Losses of Italy According to official Italian figures, before the armistice concluded on September 8, 1943, the Italian armed forces, excluding the losses of local soldiers of the colonial army, lost 66,686 killed and died of wounds, 111,579 missing and died in captivity and 26,081

Losses of Malta Losses of the civilian population of Malta from German-Italian air raids are estimated at 1.5 thousand people. 14 thousand bombs were dropped on the island, about 30 thousand buildings were destroyed and damaged. The relatively small number of victims is due to the fact that the population

Albanian casualties Albanian casualties, both military and civilian, were estimated after the war by the United Nations Relief and Reconstruction Organization at 30,000. In Albania, about 200 Jews were killed by the Nazis. All of them were citizens of Yugoslavia. According to official

Losses of Yugoslavia The losses of Yugoslavia in the Second World War during the time of Tito were officially estimated at 1,706 thousand dead and died of starvation and disease. However, the American Bureau of the Census in 1954 estimated Yugoslavia's military losses at 1,067,000 dead. At the same time, American

Losses of Bulgaria The losses of the Bulgarian troops during the occupational service in Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941-1944, mainly as a result of clashes with local partisans, amounted to about 3 thousand people. According to Bulgarian communists, more than 15,000

Greek losses According to the official Greek data of the National Council for Reparations, the losses of the Greek armed forces amounted to 13,327 dead, 62,663 wounded and 1,290 missing during the Italo-Greek war of 1940-1941, 1,100 dead in the Greek units,

Finnish losses In the Soviet-Finnish, or Winter, war in November 1939 - March 1940, the Finnish army lost 18,139 killed, 1,437 died from wounds and diseases, 4,101 missing and 43,557 wounded, surviving, out of 337 thousand people. drafted into the army. Of the 4101 missing 847

Presentation of evidence by the assistant to the chief prosecutor from the USSR L. N. Smirnov under the charge “Crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis in the occupied territories” Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Greece" [Transcript

Losses ... In any feast, to the noise and din of the departed, remember; although they are invisible to us, they see us. (I. G.) ... When I was awarded a higher officer rank, then Seryozha's son and my friend and wife's brother, Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Ruzhitsky Zhanlis Fedorovich, were most happy about this.

This article examines aspects of the participation of the State of Czechoslovakia in World War II, from the beginning of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945.

Czechoslovakia arose from the fragments of Austria-Hungary after the First World War, while the Versailles Treaty freed it from reparations, distributed mainly between Germany and Austria. This allowed the Czechoslovaks to get ahead in industrial development Germany.

The industry of Czechoslovakia, including the military, was one of the most developed in Europe (for example, the Skoda factories in less than a year - from the moment of occupation by Germany and before the start of the war with Poland - produced almost as much military products as in the same time, the entire military industry of Great Britain). The army of Czechoslovakia was excellently armed and relied on powerful fortifications in the Sudetenland. However, it was the Sudetenland that was predominantly populated by Germans, who, in Czechoslovakia, which proclaimed sovereignty, in the words of Ernst Nolte, “were rooted in the opinion that they had suffered injustice on the part of the Czechs, and not on the part of universal historical processes"and tried to defend" their privileged position ", being in fact" the remnants of medieval East German colonization ".

On May 21, the Polish ambassador in Paris, Lukasiewicz, assured the US ambassador to France, Bullitt, that Poland would immediately declare war on the USSR if he tried to send troops through its territory to help Czechoslovakia.

On May 27, in a conversation with the Polish ambassador, French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet stated that "Goering's plan for the division of Czechoslovakia between Germany and Hungary with the transfer of Cieszyn Silesia to Poland is not a secret."

September 21 territorial claims Czechoslovakia was presented with ultimatums by Poland and Hungary, concentrating their troops along the border. Soviet troops on the western borders of the USSR were brought into combat readiness to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia.

Keitel was asked at the Nuremberg Trials: "Would Germany have attacked Czechoslovakia in 1938 if the Western powers had supported Prague?"

The answer was: “Of course not. We were not strong enough from a military point of view. The goal of Munich (i.e. reaching an agreement in Munich) was to push Russia out of Europe, buy time and complete the armament of Germany.

The territory of Czechoslovakia was reduced by 38%, the country turned into a narrow and long, easily vulnerable state, which later became a protectorate of Germany. German troops were 30 km from Prague. In addition, on December 3, 1938, a secret agreement was concluded with Czechoslovakia, according to which she could not "keep fortifications and barriers on the border with Germany." The fate of the remaining territory of the country was thus a foregone conclusion.

Meanwhile, in Czechoslovakia, a serious conflict was brewing between the Slovak nationalists and the Prague government, which was used by Hitler as a pretext for the annexation of the "Remainder of the Czech Republic" (German: Rest-Tschechei).

In exile in London with the outbreak of World War II, Edvard Beneš, the second president of Czechoslovakia, created government of Czechoslovakia in exile, which enjoyed the support of the anti-Hitler coalition (since the USA and the USSR joined it). [ ]

The quick and successful annexation of the relatively small but strategically important and economically significant Czechoslovakia, with its large (23.5%) German population, created the impression of an easy victory and encouraged Adolf Hitler to continue his offensive against the countries of Central Europe.

The population of Bohemia and Moravia was mobilized as a labor force, which was supposed to work for the victory of Germany. Special departments were organized to manage industry. Czechs were required to work in coal mines, in metallurgy and in the manufacture of armaments; part of the youth was sent to Germany. Nevertheless, as the German researcher Detlef Brandes notes. , mining iron ore remained at the pre-war level, work on the opening and preparation of deposits was abandoned, the machines were overloaded; by 1944, production capacity had increased by only 18%.

During the first months of the occupation, German rule was relatively moderate. The actions of the Gestapo were directed mainly against Czech politicians and intellectuals. Nonetheless, .

The deportation of Jews to concentration camps was organized, and a ghetto was organized in the town of Terezin. In June 1942, after Heydrich's death, Colonel-General of Police, SS-Oberstgruppenführer Kurt Daluege was appointed his successor.

On February 14, 1945, 60 US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft dropped 152 bombs on the most densely populated areas of Prague. More than a hundred unique historical buildings, dozens of important engineering and industrial facilities, 701 were killed and 1184 people were injured.

