Holešov, Major Josef Hübner. Hübner used his personal driver, anti-fascist Hans Kocher, to pass information on planned raids and the uncovering of resistance members.[101]

Countermeasures edit

The German occupation forces redeployed a Waffen-SS platoon, the 31st Special Operations Group, along with their 20th SS Police Regiment, to Moravia. The 31st Special Operations Group was experienced in anti-partisan warfare from previous experience in Yugoslavia, and was also known for its brutality towards Czech civilians.[102] German forces murdered civilians suspected of supporting the partisans,[95] sometimes beating pregnant women to death[103] as well as burning suspects alive.[104] German counter-intelligence also employed a fake partisan unit consisting of 16 Russian Liberation Army soldiers led by an ethnic German bilingual in Czech,[105] but failed to infiltrate the brigade when the ruse was discovered.[106]

Legacy edit

The brigade was demobilized on 26 May 1945, having been deployed in the days immediately after the war as a security force searching for German soldiers hiding in the Moravian mountains and forests.[107] According to Murzin's post-war report, the brigade consisted of 1,232 people on 5 May 1945.[1][g] 1,533 persons had been members, of which 304 were killed and 208 wounded.[108] A significant number of partisans and many who aided them were women.[109] 1,126 members were decorated by the Czechoslovak government, more than any other partisan unit.[108][h]

The brigade has a controversial legacy in Moravia, partly due to its Soviet affiliation;[110] the Communist regime was accused of glorifying Soviet partisans including the Jan Žižka brigade.[109] Partisans were frequently described as drunkards, adventurers, and bandits, who were more of a threat than the German occupiers.[110][i] The partisans did steal from locals who were unwilling to feed them,[72] executed German prisoners, and conducted summary executions of civilians suspected of collaboration, some of whom turned out to be innocent.[109]

Notable members edit

  • Alexander Dubček joined the brigade in August 1944.[111]
  • Max Hrdliczka, shareholder of Impregna AG in Bystrice pod Hostynem supported Jan Ziska financially via his bookkeeper Oldrich Dolak, Karel Bubenicek from Impregna AG, production manager, was active member of Jan Ziska, source: Karel Bubenicek; Partyzani na domaci Front, 1982, Lipnik n Bec

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ In 1944, the British dropped the following groups into Moravia:
    • April: Operation Carbon [cs] and Operation Clay[22]
    • May: Operation Spelter [cs][23]
    • July: Operation Potash [cs][22]
    • September: Operation Wolfram [cs][24]
    • December: Operation Tungsten (cs)[25]
  2. ^ The Wolfram group's purpose, unlike the other British-supported groups, was to incite a Czechoslovak guerrilla movement among the local population.[42]
  3. ^ A mountain 0.4 km from Magurka
  4. ^ Including Pro vlast,[55] the Štramberk partisans,[53] Clay,[55] the Lipták Group[56] and Josef Sousedík's organization.[55]
  5. ^ Forces committed included units of the Allgemeine SS, Gestapo, and Kripo, as well as regular Wehrmacht troops.[78]
  6. ^ Most guns were taken from German security forces during raids. In February 1945, eleven Belgian members of Technische Nothilfe, entrusted with the protection of an arms factory in Jablunkov, deserted and joined the brigade, bringing with them a significant stockpile of arms and ammunition.[90]
  7. ^ 927 Czechs and Slovaks, 257 Soviet citizens, and 48 partisans of other nationalities, including German anti-fascists, an Austrian deserter, Hungarians, and Romanians. More than 20 nationalities were represented.[1]
  8. ^ 203 partisans of the Jan Kozina Brigade and 155 partisans of the Jan Hus Brigade [cs] were decorated.[108]
  9. ^ In order to counter such perceptions, surviving members commissioned a history of the brigade by Marie Hrošová.[110]

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c Hrošová 2012, pp. 156–157.
  2. ^ Noakes & Pridham 2010, p. 102.
  3. ^ Bryant 2007, p. 24.
  4. ^ Noakes & Pridham 2010, p. 119.
  5. ^ Bryant 2007, p. 28.
  6. ^ Bryant 2007, p. 126.
  7. ^ Staff, US Congress 1945, p. 908.
  8. ^ Bartošek 1965, p. 96.
  9. ^ Ėrlikhman 2004, p. 54.
  10. ^ Bryant 2007, p. 62.
  11. ^ Frommer 2005, p. 42.
  12. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 17.
  13. ^ Williams 2003, p. 82.
  14. ^ Burian 2002, p. 31.
