The capture of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1939 by Nazi Germany gained in world history a reputation for Hitler's bloodless victory over a developed European country, which had a strong military-industrial complex and a well-armed and trained army for its time, comparable in size to the German Wehrmacht. The unattractive role in these events of the world community, which gave Hitler a complete "free hand" in relation to Czechoslovakia, as well as the Czech ruling circles, who went on a shameful surrender "in order to save the lives of their citizens", is well known. At the same time, it is no secret that the patriotic upsurge in Czech society testified to its readiness to fight up to the notorious Munich Agreement and the Vienna Arbitration of 1938 (according to which the Sudetenland was transferred to Germany, the southern regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus to Hungary, and Cieszyn Silesia - Poland). It is believed that the tragic autumn of 1938 was actually suppressed by the moral will of the Czechs to resist the aggressor, and they were seized by despondency and apathy, which contributed to the surrender on March 14-15, 1939.
Nevertheless, a number of isolated but dramatic episodes indicate that many members of the Czechoslovak army were ready to fight for their country even then. Unfortunately, the domestic reader knows about them only from the poem of the famous Russian poetess Marina Tsvetaeva (who lived in exile in Paris at that time) "One Officer", extremely expressively conveyed the selfless patriotic impulse of a brave lonely, but not related to military history. In addition, Tsvetaeva's work is about an incident that occurred on October 1, 1938, when German troops entered the Sudetenland, and the most significant clash between Czechoslovak soldiers and the Nazis took place on March 14, 1939, during the occupation of the Czech Republic and Moravia. We are talking about the battle for the Chaiankovy barracks (Czajankova kasárna), which took place in the town of Mistek (now Frydek-Mistek), located in the Moravian-Silesian region in eastern Bohemia, in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the Sudetenland annexed to the Third Reich and occupied by the Poles Cieszyn Silesia.
Buildings of the Chayankov barracks. [center]
The Czechoslovak army, at the height of the Sudeten crisis of 1938, represented an impressive force (34 infantry and 4 mobile divisions, 138 training, fortress and individual battalions, as well as 55 air squadrons; 1.25 million people, 1,582 aircraft, 469 tanks and 5, 7 thousand artillery systems), by the spring of 1939 was significantly weakened by the military policy of President Emil Hakha, a famous Germanophile, and his government, which took a course of maximum concessions to Hitler in order to avoid war. In order not to "provoke the Germans," the reservists were demobilized, the troops were returned to their places of permanent deployment, staffed according to peacetime states and partly squared. According to the garrison schedule, the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Silesian Infantry Regiment (III. Prapor 8. pěšího pluku "Slezského"), consisting of the 9th, 10th and 11th Infantry Regiment and 12 -th machine-gun company, as well as the "armored half-company" of the 2nd regiment of combat vehicles (obrněná polorota 2.pluku útočné vozby), consisting of a platoon of tankettes LT vz. 33 and a platoon of armored vehicles OA vz. 30.
The head of the garrison was the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Karel Shtepina. Taking into account the fact that Slovak soldiers in the light of the imminent independence of Slovakia deserted en masse and fled to their homeland through the near Slovak border, no more than 300 servicemen remained in the Chayankovy barracks on March 14. Most of them were ethnic Czechs, there were also a few Czech Jews, Subcarpathian Ukrainians and Moravians. About half of the soldiers were final draft recruits who had not yet completed basic training.
The Chayankov barracks, located within the city of Mistek, were built in Austro-Hungarian times and were a complex of two four-storey brick buildings of an imposing structure and several ancillary buildings adjacent to the training ground, surrounded by a high brick fence. The personnel and headquarters of the battalion were housed in the buildings, the "armored half-company" military equipment and cars in the garage. Weapons, incl. machine guns and ammunition were in the weapons rooms adjacent to the living quarters of the personnel.
