R E L E A S E NO. 163 DECEMBER 14, 1942

NEWS FLASHES FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA UNDER NAZI DOMINATION

(The news which is coming through in spite of Nazi censorship!)

BLOODY NOVEMBER IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

The Nazi terror in Czechoslovakia continues with­out cessation. The number of Czech patriots executed by the Germans in November exceeded that of pre­vious months. Being unable to stem the tide of the A l l i ed forces in Afr ica and Russia, the Nazis are taking revenge on the Czechs, as well as on the Jews and the Poles. A desperate effort is being made to terrorize the populations in the occupied countries in order to prevent possible outbreaks of a revolt.

The Czechoslovak Press Bureau in London reports that forty executions occurred within the first five days of November, in Bohemia and Moravia, Czech provinces of the Republic.

O n November 2nd four Czechs were executed for alleged "communistic activities." This charge is be­ing used very often by the Nazis for the purpose of frightening the wealthy and middle classes into be­coming reconciled with the Nazi new order.

On November 3rd, seven more that were accused of espionage, high treason, and favoring the enemy were executed. On November 5th, fourteen men, between thirty and fifty years of age, were executed in Prague for high treason, espionage, favoring the enemy, and alleged communistic activities.

During the same period, nine more men were executed, having been condemned to death for various activities such as sabotage in munition fac­tories, espionage, and the stealing of food and ciga­rettes from freight trains. Seven were railway men from Olomouc and Kralupy. The names of the victims of the last wave of the Nazi terror already known to the Czechoslovak circles in London are:

Vojtech K a 1 k u s , 60 years of age. Tabor Frantisek B a u e r , 46, Tabor Frantisek C e r v e n y , 38, Celakovice Stepan K o c i , Ludkovice Ctibor T r a e g e r , 45 Frantisek K o n o p , 41 Karel M e i s s n e r , 41 R e j h o 1 e c , 40 Josef N o h a v i c a , 56 Josef D l o u h y , 50 Antonin D v o r a k , 35 Karel R i c h t e r , 47, Plzen Karel F o r t , 39, Plzen Frantisek V o j t e c h o v s k y , 42 Frantisek D v o if a k , 31

Vaclav C e r m a k , Frantisek M a t o n , 42 Alo is M a d r , 42 Frantisek K 1 e i n , 3 7 Oldfich V e c e f a , 41 Frantisek K o d y t e k , 3 5 Frantisek V a s i c e k , 33 Vojtech P o s p f s i 1 , 42 Vaclav P i k r t , 42 Josef B p h u s l a v , 44 Antonin S t e t k a , 38 Antonin B r a b e c , 43 Hynek K r e j c i , 50 Ladislav M a t e c h a , 49 Emanuel S v a c i n a , 41 Josef H r a h o v e c , 31 Frantisek M a c h e k , 30 V i l em M r a c e k , 42 About forty other Czechs were executed during

the second week of November. O n November 1 6 the Peoples' Court in Prague

sentenced to death for "treasonable activities and favoring the enemy" the following Czech patriots who were executed the same day:

Milan C h a r v a t , 26, Prague Jaroslav 2 a k , 22, Prague Robert B e n e s , 27, Otrokovice Augustin S e i d 1 e r , 32, Moravska Ostrava Karel B o e h m , 36, Moravska Ostrava Karel K u p k a , 32, Vitkovice Miloslav S t e p n i c k a , 32, Michalkovice Vlad imir K o c i , 45 Vlad imir J a n o u s e k , 40 Frantisek S e d 1 a k , 44, all of Prague Jan S y k o r a , 66, Plzeii Oldrich B l a z e k , 38, Raic Josef H u b y , 55, Brno, Zebrovice Frantisek P r z i n s k y , 44, Brno Charged with the possession of arms and ammuni­

tion, the following Czechs were sentenced to death on November I 7th by a Special Court in Prague and executed the same day:

Rudolf K l e t e c k a , 31, Nova Cerekev Vitezslav M a z a 1 , 40, Prague A d o l f C a n s , 61, Sobotka Josef J a n d a , 40, Skurina Miloslav B a r e k , 34, Kurc

NEWS FLASHES FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA UNDER NAZI DOMINATION

Mazal possessed automatic rifles and had or-gemized drills in target firing with gims. The others had only hunting rifles.