  15. ^ Burian 2002, p. 90.
  16. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 5, 18.
  17. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 16.
  18. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 18.
  19. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 18.
  20. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 18–19.
  21. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 19.
  22. ^ a b Ziková 2011, pp. 19–20.
  23. ^ Ziková 2011, pp. 19–21.
  24. ^ Ziková 2011, pp. 19, 26.
  25. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 19.
  26. ^ Brandes 1999, p. 425.
  27. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 20–23.
  28. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 24.
  29. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 21.
  30. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 30–34.
  31. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 35–36.
  32. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, pp. 38–46.
  33. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 46–50.
  34. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 15.
  35. ^ a b Ziková 2011, p. 45.
  36. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 58.
  37. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 16.
  38. ^ Přikryl 1976, p. 99.
  39. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 46.
  40. ^ a b Černota 1990, p. 61.
  41. ^ a b c Suchánková 2013, p. 23.
  42. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 20.
  43. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 47.
  44. ^ Ziková 2011, pp. 48–49.
  45. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 48.
  46. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 44.
  47. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 50.
  48. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 56.
  49. ^ Ziková 2011, p. 58.
  50. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 24.
  51. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 74.
  52. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 23–24.
  53. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 79.
  54. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 79, 81, 82.
  55. ^ a b c Hrošová 2012, p. 81.
  56. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 82.
  57. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 83.
  58. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 88.
  59. ^ a b Suchánková 2013, p. 27.
  60. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 28.
  61. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 108.
  62. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 28–30.
  63. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 92.
  64. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 31.
  65. ^ a b Suchánková 2013, p. 49.
  66. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, pp. 96–99.
  67. ^ a b c d Hrošová 2012, p. 100.
  68. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 93.
  69. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 33.
  70. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 34–37.
  71. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 38.
  72. ^ a b Suchánková 2013, pp. 38, 42.
  73. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 38–41.
  74. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 42.
  75. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 50.
  76. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 52.
  77. ^ a b Ziková 2011, p. 7.
  78. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 51.
  79. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 68–69.
  80. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 69.
  81. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 72.
  82. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 74.
  83. ^ Suchánková 2013, pp. 76–77.
  84. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 77.
  85. ^ Suchánková 2013, p. 76.
  86. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 105.
  87. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 107.
  88. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 117.
  89. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 156.
  90. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 133.
  91. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 164.
  92. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, pp. 171, 176.
  93. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 180, 196.
  94. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 176–177.
  95. ^ a b Hrošová 2012, p. 210.
  96. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 209.
  97. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 217.
  98. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 230–231.
  99. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 257.
  100. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 255.
  101. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 260-261.
  102. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 165–166.
  103. ^ Hrošová 2012, pp. 195, 200.
  104. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 187.
  105. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 191.
  106. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 192.
  107. ^ Hrošová 2012, p. 126.
  108. ^ a b c Hrošová 2012, p. 158.
  109. ^ a b c Gazdík 2008.
  110. ^ a b c Gazdík 2013.
  111. ^ Kirschbaum 2016, p. 239.

Bibliography edit

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  • Gazdík, Jan (5 August 2013). "Partyzáni se složili na studii, jak to opravdu bylo" (in Czech). Aktuálně.cz [cs]. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  • Hrošová, Marie (2012), Na každém kroku boj (1st ed.), Nové Město u Chlumce nad Cidlinou: Český svaz bojovníků za svobodu, ISBN 978-80-260-2483-5
  • Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. (2016). A History of Slovakia: The Struggle for Survival. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250114754.
  • Noakes, J.; Pridham, G. (2010) [2001]. Nazism 1919–1945: Foreign Policy War, and Racial Extermination. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Devon: University of Exeter Press.
  • Přikryl, Josef (1976), 1. československá partizánská brigáda Jana Žižky (srpen-listopad 1944) (1st ed.), Ostrava: Profil
  • Staff, US Congress (1945). Elimination of German resources for war. United States Congress Senate Committee on Military Affairs: United States Government Publishing Office.
  • Suchánková, Kateřina (2013). "Protipartyzánská operace Tetřev v roce 1944" (PDF). Masaryk University.
  • Williams, Max (2003). Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography, Volume 2—Enigma. Church Stretton: Ulric Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9537577-6-3.
  • Ziková, Renáta (2011). "Konfident brněnského gestapa Stanislav Kotačka" (PDF). Masaryk University.