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Servicemen of the 12th machine-gun company who participated in the defense of the barracks. [center]
The resistance of this small garrison is connected with the colorful personality of the commander of the 12th machine-gun company, Captain Karel Pavlik, who was the type of officer about whom it is customary to say: "In peacetime it is not applicable, in wartime it is irreplaceable." Born in 1900 into a large family of a folk teacher in a small village near the town of Cesky Brod, the future officer was brought up in the tradition of the Czech national revival. In his youth, he planned to follow in his father's footsteps, however, being drafted into the army in 1920, saw his vocation in military service and entered a military school, from which in 1923 he was released with the rank of second lieutenant. Serving in various border and infantry units, Karel Pavlik has established himself as a good combat officer, a specialist in small arms, a good rider and driver, and - at the same time - as a "dangerous original". In the Czechoslovak army, the principle of "officers are outside politics" prevailed, but Pavlik did not hide his liberal convictions, boldly argued with the "conservative" authorities, and in 1933 he even allegedly prepared a draft "democratization of military service", which was immediately rejected by the offices of the Ministry of National Defense and Parliament … His service description from 1938 read: "With the commanders he is quite impudent, with his peers he is friendly and sociable, with his subordinates he is fair and demanding, he enjoys authority with them." We add that this owner of a pleasant appearance and a dandy beard has repeatedly received disciplinary penalties for "frivolous behavior and relations with married women inappropriate to an officer." Karel Pavlik's own family fell apart, and the highest point of his career was the position of company commander. However, the captain himself was not particularly upset, and among his fellow officers he had a reputation as a merry fellow and "the soul of the company."
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Captain Karel Pavlik. [center]
On the evening of March 14, Captain Pavlik stayed at the Chayankovy barracks, conducting additional classes with the personnel to study the Polish language. In addition to him, the garrison at that time was its chief, Lieutenant Colonel Karel Shtepina, the commander of the "armored half-company" Second Lieutenant Vladimir Heinish, the duty officer Lieutenant Karel Martinek and several other junior officers. The rest of the officers were dismissed from their quarters; Despite the catastrophic military-political situation, the Czechoslovak command carefully monitored the observance of the peacetime service regulations.
On March 14, German troops crossed the borders of the Czech Republic (Slovakia on this day, under the auspices of the Third Reich, declared independence) and in marching order began to advance deep into its territory. Flying to Berlin for the fatal "consultations" with Hitler, President Emil Hacha ordered the troops to remain in their places of deployment and not to resist the aggressors. Even earlier, capitulatory orders began to be sent out by the demoralized Czechoslovak General Staff. The armored and mechanized forward columns of the Wehrmacht moved in a race with these orders, capturing key points and objects. In a number of places, individual Czech military personnel and gendarmes opened fire on the invaders, but the Nazis encountered organized resistance from a whole unit only in the Chayankovy barracks.
The town of Mistek was in the offensive zone of the Wehrmacht's 8th Infantry Division (28. Infanterie-Division), together with the elite motorized regiment "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler) at about 17.30 moved from the territory of the Sudetenland in the direction of Ostrava. The advance motorcycle patrol of the 84th German Infantry Regiment (Infanterie-Regiment 84, commander - Colonel Oberst Stoewer) entered Mistek after 18.00, and some time later the 2nd battalion of the regiment entered the city (about 1,200 soldiers and officers, including amplification) driven by cars.
The guards at the gates of the Chayankov barracks, the sentries - corporal (svobodnik) Przhibyl and private Sagan - in the evening twilight mistook the German motorcyclists-scouts for Czech gendarmes (who had German-made steel helmets M18, similar in outline to the M35 Wehrmacht helmets) and let them pass freely. However, then a column of trucks and "kübelwagens" stopped in front of the barracks, and real "Hans" began to unload from them. The German chief lieutenant turned to the sentries and ordered them to lay down their arms and call the duty officer. The answer was a friendly volley of two rifles; by a lucky chance for him, the German escaped with a punctured cap. To the accompaniment of frequent gunfire opened by the Wehrmacht soldiers, both sentries rushed into the guardhouse, shouting: "The Germans are already here!" (Němci jsou tady!). The guard personnel, in turn, took up positions in the trenches equipped on both sides of the barracks gates and returned fire.
With the beginning of the firefight, the officer on duty, Lieutenant Martinek, announced a military alert in the garrison. Czech soldiers hastily dismantled weapons and ammunition. Captain Karel Pavlik raised his company and ordered to deploy the machine guns at its disposal (mainly hand-held "Ceska Zbroevka" vz. 26) at makeshift firing positions in the upper floors of the barracks. Riflemen, including soldiers from other companies who had voluntarily joined Pavlik's company, were stationed at the window openings. The captain entrusted the command of the defense sectors to the senior non-commissioned officers (četaři) of his company Štefek and Gole. Electric lighting in the barracks was cut down to prevent Czech soldiers from becoming an easy target for the Germans against the backdrop of glowing windows. The first attempt of German soldiers to break through to the gates of the Chayankov barracks was easily repelled by the Czechs with losses for the attackers. Having retreated, the Wehrmacht units began to take positions under the cover of the surrounding buildings. An intense firefight ensued with the use of small arms and machine guns. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, local residents, who suddenly found themselves in the epicenter of a real battle, hid in cellars or lay down on the floor in their houses. Only the owner of the pub located around the corner did not succumb to panic, who, already during the battle, began to serve the invaders who ran in to “wet their throats” for the Reichsmarks.