The spontaneous resistance of the citizens of Czechoslovakia to the German occupation and the creation of the first underground organizations on the territory of Czechoslovakia and beyond its borders began shortly after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. So, on October 28, 1939, on the 21st anniversary of the declaration of independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918, protests against the occupation took place in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Kladno, which were suppressed. German troops opened fire on the demonstrators. On November 15, 1939, medical student Jan Opletal, who was wounded on October 28, died, his death caused student demonstrations. In response, the occupying authorities launched mass arrests: politicians, public figures, 1,800 students and teachers were arrested. On November 17, all universities and colleges in the protectorate were closed, nine student leaders were executed, hundreds of people were sent to concentration camps.

Representatives various organizations and associations of Czechoslovak emigrants in their activities focused on various states and political forces:

Anti-fascist resistance in Czechoslovakia took various forms, the forms of passive resistance (boycott, failure to comply with the orders of the occupation administration), as well as strikes, anti-fascist propaganda and sabotage (in particular, the production of substandard military products) became widespread. So, only during 1939, 25 strikes at 31 industrial enterprises took place on the territory of Czechoslovakia. On July 20, 1941, during the battles for the city of Türi (Estonian SSR), it was noticed that many mines fired by German troops did not explode. When studying them, it was found that instead of explosives, the mines were filled with sand; in one of the mines there was a note " help as much as we can”, written by Czechoslovak workers.

In November 1939, as a result of a series of arrests, the German secret services defeated the "Political Center" ( Politicke ústredi) - an underground organization that united supporters of E. Benes.

In early 1940, the underground anti-fascist organization ÚVOD ( Ústřední výbor odboje domacího).

In February 1940, special "extraordinary courts" were created to hear political cases.

In October 1940 there were protest actions of miners in Gandlova.

In general, in February 1942, the German occupation authorities registered 19 acts of sabotage and sabotage, in March 1942 - 32; in April 1942 - 34; in May 1942 - 51.

In the summer of 1942, in Prague, underground workers set fire to the Czech-Moravian-Kolben-Dansk factory.

In September 1942, underground workers sank barges with cargo for the German army on the Labe River.

In October 1942, a train was derailed on the Prague - Benešov railway, as a result, 27 platforms with tanks were broken.

In the summer of 1943, strikes took place among the workers of the Skoda factories, as well as the textile workers of Žilina and Ružomberok.

In December 1943 the leadership communist party Czechoslovakia and a number of bourgeois underground organizations entered into an agreement on joint activities, as a result, the Slovak National Council was created.

In mid-March 1944, the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and several anti-fascist organizations in the Slovak army entered into an agreement on the coordination of activities.

In 1941, the II regional headquarters of the SOE was created in Cairo, within which a department was created that was responsible for the activities of the British special services on the territory of Czechoslovakia.

Later, the British special services prepared and dropped into the occupied territory of Czechoslovakia several reconnaissance, sabotage and organizational groups:

On July 18, 1941, an agreement was signed between the USSR and the government of E. Benes on the restoration of diplomatic relations and mutual assistance in the fight against Germany, which provided for the creation of Czechoslovak military units on the territory of the USSR. On September 27, 1941, the Soviet-Czechoslovak military agreement was signed.

In October 1943, the formation of the 1st separate Czechoslovak fighter air squadron began in Ivanovo.

On December 30, 1943, the formation of the 2nd Czechoslovak Airborne Brigade began in the area of ​​​​the city of Efremov.

In April 1944, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps was created in Rovno.

In June 1944, the 1st separate Czechoslovak fighter aviation regiment (32 aircraft) was created.

At the end of July 1944, the 1st separate Czechoslovak tank brigade was created (65 tanks, three tank and one motorized infantry battalion).

After the start of the Slovak National Uprising on August 30, 1944, the Deputy Commander of the East Slovak Army, Colonel of the General Staff of Slovakia William Talsky and Major of the Slovak Air Force Trinka flew to the side of the Soviet troops with a group of officers and military personnel of the Slovak army. Together with them, an air group of 27 aircraft of the Slovak air force landed at the location of the Soviet troops (6 Focke-Wulf-189, 3 Messerschmitt-109B and 18 transport aircraft).

In December 1944, a separate mixed Czechoslovak air division was created (two fighter and one attack air regiment, a total of 99 aircraft and 114 pilots).

The USSR provided significant assistance in the creation and maintenance of the activities of the Czechoslovak military units. In total, only during 1944, the USSR handed over to them 9187 rifles and carbines, 5065 submachine guns, 520 light, heavy and anti-aircraft machine guns, 258 anti-tank rifles, 410 guns and mortars, 35 tanks and self-propelled guns, 28 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles, 25 aircraft (excluding training weapons and captured weapons); in addition, only during 1944, 425 Czechoslovak military personnel were trained in ten Soviet military educational institutions.

From the moment of formation until the end of the war in hostilities against Nazi Germany and the satellite countries of the Third Reich, units of the 1st Czechoslovak Corps disabled 30,225 enemy troops, destroyed 156 tanks, 38 aircraft, 221 guns, 274 vehicles and a certain amount of other equipment, seized a significant amount of weapons, equipment and military equipment. The losses of the 1st Czechoslovak Corps amounted to over 11 thousand soldiers who died.

On May 15, 1945, all Czechoslovak units were merged into the 1st Czechoslovak Army.

Citizens of Czechoslovakia took an active part in.

On June 17, 1944, a resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine "On rendering assistance to the Czechoslovak Communist Party in the organization of the partisan movement on the territory of Czechoslovakia" was adopted, in accordance with which the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement began training Czechoslovak cadets and preparing Soviet-Czechoslovak partisan organizing groups for activities in Czechoslovakia. The first groups were transferred to the territory of Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1944. In total, in the period from August 1944 to April 1945, at the request of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 37 partisan organizing groups were transferred from the USSR to the territory of the Czech Republic and Moravia. In February 1944, a Soviet partisan detachment was organized in northern Bohemia. The detachment was called "Konstantin", it was headed by Zhukovsky Konstantin Ivanovich, a native of the Voronezh region. He was in a concentration camp, escaped with a group of comrades, seized a weapon from the guards and disappeared into the forests. He had contact with factory workers. the detachment carried out sabotage in the Sudet region and in the city of Yablonets. In January 1945, there were 300 people in the detachment, the deputy commanders of the detachment were Soviet officers and sergeants of the Red Army. In 1945, the detachment met a sabotage group from the headquarters of Colonel Khan. After the meeting, they jointly led the subversive activities. In April 1945, the Konstantin detachment consisted of 3,000 fighters, of whom there were 6 women. On May 9, 1945, it merged with the 31st Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front. From May 24 to May 30, the partisan detachment and equipment were transferred to the Army at p / p 36595. Zhukovsky K. I. himself was sent for treatment to Prague for 2.5 months, where he prepared a report on the work done to the government of the Czech Republic and in the Central Asia of Moscow NPO USSR. For participation in the restoration of Czechoslovakia from the occupation of Germany during the war years, Zhukovsky was presented with a Skoda-Rapit car from General Vochek. The pass to leave the USSR was signed by the commander of the 88th Infantry Division.