Žižka, partisan, brigade, czechoslovak, partisan, brigade, Žižka, czech, československá, partizánská, brigáda, jana, Žižky, partyzánská, brigáda, jana, Žižky, trocnova, initially, known, ušiak, murzin, unit, largest, partisan, unit, protectorate, bohemia, mora. The 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Zizka Czech 1 ceskoslovenska partizanska brigada Jana Zizky or Partyzanska brigada Jana Zizky z Trocnova initially known as Usiak Murzin Unit was the largest partisan unit in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia modern day Czech Republic during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia After its core membership of Soviet trained paratroopers were dropped into Slovakia in August 1944 the brigade crossed into Moravia and began operations in earnest at the end of 1944 Its focus was guerrilla warfare especially sabotage and intelligence gathering 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Zizka1 ceskoslovenska partizanska brigada Jana ZizkyLieutenant Jan Usiak unit s first commanderActive21 August 1944 26 May 1945Country CzechoslovakiaAllegiance Soviet UnionTypePartisan brigadeRoleGuerrilla warfareSize1 232 partisans on 5 May 1945 1 PatronJan ZizkaEngagementsBattle of StiavnikBattle of Velke KarloviceOperation GrouseCommandersCommandersLieutenant Jan Usiak cs sk Captain Dajan Bajanovic Murzin cs Lieutenant Ivan Petrovic Stepanov Contents 1 Background 1 1 German occupation 1 2 Military situation 2 History 2 1 Formation of the unit 2 2 Transfer to Moravia 2 3 Consolidation at Certuv Mlyn 2 4 German countermeasures 2 4 1 Gestapo ruse 2 4 2 Operation Grouse 2 5 Reorganization 3 Operations 3 1 Sabotage 3 2 Intelligence 3 3 Countermeasures 4 Legacy 5 Notable members 6 References 6 1 Notes 6 2 Citations 6 3 BibliographyBackground editGerman occupation edit See also Munich Agreement and German occupation of Czechoslovakia nbsp The Protectorate Slovakia and neighboring countries In 1938 German Chancellor Adolf Hitler announced his intentions to annex the Sudetenland a region of Czechoslovakia with a high ethnic German population As the previous appeasement of Hitler had shown the governments of both France and Britain were intent on avoiding war 2 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and other Western political leaders negotiated with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and ultimately acquiesced to his demands at the Munich Agreement in exchange for guarantees from Nazi Germany that no additional lands would be annexed No Czechoslovak representatives were present at the negotiations 3 Five months later when the Slovak Diet declared the independence of Slovakia Hitler summoned Czechoslovak President Emil Hacha to Berlin and forced him to accept the German occupation of the Czech rump state and its re organisation into the German dominated Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 4 Germany promptly invaded and occupied the remaining Czech territories Although France had a defensive alliance with Czechoslovakia neither Paris nor London intervened militarily 5 The Nazis considered many Czechs to be ethnically Aryan and therefore suitable for Germanisation 6 As a consequence the German occupation was less harsh than in other Slavic nations For example food rations in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were almost identical to those in Germany 7 The occupation influenced the daily life of ordinary Czechs by the militarisation of the economy the elimination of political rights and transportation to Germany for forced labour 8 More than 20 000 Czechs were executed and thousands more were deported to concentration camps 9 While the general violence of the occupation was less severe than in Eastern Europe 10 it nevertheless caused many Czech people to hate the Germans living within the Protectorate and support partisan groups 11 Military situation edit See also Bandit fighting and Czech resistance Although there was wide popular support for the resistance in other ways the Protectorate was ill suited to partisan activity There were very few guns despite the relatively liberal firearms policies in place prior to the occupation 12 The Protectorate was highly urbanized which made the establishment of partisan field camps in woods or mountains impractical and the excellent transport and communications infrastructure was at the disposal of the Nazi security apparatus Also the ethnic German minority tended to cooperate with the occupiers and some local Germans joined the security forces which benefited from their fluency in Czech and knowledge of the local geography 12 nbsp Hostyn Vsetin Mountains base of the Green Cadre The Nazi administration brought in Reinhard Heydrich as Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia in order to enforce policy more harshly 13 His brutality led to the