On November 18 the People's Court in Prague sentenced to death four men for high treason and complicity in the providing and the hiding of aima, ammunition, and explosives. The names of these men who were executed immediately after receiving the death sentence, were:

Victor K f e n , 42, Z l i n Pavel P r c h l i k , 47, Z l i n Eduard S a f a r , 33, Stiep Josef M a c h , 34, Lopivec The Special Court in Brno sentenced to death

Frantisek K 1 a p e c , 65, Moravska Ostrava, for not surrendering his pistol. Five other person were also convicted, among them Jarmila S e v i z a 1 , 25, Moravska Ostrava, for illegally trading in cloth­ing coupons and for black market slaughtering.

The Special Court in Brno also sentenced to death Frantisek M a t u s k a , 44, V i r , District of Bystfi-ce-Perstyn, and Oskar P i n o s , 29, Drahany, near Prostejov, for concealing arms and ammunition.

The reports of executions in Czechoslovakia have ceased to be regarded as news. Hard ly a day passes without an announcement being made of new execu­tions. In addition to those announced by the German radio or by the Nazi-controlled press, there are hun­dreds of instances of murders by the Gestapo of Czech patriots, who have been shot or beaten with­out being brought to the courts of justice.

In spite of this terror the spirit of resistance among Czechs is not broken. The German reverses in Rus­sia and Afr ica electrified the Czech underground; and the Quisling Minister, Moravec, had to broad­cast a warning against the "rats coming out of their holes lately." He also disparaged those who 'fail to stand by the Fuehrer in times of stress.' In order to lessen the enthusiasm showed by the Czechs because of the American participation in the African cam­paign, Moravec pointed out that, although President Roosevelt sent the American troops to Afr ica , he failed to provide for the defense of newly won American positions in the Solomons. This message was broadcast just before the great American naval victory over the Japanese occurred near the Solomon Islands, and repercussions of it were manifested very soon.

"SUDETENS" PAYING H E A V I L Y FOR "LIBERATION"

According to a report emanating from Stockholm the Grenadier Regiments of Germans from the Czechoslovak frontier region suffered heavy losses on the Central front in Russia during the last week of November.

SLOVAK QUISLING DENOUNCING PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

The Czechoslovak Press Bureau in London reports on November 28 that the following announcement was broadcast from Bratislava by Dr . V . Tuka, premier in the Slovak Quisling government:

"According to the official announcement received from "Washington, M r . Roosevelt is to speak on the restoration of freedom to the small nations. A n American president speaks on that problem not for the first time, for we well remember the role Wilson played in 1918-19 regarding the freedom of the Slovak nation. Already then Slovakia, by false pre­tenses, was promised and guaranteed independence within the Czechoslovak state. For twenty years we have had experience with that kind of independence and know it for what it is. Mr . Roosevelt, who does not miss a single opportunity of interfering in Eu­ropean affairs, thinks it would be once more pos­sible to deceive the Slovak nation with noble words. Mr . Roosevelt ought to know that the Slovak nation is aware of the fact that it owes its freedom and in­dependence to German friendship. The Slovak na­tion wil l not allow itself to be deceived again by empty promises coming across the ocean, but will faithfully march side by side with the German nation."

Dr . Tuka is a Quisling of a particular brand. Born a Slovak, educated in Hungarian schools, he profes­sed Hungarian nationality when the first census was taken in Czechoslovakia after the first Wor ld War. Soon, however, he joined the Slovak extreme na­tionalists in order to promote the separatist move­ment. He was sentenced to prison by the Czecho­slovak Government for conspiring against the state with the agents of a foreign power. Under the Nazis he became the head of their puppet government of Slovakia and is serving well the Germans as he formerly served the Hungarians. He is hated inten­sely by every freedom-loving Slovak.