In December 1944, the Soviet-Polish-Slovak partisan brigade named after I. Shchorsa (commander; the brigade included the Soviet partisan detachments named after Shchors, Vzryv and Sokol, as well as the Slovak partisan detachment Liptovsky). Having received information that the Germans began mining the city of Zakopane, the brigade made the transition to the city. On the evening of January 29, 1945, soldiers of the reconnaissance and assault group in civilian clothes entered the city and attacked the commandant's office, while the main forces of the brigade attacked the outskirts of the city. As a result, the German garrison was routed and the city cleared of mines.

On February 14, 1945, 62 US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, each carrying 16,500-pound bombs, . 93 unique historical buildings and some statues on Charles Bridge were destroyed, about 200 were damaged, dozens of important engineering and industrial facilities were damaged, 701 were killed and 1184 people were injured, 11 thousand people were left homeless. Not a single military facility was damaged, and only civilians were among the dead.

As of May 1945, the German Army Group Center was in the Czech Republic with about 900,000 people (1,900 tanks, about 1,000 aircraft and 9,700 guns) under the command of 52-year-old Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner. Despite the fact that Berlin had already capitulated, and Hitler was dead, 200 kilometers east of Prague, the Germans fought stubborn battles with the Soviet troops. The Americans approached Prague at a distance of 80 km.

On May 2, Berlin fell, on the same day, late in the evening, a delegation of Czech officers arrived at the location of the 1st Infantry Division of the KONR, introducing themselves as representatives of the uprising headquarters in Prague and asking for help and support. "The Czech people will never forget that you helped us at a difficult time" they said. Negotiations were held on 3 and 4 May.

On the morning of May 5, the parties came to an agreement on the "joint struggle against fascism and Bolshevism." The Vlasovites were provided with maps of Prague and guides, and white-blue-red armbands were sewn on the sleeves of the servicemen to distinguish them from the Wehrmacht soldiers.

It is probably the calculation for military force The 1st Infantry Division of the KONR prompted the Czech leaders to start a popular uprising against the German occupation on May 5, since the civilian population had practically no weapons.

On May 5, in the morning, following the permission of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to hang out national flags on the streets, the citizens of Prague began to protest against the invaders. The German military units were offered surrender, and the Czech troops and police were asked to join the rebels. The rebels occupied the post office and telegraph, a power station, railway stations with military echelons, including German armored trains, a number of large factories and the German air defense headquarters.

In response, the German police opened fire. The battle begins near the building of the Czech Radio and the construction of barricades in the city, of which more than 1600 were arranged. The commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the KONR, Major General Sergei Bunyachenko, ordered to support the uprising. 18,000 people moved into battle against yesterday's allies, capturing the airfield of Luftwaffe bombers in Ruzyn and the Prague region of Smichov, taking control of two bridges across the Vltava. On May 7, the Vlasovites broke into the center of Prague and cut through the German grouping on the left bank of the Vltava. Taking Mount Petřín and the Kuliszowice area, they captured about 10,000 Wehrmacht soldiers.

Upon learning of the uprising, Schörner begins an urgent transfer of reinforcements to the city.

On May 6, German SS units and three panzer divisions approached Prague. Pilot Heinrich Höffner dropped a bomb on the radio building. The Germans, with the help of tanks and aircraft, again captured part of Prague. The rebels suffered heavy losses, which forced them to turn on the radio "to all who hear them" for help. The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of General Ivan Stepanovich Konev at that moment were 200 km from the city, the Americans 80 km. But the Americans were not going to help.

On May 7, at 14:30, one of the last German bombs was dropped on the Mala Strana area. On the same evening, a German plane dropped a bomb on the Kinsky Palace on Old Town Square, next to which was the headquarters of the rebels.

In total, during the Prague operation, the losses of the Red Army amounted to 11997 people killed and 40501 wounded, material losses amounted to 373 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1006 artillery mounts and 80 aircraft.

Soviet troops were withdrawn from the territory of Czechoslovakia after the war, in November 1945

In the late 1920s and 1930s, Germany did not have to strain its strength, as we did, creating new industries, building factories and blast furnaces, opening hundreds of institutes. She occupied the industrial countries and forced them to work for herself.

Just one fact: the weapons that Germany captured in the defeated countries were enough to form 200 divisions. No, this is not a mistake: 200 divisions. We have in western districts there were 170 divisions. It took the USSR several five-year plans to provide them with weapons. In France, after its defeat, the Germans immediately seized up to 5,000 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 3,000 aircraft, and 5,000 locomotives. In Belgium, they appropriated half of the rolling stock for the needs of their economy and war, etc.

But the main thing, of course, is not seized weapons, not trophies.

In March 1939, Czechoslovakia, which had a combat-ready army and a developed industry, became a special prize for Germany. Back in 1938, during Munich agreement, according to which Czechoslovakia undertook to transfer the Sudetenland to Germany, Hitler warned the British Prime Minister N. Chamberlain and the French head of government E. Deladier that, following the Sudetenland, all of Czechoslovakia would soon be occupied. But Deladier and Chamberlain did not lift a finger to protect the interests of this country. It must be admitted that the Czechoslovak leaders, having a modern army for those times, were able to offer powerful resistance to Germany, but slavishly handed over their country to the mercy of Hitler. And Czechoslovakia was a tasty morsel for preparing for a future war. The weight of the country in the world arms market of those years was 40%. In this small country, 130,000 rifles, 200 guns, and about 5,000 different machine guns were produced every month ... Only at the expense of Czechoslovakia, the German Air Force increased by 72%, receiving 1,582 aircraft. Tank units of Germany added 486 tanks produced at Czechoslovak plants to their 720. As a result, Hitler, at the expense of Czechoslovakia alone, was able to arm and equip 50 divisions. In addition, fascist Germany received in addition the gold reserves (80 tons) of this country, as well as the people who meekly worked for the criminal Nazi regime all the years of the war. A particularly large contribution to the production of guns, trucks, tanks was made by the factories of the well-known Skoda company. From the beginning of the war, German soldiers fought on Czech tanks in Poland, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and then in the USSR ...