Allies ordering his assassination in May 1942 14 In the violent crackdown that followed known in Czech as the Heydrichiada cs more than a thousand Czechs were murdered including the entire village of Lidice 15 Some former members of the resistance evaded arrest by fleeing into the Moravian mountains and forming partisan groups 16 The first documented partisan group was the Green Cadre Czech Zeleny kadr active in the Hostyn Vsetin Mountains along the Czech Slovak border from early 1942 17 There were also urban resistance groups such as the White Lioness Czech Bila lvice active in the areas of Silesia around Frydek Mistek and Ostrava 18 19 Such partisan groups depended on the support of the local population and acted by cutting power lines and sabotaging railways 20 Beginning in April 1944 several paratrooper groups trained in Britain were dropped in Moravia in order to gather intelligence 21 a However according to historian Detlef Brandes the emergence of the Zizka brigade was the beginning of effective guerilla resistance in the Protectorate 26 History editFormation of the unit edit See also Slovak National Uprising At the end of 1943 Czechoslovak Communist politicians asked the Soviet government to organize a partisan movement in the Protectorate and Slovakia Partisan units for deployment in Czechoslovakia received training in Sviatoshyn a suburb of Kiev To support advancing Soviet troops paratroopers were deployed in advance initially in Carpathian Ruthenia then in Slovakia and finally also in Moravia 27 The partisan group that would become known as the Jan Zizka brigade was formed during training in Sviatoshyn Most of its initial twenty one members including the commander Lieutenant Jan Usiak cs sk were ethnic Slovaks in accordance with the initial plans to deploy in Slovakia Before the training at Sviatoshyn some of them had fought as partisans in Belarus or in the Crimea Odessa region The unit also included Hungarian defectors and seven Soviets including Captain Dajan Bajanovic Murzin cs second in command 28 The Usiak Murzin Unit parachuted near Sklabina Slovakia in two groups on the night of 21 22 August 1944 and the night of 30 31 August 29 The day before the first group arrived a local partisan group which controlled the area had publicly announced the restoration of the Czechoslovak state 30 The original orders had been for the unit to cross the Fatra mountain range and begin operations in northwest Slovakia However the plans were disrupted by the Slovak National Uprising began on 29 August Initially the unit conducted reconnaissance on a German counter offensive but soon Usiak received orders to redeploy to Moravia and on 6 September they began to move north The Usiak Murzin Unit was joined by many Czech fugitives who wanted to fight on their own territory 31 Other recruits were former Slovak Army soldiers 32 Transfer to Moravia edit nbsp nbsp Stiavnik nbsp Velke Karlovice nbsp Sklabinaclass notpageimage Movement through 10 October Although the partisans had intended to reach the border undetected there were two skirmishes before the unit reached Stiavnik a Slovak town near the border Since the Stiavnik police and other Slovak forces in the area had defected to join the Slovak National Uprising the unit now grown to 150 members established itself around Stiavnik controlling a small area to the rear of the German forces 32 In Stiavnik more troops joined the unit mostly Czechs crossing the border from the Protectorate in order to join the Uprising but they also included escaped Soviet prisoners of war who had fled from camps as far away as Saxony and crossed Bohemia and Moravia with the help of the local population The unit was formally named after Jan Zizka the 15th century leader of the Hussite army whose fight for religious freedom and use of innovative military techniques had made him a Czech national hero 33 nbsp View of Stiavnik from Doktorovec hill In order to stem the flow of Czechs joining the Slovak National Uprising the Germans closed the border and made unauthorized crossing punishable by death on 16 September 34 Attempts to cross the border as a unit were made on the nights of 21 22 and 24 25 September near Velke Karlovice As both attempts failed after skirmishes with German border guards Murzin crossed the border with a smaller group of 60 partisans on the night of 28 29 September 35 Some 300 partisans remained in Slovakia their numbers daily augmented by newcomers 36 In early October the border was reinforced by about 300 SS military policemen making it more difficult for the Zizka partisans to cross back into Moravia 37 On 10 October the Germans attacked Stiavnik Fighting lasted for about three days with partisan losses estimated at 200 clarification needed around Stiavnik and in skirmishes with border guards while attempting to cross into Moravia 38 Only 130 