The commander of the 84th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Stoiver, soon arrived at the place of unexpected resistance. After informing the division commander, General der Kavallerie Rudolf Koch-Erpach, and receiving the order to "solve the problem on our own," the colonel began to prepare a new attack on the Chayankov barracks. To support the advancing infantrymen, on his order, 50-mm and 81-mm mortars of the infantry units participating in the battle were deployed, one RAK-35/37 37-mm anti-tank gun from the regiment's anti-tank company, and an armored vehicle (probably one of the dowries reconnaissance regiment Sd. Kfz 221 or Sd. Kfz 222). The headlights of German army vehicles were directed to the barracks, which should have dazzled the eyes of Czech riflemen and machine gunners. The second attack was already quite thoroughly, albeit hastily, a prepared assault.
At the same time, various kinds of vigorous activity was also going on inside the Chayankov barracks. Captain Pavlik personally helped his machine gunners adjust the sight and monitored the distribution of ammunition, which turned out to be annoyingly small (the day before, large firing was carried out in the garrison). “Don't be afraid, guys! We will resist! " (To nic, hoši nebojte se! Ty zmůžeme!), - he encouraged the young soldiers. At the same time, Pavlik tried to withdraw tankettes and armored vehicles of "armored half-company" for a counterattack; its commander, second lieutenant Heinisch, gave the order for the crews to take up combat positions, but refused to advance without an order from the chief of the garrison. Obviously, had the Wehrmacht infantry units besieging the Chayankov barracks under attack from Czech combat vehicles, they would have found themselves in a difficult situation, but the command: "Into battle!" "Half-company of armor" did not do it. The head of the garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Shtepina, along with most of the available officers, withdrew from participation in the battle. Gathering at the headquarters, they frantically tried to establish a telephone connection with the regimental commander, Colonel Eliash (by the way, a relative of General Alois Eliash, the first head of the government created by the occupants of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) and get guidance from him for further actions.
After a short fire training, the German infantry, with the support of an armored vehicle, again rushed to storm the Chayankov barracks. The guards who held the forward positions, two of whom were wounded, were forced to leave the trenches and take refuge in the building. The Wehrmacht soldiers reached the fence under fire and lay down behind it. However, this is where their successes ended. The mortar and machine-gun fire of the Germans and even the 37-mm shells of their anti-tank gun could not cause significant damage to the powerful walls of the barracks, and serious losses to their defenders. At the same time, the Czech machine guns fired a dense barrage, and the arrows put out the headlights one after the other with well-aimed shots. A German car, trying to break through the gate, was forced to turn back after its commander (sergeant major) was killed in the tower, almost not protected from above. Throwing grenades from the windows, Czech soldiers forced the enemy infantry, hiding behind the fence, to retreat, while the grenades thrown by the Nazis blindly threw in most of it uselessly on the parade ground. The second attack was repelled by the Czech fighters of Captain Karel Pavlik in the same way as the first. By this time, the battle had lasted more than 40 minutes. The Czechs were running out of ammunition, and Colonel Steuver was pulling all available forces to the barracks, so the outcome of the struggle remained unclear …
However, the decisive factor in the fate of the battle for the Chayankovy barracks was not another German assault, but an order from the headquarters of the Czech 8th Infantry Regiment. Colonel Eliash ordered an immediate ceasefire, negotiate with the Germans and lay down their arms, in case of disobedience, threatening the "disobedient" with a military court. The head of the garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Shtepina, communicated this order to Captain Pavlik and his subordinates who continued the battle. According to eyewitnesses, Captain Pavlik at first refused to obey, but then, seeing how little ammunition remained, he himself ordered his soldiers: "Stop fire!" (Zastavte palbu!). When the shots died down, Lieutenant Colonel Štepina sent Lieutenant Martinek with a white flag to discuss the terms of surrender. Having met in front of the bullet-ridden facade of the barracks with the German Colonel Steuver, the Czech officer received security guarantees from him for the garrison soldiers. After that, Czech soldiers began to leave the buildings, fold their rifles and form on the parade ground. The German infantrymen surrounded the defeated and pointed their weapons at them, however, they behaved with them emphatically correctly. The Czech officers were escorted by the adjutant of the 84th regiment of the Wehrmacht to "honorable captivity" - all to the same beer hall around the corner. After that, the Germans finally entered the Chayankov barracks. Having searched the premises, they took away all the weapons and ammunition they found. A strong German guard was initially posted to the garage in which the Czech armored vehicles were located, and a few days later they were taken away by the invaders. After four hours of "internment", the Czech soldiers were allowed to return to their barracks, and the officers were placed under house arrest in their apartments. The wounded on both sides were assisted by German and Czech military medics, after which they were placed in a civil hospital in the city of Mistek: the Wehrmacht had not yet had time to deploy field hospitals.