Ribbentrop, Chamberlain and Hitler during negotiations in Munich, where the fate of Czechoslovakia was decided

Only from 1933 to 1939, during the six years that Hitler was in power, the size of the German army increased 40 times. Despite the Versailles agreements, the leaders of Great Britain and France stubbornly did not notice this ... And the strengthening of the military-technical potential of Germany after the swift victories of the Wehrmacht in 1939-1940. the economies of France, Holland, Belgium, Norway also contributed... Even neutral Sweden and Switzerland supplied the German military industry with iron ore for steel production and precision instruments... Spain supplied a significant amount of oil and petroleum products... The industry of almost all of Europe worked for the military machine of Hitler, who 30 June 1941 stated that he viewed the war with the USSR as a joint European war against Russia.

W. Churchill wrote, for example, about Czechoslovakia after the war: “There is no doubt that due to the fall of Czechoslovakia we lost forces equal to approximately 35 divisions. In addition, the Skoda factories, the second most important arsenal in Central Europe, fell into the hands of the enemy, which in the period from August 1938 to September 1939 produced almost as much production as all British factories produced during the same time.

This arsenal, far from being the only one in Europe, worked for the Nazi army until the end of 1944. And how it worked! Every fifth tank delivered to the Wehrmacht troops in the first half of 1941 was manufactured at the Skoda factories.

Czech enterprises, according to German - and one must think, accurate! - data, constantly increased military production. In 1944, for example, they shipped 300,000 rifles, 3,000 machine guns, 625,000 artillery shells, and 100 self-propelled artillery pieces to Germany every month. In addition, tanks, tank guns, Me-109 aircraft, aircraft engines, etc.

In Poland, 264 large, 9 thousand medium and 76 thousand small enterprises worked for Germany.

Denmark covered the needs of the German civilian population in butter by 10 percent, in meat by 20 percent, and in fresh fish by 90 percent. And, of course, the Danish industry fulfilled all German orders.

France (41 million people), led by Laval's collaborationist government, and French entrepreneurs willingly cooperated with the Germans, were their main supplier. By the beginning of the war with the USSR, 1.6 million people were employed in the French defense industry, which worked for the Wehrmacht. According to incomplete German data, by January 1944 they supplied Germany with about 4,000 aircraft, about 10,000 aircraft. aircraft engines, 52 thousand trucks. The entire locomotive industry and 95 percent of the machine tool industry worked only for Germany.

Belgium and Holland supplied the Germans with coal, pig iron, iron, manganese, zinc, etc.

The most interesting thing is that all the occupied countries, controlled by collaborators, did not require payment in cash. They were promised to be paid after the victorious - for the Germans - end of the war. They all worked for Hitler for free.

In addition, these countries also helped Germany by taking on the costs of maintaining the German occupation troops. France, for example, from the summer of 1940, allocated 20 million German marks daily, and from the autumn of 1942 - 25 million each. These funds were enough not only to ensure German troops everything necessary, but also for the preparation and conduct of the war against the USSR. In total, European countries "donated" Germany for these purposes more than 80 billion marks (of which France - 35 billion).

And what about the neutral countries - Sweden and Switzerland? And they worked for Germany. The Swedes supplied bearings, iron ore, steel, rare earth elements. They actually fed the German military-industrial complex until the end of 1944. The rapid advance of the Germans on Leningrad was due, in particular, to "lock up" our navy and secure the supply of Swedish steel and ore. Through the Swedish "neutral" ports for Germany, there were significant supplies from Latin America. Our military intelligence reported, for example, that from January to October 1942, more than 6 million tons of various cargoes, mainly strategic raw materials, were imported to Germany through Swedish ports. Unlike the occupied countries, Sweden made good money in the war. How? Such data has not yet been published. The Swedes have something to be ashamed of. Like the Swiss. The latter supplied precision instruments, and Swiss banks were used to pay for badly needed purchases in Latin America.

It would be interesting to compare in detail what Germany received from the occupied, allied and neutral countries of Europe (and, as it turned out, mostly for free) with the amount of American aid to the Soviet Union (we paid for it). It turns out that there is neither a total figure for European aid to Hitler, nor individual countries. Only fragmentary data. For the Germans, even judging by one Skoda, this help was extremely important. As for us, for example, the supply of American "Studebakers" after the Battle of Stalingrad, which made the Red Army mobile and maneuverable. But, I repeat, historians do not have complete data on Germany's assistance. And she, judging by the available data, was huge. The four-volume book "World Wars of the 20th Century" gives the following figures: after the capture of Europe from Germany, the industrial potential doubled, and the agricultural potential tripled.

Europe helped Hitler not only with its arsenals. A number of Catholic bishops were quick to call the invasion of the USSR a "European crusade." 5 million soldiers broke into our territory in the summer of 1941. 900 thousand of them are not Germans, but their allies. In addition to Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, and Finland declared war on us. Spain and Denmark did not declare war, but they sent their soldiers. The Bulgarians did not fight with us, but put forward 12 divisions against the Yugoslav and Greek partisans, and thus made it possible for the Germans to transport part of their troops from the Balkans to the Eastern Front.

It was in the summer of 1941 that 900,000 Europeans opposed us. In general, during the war, this figure increased to 2 million people. In our captivity were Czechs (70 thousand), Poles (60 thousand), French (23 thousand) and further down the line Belgians, Luxembourgers and ... even neutral Swedes.

This is a special topic or a special conversation, why the Europeans were so willing to help Hitler in the war against the USSR. Anti-communism undoubtedly played a significant role. But not the only one and, perhaps, not the main one. Perhaps this topic should be returned separately.

And finally, European countries helped Germany to eliminate the ever-increasing shortage of its labor force due to the conscription of Germans in the army. According to incomplete data, 875.9 thousand workers were delivered from France to German factories, from Belgium and Holland - half a million each, from Norway - 300 thousand, from Denmark - 70 thousand. This made it possible for Germany to mobilize almost a quarter of its population, and they, like soldiers, in all respects were head and shoulders above their allies - Italians, Romanians or Slovaks.

All this taken together ensured a significant superiority of Germany at the initial stage of the war, and then made it possible for her to hold out until May 1945.