140 guerrillas managed to cross the border 39 those left behind included twelve of the fourteen Soviet trained Slovaks 40 Consolidation at Certuv Mlyn edit nbsp nbsp Vsetin nbsp Trojacka nbsp Magurka Certuv Mlynclass notpageimage Operations in October 1944 In Moravia the unit settled in a hunting lodge on the slopes of Magurka Mountain cs 35 41 and made contact with the British trained Wolfram partisan group b Concerned that an attack by American bombers on 14 October had drawn unwanted attention from German security forces the Murzin partisans took refuge in the Wolfram group s base at Trojacka cs sk sv 40 41 43 Because the Wolfram group was expecting an airdrop of supplies from Britain twenty one partisans were transferred from the Murzin group to Wolfram In exchange Murzin received a significant amount of money necessary to fund his operations 44 nbsp Woods around Trojacka One of those transferred was Stanislav Kotacka cs 45 a petty thief who had joined the partisans to avoid detention in a concentration camp 46 After murdering a Wolfram partisan 47 he turned himself in and offered to inform on the partisans in exchange for erasing his criminal record 41 48 At 4 30 on 23 October he led 300 German soldiers to the base but the partisans managed to escape 49 50 While German security forces burned buildings and terrorized civilians in the area around Trojacka the Zizka partisans separated from the Wolfram group and established a new more permanent base at Certuv Mlyn cs pl c They benefited from supplies and information provided by friendly Czech civilians some of the members of Obrana Naroda 51 52 Two groups were sent further southwest under the command of Ivan Petrovic Stepanov and Viktor Sevcov Grekovskij 53 They made contact with other groups already established in and around Vsetin 54 d The groups gathered clothing and provisions for the winter and raided police stations sometimes in cooperation with local Czech policemen for firearms and ammunition 56 By the end of October the unit had grown to over 200 men and women divided into four sub groups one guarded the base while the other three operated in the surrounding area 57 German countermeasures edit Gestapo ruse edit The Gestapo attempted to lure the unit s leaders into a meeting with agents who presented themselves as leaders of communist resistance groups Usiak was unaware that almost all resistance organizations had been infiltrated by the Gestapo and their members caught and executed Therefore he agreed to a meeting on 2 November in a location not far from the base Unbeknownst to the Gestapo however anti partisan army units were also deployed in the area and by chance turned up at the meeting spoiling the Gestapo s plans 58 59 Both Usiak and Murzin were wounded in the ensuing gunfight and fled in different directions Usiak was hidden by civilians in Celadna but was soon tracked down and committed suicide to avoid capture 60 Murzin was hidden for three weeks in a forest dugout but the partisans did not know his whereabouts 61 62 Meanwhile Germans captured another partisan who revealed names of civilians who had aided the partisans 59 63 In a raid on the base the next day four partisans were killed and two others captured 64 Operation GrousePart of German occupation of Czechoslovakia nbsp nbsp Roznov nbsp Frenstat nbsp Celadna nbsp Stare Hamry nbsp Chata BecviceGerman cordon area 65 Date16 22 November 1944LocationMoravian Silesian BeskidsResultDispersal of partisan forcesBelligerents nbsp Nazi Germany nbsp CzechoslovakiaCommanders and leaders nbsp Karl Hermann Frank nbsp Hans Windeck de nbsp Georg Attenberger nbsp Josef Otisk cs Units involved nbsp Jan Zizka partisan brigade nbsp Wolfram group cs Strength13 059 66 200Casualties and losses6 killed 3 wounded 67 8 killed 4 captured 67 13 40 civilian suspects were arrested and executed 67 On 3 November Higher SS and Police Leader Karl Hermann Frank ordered the summary executions of suspected partisans along with those suspected of helping them The bodies of executed suspects were to be hanged in public for 48 hours 68 69 A wave of arrests and executions decimated the civilian supporters of the partisans 70 Although the Czech police forces often supported the partisans 71 they undermined the public approval for them by stealing from Czechs 72 and some civilians did inform on the partisans 73 Due to the increasing partisan activity in the area the Germans posted guards at railway bridges to prevent sabotage 74 Operation Grouse edit Operation Grouse Czech Tetrev German Auerhuhn started on the morning of 16 November when the Germans sealed off a cordon area defined by the towns of Roznov Frenstat Celadna Stare Hamry and Chata Becvice 65 The 55 kilometer cordon was carefully monitored and no one was allowed entry or exit a system of passwords was employed to prevent guerrillas from