STAUN'S MESSAGE T O MSGR. SRAMEK

Monsignor Jan Sramek, Prime Minister in the Czechoslovak Government in exile received on No­vember 30 the following cable from Premier Stalin of Soviet Russia:

" M r . Prime Minister: Please accept my thanks for your friendly greetings on the occasion of the 25 th anniversary of the Soviet State. I wholeheartedly wish the friendly Czechoslovak nation complete suc­cess in the fight against our common enemy for freedom and the resurrection of Czechoslovakia."

NEWS FLA.SHES FROM CZECHOSUDVAKIA UNDER NAZI DOMINATION

M A S A R Y K PAYS RESPECT T O HEROES OF T O U L O N

Jan Masaryk, Deputy Prime Minister in the Czechoslovak Government in London, sent the fol­lowing letter to General DeGaulle, November 30 :

"Czechoslovaks the world over think, with pro­found love and respect, of the heroes of Toulon who have given their lives in order to show the world, modestly but uncompromisingly, that France was not and is not prepared to make compromises with her most precious possessions. The weakling government of Vichy has ceased once and for all to burden the free soul of France. Hitler wi l l pay a hundredfold for the glorious French fleet, which, by temporarily destroying itself, has not only successfully defended but even strengthened the glorious tradition of French seamen. Today France and Czechoslovakia, occupied by their age-old enemy, look calmly to­wards victory and liberation."

G E R M A N M I U T A R Y TRAIN DERAILED IN BOHEMIA

No German military tradn may pass safely through Czechoslovakia at the present time, especially when it is traveling toward the Eastern front. The Germans take great care to assure a safe passage and a convoy for such a train. The guards employ blood hounds in attempting to detect the saboteurs; but this is of no avail. The Czechoslovak Press Bureau in London reports that recently a German military freight train composed of twenty-seven cars was derailed be­tween Benesov and Prague. It was loaded with tanks destined for the Eastern front. Several railwaymen were punished by being put to death.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR SHELTERING OF UNREGISTERED PERSONS

Capital punishment in Czechoslovakia has been recently extended to cover such crimes as helping or sheltering a person who has not registered with the police, or who does not have an identification card. Capital punishment is also imposed for the falsification of identification cards or supplying others with forged cards.

C Z E C H SCULPTOR DIED IN P R A G U E Bohumil Kafka, noted Czechoslovak sculptor and

professor at the Academy of A r t in Prague, died in Prague, on November 27. He was one of the leaders of the Czech school of impressionism and contributed very much to the intimate relation between the Czechoslovak and the French art circles before the First Wor ld War.

CZECHS FORCED INTO GERMAN ARMY

It is known that the Germans in Yugoslavia are forcing the Slovenes to join the German A r m y under the pretext that they are citizens of the Reich. A secret Czechoslovak broadcast recently warned the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia to resist any similar attempts which may be made in connection with them. The radio adds that, despite the fact that Germany considers the Czechs only as "secondary" citizens, it is so short of men that it wil l not hesitate to force them to serve in the German army.

Sometime ago, during the German offensive, the Moscow radio announced the names of the Czech soldiers who were taken prisoners with the Germans. They were Czechs from the frontier districts ceded to Germany after the Munich Pact. The news was denied by the Nazi-controlled Podebrady radio and was announced as the latest Jewish deception. It is now confirmed, however, from another source that the Czechs have been pressed into service with the German army. The correspondent of the L o n d o n D a i l y C r o n i c l e writes from Egypt that among the German prisoners taken on the E l A l a -inein front there was a Czech soldier who, when asked whether there were many Czechs serving with the Germans, said that among the motorized Ger­man troops there was a certain percentage, all of whom would gladly go over to the British.

CARPATHIAN-RUSSL\GUERILLAS A T WORK

The struggle against the Magyars continues in Carpathian-Russia, the eastern part of Czechoslova­kia, now occupied by Hungarians. In the Vihorlat Mountains, a Magyar military detachment fighting against the guerillas was decimated and lost most of its equipment. The Czechoslovak Press Bureau in London reports that, on October 27, the important strategical railway, leading from the town of Chust to the Polish frontier through Jasina, was damaged in several places. In their resistance against the Magyars the Carpathian-Russian guerillas are estab­lishing contact with the Polish guerillas in the Tatra Mountains. Some of these guerilla groups are led by experienced officers of the pre-Munich Czechoslo-vakian army.