But what about the resistance movement? A number of Russian authors believe that its role and significance in the occupied industrial countries Western Europe extremely bloated. To some extent, this is understandable: it was important to emphasize in those years that we were not alone in the struggle. V. Kozhinov, for example, cites the following figures: almost 300 thousand members of the Resistance died in Yugoslavia, 20 thousand in France, whose population was 2.5 times larger, and about 50 thousand French died in the ranks of the German army. Isn't the comparison of these losses saying nothing? Is it by chance that the Germans kept 10 divisions in Yugoslavia? Of course, the heroism of the French participants in the Resistance is undeniable and the memory of him is sacred. But try to put on one side of the scale all the damage that they inflicted on the Nazis, and on the other - all the real help that the European countries obligingly provided to Germany. Which bowl will overwhelm?

No, the question should be put more broadly, answered historians. Take the first two weeks of the war in France and the USSR. Already on the fifth day of the war, the real war that began on May 10, 1940, and not the one that the Germans called "sitting", the Americans and the British - "strange", when there was simply no fighting, the new French Prime Minister Reine called Churchill and said, "We have failed." Churchill immediately flew to Paris, hoping to lift the spirit of the allied government. But he didn't succeed. Did the French troops try to get out of the encirclement, did they have their own Brest fortress, their own Smolensk battle? His heroic battles surrounded near Vyazma? Did the Parisians come out to dig anti-tank ditches? Has anyone called them to action? Offered a wrestling program? No, the leadership - both civilian and military - led France to become a collaborator and work for Germany throughout the war. The country has lost its honor. For the most part, the French fled to the south and west, they did not want to fight, the main thing was to save their wallets. De Gaulle called out to them from London, but only hundreds of people responded.

It is believed that on June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union. In fact, this is not entirely true, several countries started a war against the USSR, among them:

Romania - about 200 thousand soldiers,
Slovakia - 90 thousand soldiers,
Finland - about 450 thousand soldiers and officers,
Hungary - about 500 thousand people,
Italy - 200 thousand people,
Croatia as part of the security division

And these are only those countries that have officially declared war on the Soviet Union. According to various sources, from one and a half to two and a half million volunteers who fought in parts of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS took part in this "crusade" against the USSR.

These were representatives of such countries as: Holland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg. As in the Patriotic War of 1812, the whole of Europe took up arms against Russia.

The famous American historian George G. Stein in his book "Waffen SS" describes the national composition of these units:

the Dutch - 50 thousand people, the Belgians - 20 thousand people, the French - 20 thousand people, the Danes and Norwegians - 6 thousand people each, 1200 people each from Sweden, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and other European countries.

Of the European SS volunteers, one of the best divisions of the Reich, the Viking, consisted. The name symbolized that representatives of the Aryan peoples of Nordic blood were gathered in its ranks.

So on March 10, 1942, the Norwegian Legion was transferred to the Leningrad Front, he helped keep the city in the blockade ring until the spring of 1943. But due to heavy losses, most of the legionnaires refused to renew the contract, and were replaced by the Latvian SS legion on the orders of Himmler.

The blockade of Leningrad can generally be considered a pan-European enterprise. In addition to the Norwegians, the Netherlands Legion, a Belgian battalion, operated near Volkhov. Spanish volunteers from the Blue Division fought here, from the north Leningrad was besieged by Finnish and Swedish troops, Italian sailors were preparing for battles on Ladoga.

The German historian Müller-Hillebrandt, who during the war was a major general in the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, recalls that many Frenchmen who the Germans refused to enlist in their armed forces were greatly offended.

It all started with the fact that Heinrich Himmler had a conflict with the leadership of the Wehrmacht due to the fact that he tried to take the best for his SS units. The best in terms of physical fitness, health, intellectual state. He really selected the guards, and the Wehrmacht got, as his leadership considered, the second grade, so to speak.

After the army generals "complained" to Hitler, a limit was set for Himmler to call up Germans to the guard units. But Himmler quickly found a way out, he began to recruit representatives of the so-called Volksdeutsch, Germans living outside Germany, into his units. It could be Germans from Holland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, and anywhere.

“I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as a leader, to be loyal and brave. I vow to obey you and the chief appointed by you until death. And so help me God.” This is a fragment of the oath of European volunteers of the Waffen SS upon entry into service.

Unlike the oath that the Germans took, the text did not mention Hitler as Chancellor of the Reich, this is a kind of psychological trick that this is not a service in the ranks of the German occupiers, but in the pan-European parts of the SS.

Among the Alpine riflemen, there were also not only Germans, there were twelve mountain rifle divisions in total, of which two were Austrian, one was from Yugoslav Germans, one was from Bosnian Muslims, another consisted of Albanians, and another included both Austrians and Norwegians. So we can assume that every second German mountain shooter was born outside the borders of the Third Reich in 1937.

Such a large number of volunteers from the European countries captured by Hitler is explained by many reasons, this is the racial theory that was fashionable in Europe at that time and the bright successes of the National Socialist ideology, and simply the desire to profit.

According to Himmler's plans, the racially inferior peoples of the USSR were to be thrown back beyond the Urals, and their numbers were reduced several times. Aryans of Nordic blood were to settle in the occupied territories of the eastern lands.

The Second World War is unique of all wars, never before in history have there been similar cases of mass transition of citizens of the conquered countries to the service of the invaders. Almost a large part of the population voluntarily became under the Nazi banners.

Not only the armed formations of the European Waffen SS and foreign units of the Wehrmacht took part in the war against the USSR, the entire industry of Europe also worked for the military machine of the Third Reich. In the early years of the war, almost every second shell was cast from Swedish ore.

In the summer of 1941, every fourth tank in the German army was Czech or French. Germany won its first victories largely thanks to Scandinavian iron and Swiss optics for sights.

Few people know that the most powerful tank Wehrmacht during the attack on the USSR was the French B2. Half of the super-heavy guns that shelled Leningrad and Sevastopol were produced in France and the Czech Republic.

In 1938, in Munich, representatives of England and France treacherously gave Hitler Czechoslovakia. If not for this collusion, Germany, for economic reasons, might not have been able to start a full-scale war.

The Czech defense industry was at that time one of the largest in Europe. From its factories, the Reich received more than one and a half million rifles and pistols, about 4 thousand guns and mortars, over 6600 tanks and self-propelled guns.

Of particular importance for Germany was the supply of raw materials. American oil companies, through their subsidiaries in Latin America, handed Hitler gasoline to the tune of several tens of millions of dollars. Rockefeller's Standard Oil supplied the Third Reich with fuel, lubricants and fuel worth $20 million.