impersonating German soldiers 75 The commander Generalleutnant Hans Windeck de aimed to flush the partisans out of the dense forests on the east of the cordon area into the more open areas to the west 76 and there decisively destroy both Wolfram and the Zizka partisans 77 The Germans committed some 13 000 soldiers and police to the operation 66 77 e However due in part to inclement weather the cordon was not as impervious as the Germans intended and the local population helped partisans escape at night 79 Poor coordination between the Wehrmacht and police forces hampered the effectiveness of the operation 80 Georg Attenberger an SS officer involved in the operation also blamed the insufficient training of the Wehrmacht units 81 and the laziness of the police 82 For their extensive manpower deployment the Germans had little to show only eight partisans killed and between 13 and 40 suspected civilian supporters captured and executed at the cost of six German soldiers killed and three wounded 67 After the operation no guerrilla activity was reported in the cordon area but increased outside of it 83 The Zizka brigade had lost its base provisions and radio communication with the Red Army 84 The German show of force discouraged the civilian population from providing food and intelligence to the partisans 85 86 To make matters even worse the fate of the unit s commanders remained unknown It took another two weeks to transport Murzin the surviving commander to the partisans new operational area in the Hostyn Vsetin Mountains 61 Reorganization edit Stepanov s and Sevcov Grekovskij s groups had established themselves outside the area blockaded by Operation Grouse 87 After being transported to the new base Murzin assumed command The unit was restructured and its tactical approach transformed It was divided into smaller groups which were spread over a wider area and avoided staying in one place for too long 88 Most command positions were taken by escaped Soviet POWs who had more military experience By the end of the war the command structure was largely decentralized and the brigade was operating in a large area in eastern and central Moravia 89 With brigade membership rising Murzin decided to restrict the number of partisans accepted into the forest units due to the limited supply of food and weapons f Preference was given to escaped POWs and to Czech resistance members who had been exposed and were evading arrest Those turned away were instructed to start their own partisan units in the urban areas Some members lived a double life joining the partisans only for night raids 90 Operations editSabotage edit Specific aspects of waging partisan warfare in Moravia involved the following factors a dense network of military garrisons military control and protection of military and industrial premises roads railway stations bridges and administrative institutions a diversified Gestapo network supported by spies in towns settlements and villages special penal units of SS Schutzpolizei Russian Liberation Army and field gendarmes in the mountains and woods in areas known to contain partisan bases and battalions Murzin s notes 88 The extent of brigade operations was constrained by availability of armaments Following Operation Grouse the brigade was scattered and had lost most of their ammunition and explosives 91 Therefore in December the partisans were forced to focus on consolidation and acquiring weapons with offensive operations gradually increasing from January 92 During the early months of 1945 many retreating German and Hungarian units passed through or were stationed in the brigade s operational area This led to the acquisition of a large number of guns from raids demoralized Hungarian soldiers would often trade their weapons for food or drink 93 Avoiding direct encounters with larger German units the partisans sabotaged railways bridges telecommunications and factory power lines 92 The brigade s most important operations relied on the use of improvised explosive devices Most of the explosives were either seized from the German forces or from civilians For example 600 kg 1 300 lb originally intended for a quarry was stolen in January The explosives experts were mostly Czech civilians who joined the brigade 94 By March 1945 the brigade was conducting raids on daily basis 95 One of its most celebrated operations was the capture of Generalleutnant Dietrich von Muller the commanding officer of Germany s 16th Panzer Division on 19 April 96 nbsp Memorial to fallen members of the brigade s group Olga which captured Muller When the front line reached the brigade s operational area on 26 April the partisans took part in front line operations Many then joined the army units in their campaigning further west being used mostly as armed intelligence personnel 97 Intelligence edit Apart from disruption of the German