On the Czech side, six soldiers were wounded in the battle for the Chayankovy barracks, including two seriously. The local population, fortunately, was not affected, except for material damage. German losses were, according to various sources, from 12 to 24 killed and wounded, which is a good indicator for the effectiveness of the resistance of the defenders of the barracks. It remains only to guess in what numbers the damage of the Nazi troops would have been expressed if at least a few Czech military units had followed the example of Captain Pavlik and his brave machine gunners and riflemen. Karel Pavlik himself later said that, single-handedly engaging in battle, he hoped that the Chayankovsky barracks would become a detonator that would cause resistance throughout the country, and the columns of the Wehrmacht moving in marching order would be attacked by Czech troops. However, the discipline and diligence characteristic of Czech military personnel played such a sad role in the history of their country in March 1939 …
The government of the dying Czechoslovak Republic hastened to blame the "unfortunate incident" in the town of Mistek on the officers in charge of the garrison, but none of them was ever brought to court for these events either to the Czech or to the German military courts. During the subsequent demobilization of the Czechoslovak army (the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was allowed to have only slightly more than 7 thousand military personnel - the so-called "Vladna vojska"), all participants in the defense of the Chayankovy barracks were dismissed from service, and the "wolf ticket" from the Czech collaborationist authorities even received officers and soldiers who did not take part in the battle. However, among those who, in the short minutes of the battle on the evening of March 14, 1939, felt the taste of struggle, resistance to the invaders, it seems, has already settled in their blood. More than a hundred former defenders of the old barracks in Mistek took part in the Resistance movement or, having managed to break free from the homeland conquered by the enemy, served in the Czechoslovak military units that fought on the side of the Allies. Many of them died or went missing.
The most dramatic was the fate of the commander of a desperate defense, Captain Karel Pavlik, who can be safely called one of the most prominent figures of the Czech anti-Nazi resistance. From the first months of the occupation, he was actively involved in the work of the underground organization Za Vlast, which operated in Ostrava and was involved in the transfer of Czech cadre military personnel (mainly pilots) to the West. However, the captain himself did not want to leave his country. Having gone into an illegal position, he moved to Prague, where he joined the military organization "Defense of the Nation" (Obrana národa), which aimed to prepare an armed uprising against the occupiers. Some Czech authors believe that Captain Pavlik was involved in organizing the assassination by Czech saboteur officers on June 4, 1942. Deputy Imperial Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich, but this fact remains in question. Karel Pavlik also kept in touch with the illegal youth-patriotic "Sokolsk" organization JINDRA.
When in 1942 Hitler's secret police (Geheime Staatspolizei, "Gestapo") seized and coerced one of the JINDRA leaders, Professor Ladislav Vanek, into cooperation, he turned over Karel Pavlik to the invaders. Lured by the provocateur to a meeting and surrounded by the Gestapo, the desperate captain fiercely resisted. Pavlik managed to escape from the trap, but the Nazis let the service dogs follow his trail and overtook him. In the midst of the firefight, the captain's pistol jammed, and he fought off the Gestapo agents hand-to-hand. After interrogation and brutal torture, the Nazis sent the captured Karel Pavlik to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp. There, on January 26, 1943, a sick and emaciated Czech hero was shot and killed by an SS guard for refusing to obey. He remained true to himself to the end - he did not give up.
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After the war, the government of the restored Czechoslovakia posthumously promoted Karel Pavlik to the rank of major (after the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he was awarded the rank of colonel "in memoriam"). A commemorative medal was minted for the participants in the defense of the Chajankovo barracks in 1947, on which, together with the date of foundation of the 8th Silesian Infantry Regiment of the Czechoslovak Army (1918) and the year of issue (1947), there is the date "1939" - the year when they alone tried save the honor of a Czech soldier.