Henry Ford, a big admirer of Hitler, had branches of his enterprises in Germany, which, until the very end of the war, supplied the Germans with very good trucks, only about 40 thousand units. For America, war has become good business.

It is worth noting that in the occupied territory of the USSR, the Germans, out of 32 thousand enterprises, were able to launch only two hundred. They gave products three times less than a country like Poland.

“If we see that Germany is winning, we must help Russia. And if Russia wins, we must help Germany. And let them kill each other in this way as much as possible. All this is for the good of America ”This statement was made on June 24, 1941 future president USA Harry Truman, American newspaper The New York Times.

In 2000, in connection with its use of slave labor, Nestle paid more than $14.5 million to the appropriate fund to settle the claims of victims of its actions and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as Jewish organizations. The firm acknowledged that in 1947 it acquired a company that used forced labor during the war years, and also stated: “There is no doubt or it can be assumed that some corporations from the Nestle group operating in countries controlled by the National Socialist (Nazi) regime, exploited forced laborers. Nestle in Switzerland in 1939 provided cash assistance to the Nazi Party, winning a lucrative contract to supply chocolate to the needs of the entire German army during World War II.

Allianz

Allianz is considered the twelfth largest financial services company in the world. It is not surprising that, having been founded in 1890 in Germany, it was the largest insurer in it when the Nazis came to power. As such, she quickly became involved with the Nazi regime. Its leader, Kurt Schmitt, was also Hitler's minister of economics, and the company provided insurance for Auschwitz facilities and personnel. Her CEO responsible for the practice of paying insurance compensation for Jewish property destroyed as a result of Kristallnacht to the Nazi state instead of the eligible beneficiaries. In addition, the company worked closely with the Nazi state to track the life insurance policies of German Jews sent to the death camps, and during the war it insured property taken from the same Jewish population for the benefit of the Nazis.

Novartis

Although Bayer is infamous for having started out as a division of the manufacturer of Zyklon B gas, which was used by the Nazis in gas chambers, it is not the only pharmaceutical company with skeletons in the closet. Swiss chemical companies Ciba and Sandoz merged to form Novartis, best known for its drug Ritalin. In 1933, the Berlin branch of Ciba terminated all Jewish members of its board of directors and replaced them with more "acceptable" Aryan cadres; in the meantime, Sandoz was busy with a similar activity for its chairman. During the war, companies produced dyes, drugs, and chemicals for the Nazis. Novartis frankly admitted its guilt and tried to make amends in a way typical of other accomplice companies - by donating $ 15 million to the Swiss Nazi Compensation Fund.

BMW admitted to using 30,000 unskilled forced laborers during the war. These POWs, forced laborers and concentration camp inmates produced engines for the Luftwaffe and thus were forced to help the regime defend themselves against those who were trying to save them. During the war, BMW concentrated exclusively on the production of aircraft and motorcycles, with no claim to anything other than being a supplier of military vehicles for the Nazis.

Reemtsma

Reemtsma was founded in 1910 in Erfurt, Germany. In 1918, production was automated. In 1923 production was moved to Altona, now part of the city of Hamburg.

During Hitler's time, despite the NSDAP's official anti-tobacco policy, the company prospered. In 1937, the company owned 60% of the country's cigarette market. In 1939, Philipp F. Reemtsma was appointed head of the Fachuntergruppe Zigarettenindustrie (the cigarette department of the Wehrwirtschaftsführer, an association of companies that worked for the front).

In 1948, the company's activities were resumed, and in 1980 the Tchibo coffee company became the owner of the majority of the shares, which sold its share in 2002 to Imperial Tobacco. It is noteworthy that now the Reemtsma company has representative offices in Kyiv and Volgograd, near which the Battle of Stalingrad took place.

The history of the Nivea brand dates back to 1890, when a businessman named Oskar Troplowitz bought the Beiersdorf company from its founder.

In the 1930s, the brand positioned itself as a product for active life and sports. The main products were protective creams and shaving products. During World War II, Ellie Hayes Knapp, who became First Lady under Theodore Hayes, was in charge of the advertising part of the brand. According to her, in her advertising campaigns she tried to bypass the militaristic component, focusing on displaying an active life in peaceful circumstances. However, sports smiling girls from Nivea posters could inspire the Wehrmacht fighters no less, if not better, than Hitler's mustachioed face from NSDAP posters.

It is noteworthy that during the war, several countries at war with Germany appropriated the rights to the trademark. The process of buying up the rights by Beiersdorf was completed only in 1997.

Maggi was founded in 1872 in Switzerland by Julius Maggi. The entrepreneur was the first to enter the market with ready-made soups. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded Maggi GmbH in the German city of Singen, where it is still based today. The rise to power of the Nazis had almost no effect on business. In the 1930s, the company became a supplier of semi-finished products for the German troops.

Given that none of the management of the organization was seen in a particularly active political life, the brand has retained itself and continues to delight. This time also residents of the ex-USSR.

And what about our neutrals then?

“... In the very first days of the war, a German division was passed through the territory of Sweden for operations in Northern Finland. However, the Prime Minister of Sweden, the Social Democrat P. A. Hansson, immediately promised the Swedish people that not a single German division would be allowed through the territory of Sweden and that the country would in no way enter the war against the USSR. Sweden took over the representation of the interests of the USSR in Germany, and yet through Sweden the transit of German military materials to Finland unfolded; German transport ships transported troops there, hiding in territorial waters Sweden, and until the winter of 1942/43 they were accompanied by a convoy of the Swedish naval forces. The Nazis achieved the supply of Swedish goods on credit and their transportation mainly on Swedish ships ... "

“... It was Swedish iron ore that was the best raw material for Hitler. After all, this ore contained 60 percent of pure iron, while the ore obtained by the German military machine from other places contained only 30 percent iron. It is clear that the production of military equipment from metal smelted from Swedish ore was much cheaper for the treasury of the Third Reich.

In 1939, the same year when Nazi Germany unleashed the Second World War, 10.6 million tons of Swedish ore were supplied to it. Wow! After April 9, that is, when Germany had already conquered Denmark and Norway, the supply of ore increased significantly. In 1941, 45,000 tons of Swedish ore were supplied daily by sea for the needs of the German military industry. Little by little, Sweden's trade with Nazi Germany increased and, in the end, amounted to 90 percent of all Swedish foreign trade. From 1940 to 1944, the Swedes sold over 45 million tons of iron ore to the Nazis.