rear the brigade s other strategic objective was gathering intelligence Effectiveness of intelligence support to the Soviet war effort was much reduced with the loss of radio communication on 12 November By the end of December the brigade s staff were back in contact with the Red Army using the radio of the Luc intelligence unit which had recently been parachuted to the area However the communications disruption also necessitated a period of confidence rebuilding during the weeks of radio silence the Soviet commanders had believed the unit lost 98 By then a rivalry had developed between the brigade and 1st Ukrainian Front s intelligence officers 99 The partisans gathered information on the positions armaments and strength of German units the locations of armories and warehouses the position of fortifications and status reports concerning airfields movements and transportation of German units Information was also provided on ethnic Germans Czech collaborators and informers as well as on the fighting operations of the brigade itself and on its civilian supporters 100 Much important intelligence came from Government Army policemen some of whom actively assisted the partisans by causing diversions for raids or fighting alongside the partisans However the brigade s most valuable intelligence source was the commander of the German barracks in Holesov Major Josef Hubner Hubner used his personal driver anti fascist Hans Kocher to pass information on planned raids and the uncovering of resistance members 101 Countermeasures edit The German occupation forces redeployed a Waffen SS platoon the 31st Special Operations Group along with their 20th SS Police Regiment to Moravia The 31st Special Operations Group was experienced in anti partisan warfare from previous experience in Yugoslavia and was also known for its brutality towards Czech civilians 102 German forces murdered civilians suspected of supporting the partisans 95 sometimes beating pregnant women to death 103 as well as burning suspects alive 104 German counter intelligence also employed a fake partisan unit consisting of 16 Russian Liberation Army soldiers led by an ethnic German bilingual in Czech 105 but failed to infiltrate the brigade when the ruse was discovered 106 Legacy editThe brigade was demobilized on 26 May 1945 having been deployed in the days immediately after the war as a security force searching for German soldiers hiding in the Moravian mountains and forests 107 According to Murzin s post war report the brigade consisted of 1 232 people on 5 May 1945 1 g 1 533 persons had been members of which 304 were killed and 208 wounded 108 A significant number of partisans and many who aided them were women 109 1 126 members were decorated by the Czechoslovak government more than any other partisan unit 108 h The brigade has a controversial legacy in Moravia partly due to its Soviet affiliation 110 the Communist regime was accused of glorifying Soviet partisans including the Jan Zizka brigade 109 Partisans were frequently described as drunkards adventurers and bandits who were more of a threat than the German occupiers 110 i The partisans did steal from locals who were unwilling to feed them 72 executed German prisoners and conducted summary executions of civilians suspected of collaboration some of whom turned out to be innocent 109 Notable members editAlexander Dubcek joined the brigade in August 1944 111 Max Hrdliczka shareholder of Impregna AG in Bystrice pod Hostynem supported Jan Ziska financially via his bookkeeper Oldrich Dolak Karel Bubenicek from Impregna AG production manager was active member of Jan Ziska source Karel Bubenicek Partyzani na domaci Front 1982 Lipnik n BecReferences editNotes edit In 1944 the British dropped the following groups into Moravia April Operation Carbon cs and Operation Clay 22 May Operation Spelter cs 23 July Operation Potash cs 22 September Operation Wolfram cs 24 December Operation Tungsten cs 25 The Wolfram group s purpose unlike the other British supported groups was to incite a Czechoslovak guerrilla movement among the local population 42 A mountain 0 4 km from Magurka Including Pro vlast 55 the Stramberk partisans 53 Clay 55 the Liptak Group 56 and Josef Sousedik s organization 55 Forces committed included units of the Allgemeine SS Gestapo and Kripo as well as regular Wehrmacht troops 78 Most guns were taken from German security forces during raids In February 1945 eleven Belgian members of Technische Nothilfe entrusted with the protection of an arms factory in Jablunkov deserted and joined the brigade bringing with them a significant stockpile of arms and ammunition 90 927 Czechs and Slovaks 257 Soviet citizens and 48 partisans of other nationalities including German anti fascists an Austrian deserter Hungarians and Romanians More than 20 nationalities were represented 1 203 