SLOVAKS S A B O T A G E W A R EFFORTS OF HUNGARIANS

In a Hungarian shoe factory near the city of Nove Zamky, which is at present producing shoes for the German army, several Slovak foremen were arrested for sabotage.

NEWS FLA.SHBS PROM CZEOHOSLOVAKIA UNDER NAZI DOinNATION

C Z E C H O S L O V A K SURGEON FACING D E A T H IN NORWAY

Dr . Josef Jaros, well-known Czechoslovak or­thopedic surgeon, was reported recently to be facing a sentence of death in Norway under a new Nor­wegian decree providing execution for fugitives fleeing the country.

Dr . Jaros, according to Stockholm reports reach­ing Czechoslovak circles in London, was living in Norway as a refugee, when he attempted to escape to Sweden and was apprehended by the Gestapo. H e took poison, but his stomach was pumped, and he is now in prison. H e was once a leading figure in Prague medical circles.

COUNT KOLOWRAT'S PROPERTY CONFISCATED

The Nazis have confiscated the entire property of Count Jindfich Kolowrat Krakowsky because he is regarded as "an enemy of the nation and state." Count Kolowrat belongs to one of the oldest Czech families. In 1938, during the Munich crisis, he signed a manifesto, together with other members of the former Czechoslovakian aristocracy, expressing soli­darity with President Benes. A l l were subsequently declared by the Nazi Puppet government in Prague to be "enemies of the nation and state." Count Ko lo -wrat's whereabouts are unknown at the present time, but it is hoped that he has succeeded in escaping from the "Protectorate."

W O R K OF C Z E C H O S L O V A K A U T H O R P U B U S H E D IN E N G U S H

The London firm, A l l en and Unwin, has published a work by the Czechoslovak author, Egon Hostov-sky, under the title: L e t t e r s f r o m E x i l e , translated by A n n a Kr t i l . Hostovsky, who is l iving in this country, is one of the outstanding young Czechoslovakian writers. His new book deals with his experiences and impressions during his stay in France and other countries during the post-Munich period. The Czech edition of the L e t t e r s f r o m E x i l e was published in 1940, by the Czech-American National All iance in Chicago.

NO D E M O C R A C Y A L L O W E D IN T H E "UPPER C O U N T R Y "

Speaking in Kosice, the largest city of eastern Slo­vakia, which was seized by Hungary after the Munich agreement was reached, the Hungarian Secretary of State, Magashazy, said: "Thinking in democratic terms in the Upper Country (Term used by the Hungarians for Slovakia) must cease." But, in spite of this order, the former democratic regime has not been forgotten. Slovak peasants continue their pas­sive resistance, and their unwillingness to cooperate with the occupants is such that the Hungarian author­ities have dismissed one-third of all the mayors in the occupied region and replaced them with appointed officials.

SAYING IT WITH BOOKS

In spite of the long and intensive campaign carried on against the Czechs by the Slovak Quislings and their Nazi protectors, the Slovak people refuse to give up the hope of seeing the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic.

In an article published on October 23 the fascist daily, G a r d i s t a , deplores the man­ner in which the booksellers in Bratislava orom-inently display Czech books in the show-windows. It states: "The show windows of our bookstores are places where one has to stop and think. While looking them over, one must have the impression that nothing has changed and that he is still living in those immensely "interesting" times of the Czechoslovak Repub­lic. Why? Because these bookstores are literally filled with Czech literature displayed without any discretion or good taste. One does not know what these booksellers want to achieve by such displays."

The booksellers, of course, display the books demanded by the reading public; and the large demand for Czech books in Slovakia proves that the Slovaks eagerly desire the restoration of the union with their nearest kith and kin.

Czechoslovak National Council of America 4049 West 26th Street, Chicago, 111.. U. S. A .

(Printed in USA.)