The Swedish port of Luleå was specially converted to supply iron ore to Germany through the waters of the Baltic. (And only Soviet submarines after June 22, 1941 at times caused the Swedes great inconvenience, torpedoing Swedish transports, in the holds of which this ore was transported). The supply of ore to Germany continued almost until the moment when the Third Reich had already begun, figuratively speaking, to expire. Suffice it to say that back in 1944, when the outcome of the Second World War was no longer in doubt, the Germans received 7.5 million tons of iron ore from Sweden. Until August 1944, Sweden received Nazi gold through Swiss banks.

In other words, the Norschensflammann wrote, “Swedish iron ore ensured the Germans success in the war. And that was a bitter fact for all Swedish anti-fascists.”

However, the Swedish iron ore came to the Germans not only in the form of raw materials.

The world-famous SKF concern, which produced the best ball bearings on the planet, supplied these, not so, at first glance, cunning technical mechanisms to Germany. As many as ten percent of the ball bearings received by Germany came from Sweden, according to Norschensflammann. Anyone, even a person completely inexperienced in military affairs, understands what ball bearings mean for the production of military equipment. Why, without them, not a single tank will move from its place, not a single submarine will go to sea! Note that Sweden, as noted by Norschensflammann, produced bearings of "special quality and technical characteristics" that Germany could not obtain from anywhere else. The import of bearings from Sweden became especially important for Germany when the VKF bearing factory in Schweinfurt was destroyed in 1943. In 1945, the economist and economic adviser Per Jakobsson provided information that helped disrupt the supply of Swedish bearings to Japan.

Let's think: how many lives were cut short because formally neutral Sweden provided fascist Germany with strategic and military products, without which the flywheel of the Nazi military mechanism would continue to spin, of course, but certainly not with such high speed how was it?

In the autumn of 1941, that very cruel autumn when the existence of the entire Soviet state was at stake (and, consequently, the fate of the peoples inhabiting it), King Gustav V Adolf of Sweden sent Hitler a letter in which he wished "the dear Reich Chancellor further success in the fight against Bolshevism…”

Sweden received even more military orders after the outbreak of World War II. And basically these were orders for Nazi Germany. Neutral Sweden became one of the main economic pillars of the national Reich. Suffice it to say that only in 1943, out of 10.8 million tons of iron ore mined, 10.3 million tons were sent to Germany from Sweden. Until now, few people know that one of the main tasks of the ships of the Navy of the Soviet Union that fought on In the Baltic, there was not only a fight against fascist ships, but also the destruction of the ships of neutral Sweden, which were carrying cargo for the Nazis.

Well, what did the Nazis pay with the Swedes for the goods received from them? Only by the fact that they looted in the territories they occupied and, most of all, in the Soviet occupied territories. The Germans had almost no other resources for settlements with Sweden. So, when you are once again told about "Swedish happiness", remember who and at whose expense the Swedes paid for it.

The war in Europe was more political influence and for the control of territories, the war on eastern front, was a war of annihilation and survival, these are absolutely two different wars, they just took place at the same time.

Civilized Europe always diligently erases from the history of the Second World War these shameful facts of its cooperation with the most bloody and inhuman regime of the twentieth century, and this is the truth about the war that needs to be known and remembered.

19th-century English publicist T. J. Dunning:

Capital ... avoids noise and scolding and has a timid nature. This is true, but it is not the whole truth. Capital is afraid of no profit or too little profit, just as nature is afraid of the void. But once sufficient profits are available, capital becomes bold. Provide 10 percent and capital is ready for any use, at 20 percent it becomes lively, at 50 percent it is positively ready to break its head, at 100 percent it defies all human laws, at 300 percent there is no crime that it would not risk, even under pain of the gallows. If noise and scolding are profitable, capital will contribute to both. Proof: smuggling and the slave trade

background

In 1918, the First Czechoslovak Republic (hereinafter - Czechoslovakia) was created. According to the 1930 census, the total population of Czechoslovakia was 14.5 million, of which 9.7 million were Czechoslovaks and 3.2 million were Germans. It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of Czechoslovakian Germans lived compactly in the Sudetenland.

As a result of the natural loss (after the proclamation of the sovereignty of the Czech Republic) of their privileged position, which the Germans had in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the psychological conviction became widespread among them that they were under the yoke of the Slavic population of the Czech Republic. Adolf Hitler, who proclaimed irredentism (the policy of uniting the nation within the framework of united state) one of its main tasks, provided significant support to the Czech Germans.

The main and only political organization of the Czech Germans was the Sudeto-German Party, led by Konrad Henlein. At first, the party had a negative attitude towards the idea of ​​National Socialism, but gradually fell under the influence of the NSDAP and became the fifth column of the Third Reich in Czechoslovakia. In the May 1935 parliamentary elections, the Sudeten German Party received 68% of the Sudeten German vote.

In March 1938, the Anschluss of Austria to Germany took place, which encouraged the Sudeten Germans. In May, Henlein and his people activate pro-German propaganda, put forward a demand for a referendum on the accession of the Sudetenland to Germany, and on May 22, the day of the municipal elections, they prepare an uprising in order to turn these elections into a plebiscite. This provoked the first Sudeten Crisis. Partial mobilization took place in Czechoslovakia, troops were brought into the Sudetenland and occupied border fortifications. At the same time, the USSR and France declared support for the Czechoslovakia. Even Italy, an ally of Germany, protested against the forceful resolution of the crisis. An attempt to tear off the Sudetenland, relying on the separatist movement of the Sudeten Germans, failed.

Hitler offered Poland Cieszyn Silesia from Czechoslovakia. 80 thousand Poles and 120 thousand Czechs lived in Cieszyn Silesia. Poland took anti-Czech and anti-Soviet positions.

In early September 1938, armed clashes between the Sudeten Germans and the Czechs took place, which were frankly provocative. The whole of September was spent in negotiations and consultations of the leaders of the world powers, mainly bilateral ones. As a result, the political situation is as follows:

• The Soviet Union is ready to provide concrete military assistance to Czechoslovakia under two conditions: if Czechoslovakia asks Moscow for such assistance, and if it itself defends itself against the military intervention of the Third Reich.
• Poland's position was expressed in statements that in the event of a German attack on Czechoslovakia, it would not intervene and would not let the Red Army through its territory, in addition, it would immediately declare war on the Soviet Union if it tried to send troops through Polish territory.
• France and Britain declared: “If the Czechs unite with the Russians, the war may take on the character crusade against the Bolsheviks. Then it will be very difficult for the governments of France and Britain to stand aside.”