partisans of the Jan Kozina Brigade and 155 partisans of the Jan Hus Brigade cs were decorated 108 In order to counter such perceptions surviving members commissioned a history of the brigade by Marie Hrosova 110 Citations edit a b c Hrosova 2012 pp 156 157 Noakes amp Pridham 2010 p 102 Bryant 2007 p 24 Noakes amp Pridham 2010 p 119 Bryant 2007 p 28 Bryant 2007 p 126 Staff US Congress 1945 p 908 Bartosek 1965 p 96 Ėrlikhman 2004 p 54 Bryant 2007 p 62 Frommer 2005 p 42 a b Hrosova 2012 p 17 Williams 2003 p 82 Burian 2002 p 31 Burian 2002 p 90 Suchankova 2013 pp 5 18 Hrosova 2012 p 16 Hrosova 2012 p 18 Suchankova 2013 p 18 Suchankova 2013 pp 18 19 Suchankova 2013 p 19 a b Zikova 2011 pp 19 20 Zikova 2011 pp 19 21 Zikova 2011 pp 19 26 Zikova 2011 p 19 Brandes 1999 p 425 Hrosova 2012 pp 20 23 Hrosova 2012 p 24 Suchankova 2013 p 21 Hrosova 2012 pp 30 34 Hrosova 2012 pp 35 36 a b Hrosova 2012 pp 38 46 Hrosova 2012 pp 46 50 Suchankova 2013 p 15 a b Zikova 2011 p 45 Hrosova 2012 p 58 Suchankova 2013 p 16 Prikryl 1976 p 99 Zikova 2011 p 46 a b Cernota 1990 p 61 a b c Suchankova 2013 p 23 Suchankova 2013 p 20 Zikova 2011 p 47 Zikova 2011 pp 48 49 Zikova 2011 p 48 Zikova 2011 p 44 Zikova 2011 p 50 Zikova 2011 p 56 Zikova 2011 p 58 Suchankova 2013 p 24 Hrosova 2012 p 74 Suchankova 2013 pp 23 24 a b Hrosova 2012 p 79 Hrosova 2012 pp 79 81 82 a b c Hrosova 2012 p 81 a b Hrosova 2012 p 82 Hrosova 2012 p 83 Hrosova 2012 p 88 a b Suchankova 2013 p 27 Suchankova 2013 p 28 a b Hrosova 2012 p 108 Suchankova 2013 pp 28 30 Hrosova 2012 p 92 Suchankova 2013 p 31 a b Suchankova 2013 p 49 a b Hrosova 2012 pp 96 99 a b c d Hrosova 2012 p 100 Hrosova 2012 p 93 Suchankova 2013 p 33 Suchankova 2013 pp 34 37 Suchankova 2013 p 38 a b Suchankova 2013 pp 38 42 Suchankova 2013 pp 38 41 Suchankova 2013 p 42 Suchankova 2013 p 50 Suchankova 2013 p 52 a b Zikova 2011 p 7 Suchankova 2013 p 51 Suchankova 2013 pp 68 69 Suchankova 2013 p 69 Suchankova 2013 p 72 Suchankova 2013 p 74 Suchankova 2013 pp 76 77 Suchankova 2013 p 77 Suchankova 2013 p 76 Hrosova 2012 p 105 Hrosova 2012 p 107 a b Hrosova 2012 p 117 Hrosova 2012 p 156 a b Hrosova 2012 p 133 Hrosova 2012 p 164 a b Hrosova 2012 pp 171 176 Hrosova 2012 pp 180 196 Hrosova 2012 pp 176 177 a b Hrosova 2012 p 210 Hrosova 2012 p 209 Hrosova 2012 p 217 Hrosova 2012 pp 230 231 Hrosova 2012 p 257 Hrosova 2012 p 255 Hrosova 2012 p 260 261 Hrosova 2012 pp 165 166 Hrosova 2012 pp 195 200 Hrosova 2012 p 187 Hrosova 2012 p 191 Hrosova 2012 p 192 Hrosova 2012 p 126 a b c Hrosova 2012 p 158 a b c Gazdik 2008 a b c Gazdik 2013 Kirschbaum 2016 p 239 Bibliography edit Bartosek Karel 1965 The Prague Uprising Artia Brandes Detlef in Czech 1999 Cesi pod nemeckym protektoratem okupacni politika kolaborace a odboj 1939 1945 in Czech Prostor ISBN 9788072600281 Bryant Chad Carl 2007 Prague in Black Nazi Rule and Czech Nationalism Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674024519 Burian Michal 2002 Assassination Operation Arthropoid 1941 1942 PDF Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic Retrieved 20 May 2010 Cernota Josef 1990 Uryvky z valecnych let 1939 1945 Brno a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Ėrlikhman Vadim 2004 Poteri narodonaselenii a v XX veke spravochnik Moskva Russkai a panorama ISBN 5 93165 107 1 Frommer Benjamin 2005 National Cleansing Retribution Against Nazi Collaborators in Postwar Czechoslovakia Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521008969 Gazdik Jan 14 January 2008 Historik prinesl nove dukazy o hrdinech ceskeho odboje iDNES cz cs Retrieved 15 July 2018 Gazdik Jan 5 August 2013 Partyzani se slozili na studii jak to opravdu bylo in Czech Aktualne cz cs Retrieved 15 July 2018 Hrosova Marie 2012 Na kazdem kroku boj 1st ed Nove Mesto u Chlumce nad Cidlinou Cesky svaz bojovniku za svobodu ISBN 978 80 260 2483 5 Kirschbaum Stanislav J 2016 A History of Slovakia The Struggle for Survival St Martin s Press ISBN 9781250114754 Noakes J Pridham G 2010 2001 Nazism 1919 1945 Foreign Policy War and Racial Extermination Vol 3 2nd ed Devon University of Exeter Press Prikryl Josef 1976 1 ceskoslovenska partizanska brigada Jana Zizky srpen listopad 1944 1st ed Ostrava Profil Staff US Congress 1945 Elimination of German resources for war United States Congress Senate Committee on Military Affairs United States Government Publishing Office Suchankova Katerina 2013 Protipartyzanska operace Tetrev v roce 1944 PDF Masaryk University Williams Max 2003 Reinhard Heydrich The Biography Volume 2 Enigma Church Stretton Ulric Publishing ISBN 978 0 9537577 6 3 Zikova Renata 2011 Konfident brnenskeho gestapa Stanislav Kotacka PDF Masaryk University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jan Zizka partisan brigade amp oldid 1208196288, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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