The USSR turned out to be the only power that was ready to provide real military assistance to Czechoslovakia. And this is despite the fact that the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic took an anti-Soviet position for a long time and only in 1934 did it achieve international legal recognition of the USSR (Great Britain and France did this in 1924, the USA in 1933).

Munich agreement

September 29, 1938 in Munich, at the initiative of Hitler, he meets with the heads of government of Great Britain, France and Italy. Contrary to Hitler's promise, the Czechoslovakia representatives were not admitted to the discussion; they waited in the next room. The USSR was not invited to the meeting. On September 30, at one in the morning, Chamberlain, Daladier, Mussolini and Hitler signed the Munich Agreement. After that, the Czechoslovakia delegation was allowed into the hall. After reviewing the main points of the agreement, the representatives of the Czechoslovakia protested, but, ultimately, under pressure from the leadership of Britain and France, they signed an agreement on the transfer of the Sudetenland to Germany. In the morning, President Benes, without the consent of the National Assembly, accepted this agreement for execution, and on October 5, he resigned.

The note. Later, Germany established a medal for irredentism "In memory of October 1, 1938", which was awarded to troops participating in the annexation of the Sudetenland. On the reverse side of the medal, the inscription "One people, one state, one leader" was placed in the center.

It is important to take into account that from a military point of view it was impossible to successfully defend the territory of the Czech Republic because of the extremely unfortunate geographical shape of the Czech Republic. After the Anschluss of Austria, the Czech lands were surrounded by Germany on three sides. Caricatures of that time depicted the Czech lands in the mouth of a predatory German beast. In the event of hostilities, the danger also came from Hungary, which claimed the territories densely populated by ethnic Hungarians, lost under the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. According to the 1930 census, 700,000 Hungarians lived in Czechoslovakia.

By this time, a serious conflict had already matured in Czechoslovakia between the Slovak nationalists and the Prague government. It was this conflict that was used by Hitler as a pretext for the final division of the state. On October 7, 1938, under pressure from Germany, the Czechoslovak government decides to grant autonomy to Slovakia, and on October 8, to Subcarpathian Rus.

On November 2, 1938, Hungary, by decision of the First Vienna Arbitration, received the southern regions of Slovakia and part of Subcarpathian Rus.

On March 14, 1939, the parliament of the autonomy of Slovakia decided on the withdrawal of Slovakia from the Czech Republic and the formation of the Slovak Republic, loyal to Germany.

Interesting fact. In February 1938 in Prague at the World Hockey Championship in the match for third place, the Czechoslovak team defeated the German team with a score of 3: 0.

Occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. Protectorate

On the night of March 14-15, 1439, Emil Hacha (the new president of the Czech Republic) was summoned to Berlin, where Hitler offered him to agree to the German occupation of the Czech lands, then "the entry of German troops will take place in a tolerable manner." Otherwise, "Czech resistance will be broken by force of arms using all means." As a result, Hakha signed a communique, the text of which read: “... The President of the Czech Republic declared that ... he is ready to entrust the fate of the Czech people and the country itself into the hands of the Fuhrer and the German Reich. The Führer listened to this statement and expressed his intention to take the Czech people under the protection of the German Reich and guarantee them an autonomous development in accordance with national traditions.

March 15, 1939 Germany brought troops into the territory of Bohemia and Moravia and declared a protectorate over them (a form of interstate relations in which one state is under the protection of another). The Czech army offered no resistance to the invaders. The only exception is the 40-minute battle of the company of Captain Karel Pavlik in the city of Frydek-Mistek.

Germany received significant stocks of weapons from the former Czechoslovak army, which made it possible to equip 9 infantry divisions, as well as Czech military factories. Before the attack on the USSR, five out of 21 Wehrmacht tank divisions were equipped with Czechoslovak-made tanks.

In May 1939, Czechoslovakian gold, placed in British banks, was transferred to Prague at the request of the protectorate government and subsequently ended up in the hands of the German Reich.

The Protectorate was an autonomous Nazi territory that the German government considered part of the German Reich. The first protector was Constantine von Neurath. The formal post of president of the protectorate, which was occupied by Emil Hacha throughout its existence, and the post of chairman of the government, which changed several politicians, also remained. The personnel of departments similar to ministries were staffed by officials from Germany.

During the first months of the occupation, German rule was moderate. The actions of the Gestapo were directed mainly against Czech politicians and intellectuals. The population of the protectorate was mobilized as a labor force that worked for the victory of Germany. Special departments were created to manage industry. The production of consumer goods was reduced, a significant part of them was sent to supply the German armed forces. The supply of the Czech population was subjected to strict rationing.

On October 28, 1939, on the 21st anniversary of Czechoslovakia's independence, a demonstration against the occupation took place in Prague, which was brutally suppressed. The baker's assistant Václav Sedlacek was shot and wounded in the stomach by Jan Opletal (a medical student at Charles University, who died of peritonitis on 11 November).

On November 15, thousands of students took part in the funeral of Jan Opletal, their gatherings turned into new wave anti-Hitler demonstrations. Protector von Neurath used student unrest as an excuse to close all Czech universities and introduce other repressive measures. Over 1,200 students were sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and nine students and activists were executed. November 17, 1939.

In 1941, in memory of the tragic events, November 17 was declared International Students' Day, and in 2000 in the Czech Republic - the Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy.

"The Case of Sandwiches"

President Emil Gacha secretly collaborated with the Beneš government in exile. He appointed Alois Elias to the post of Prime Minister and, apparently, hoped that his former connections with Protector von Neurath would help in one way or another to defend the interests of the Czech Republic.

Alois Eliash planned to poison prominent journalists who collaborated with the Nazi regime, and officially invited them to his place. September 18, 1941 the Prime Minister treated journalists to sandwiches, which he, with the help of his urologist, poisoned by injecting botulinum toxin, mycobacterium tuberculosis and rickettsia, which causes typhus, into them. The only one who died after eating sandwiches was Chief Editor magazine "Czech Word" (České slovo) Karel Lazhnovsky. Other journalists only got sick.

Alois Eliash was in regular contact with the resistance movement. Soon this became known to the Nazis, he was arrested and executed. However, his involvement in the “sandwich case” was not yet known at that time.

In the autumn of 1941, Germany took a number of drastic steps in the protectorate. According to Hitler, von Neurath was not effective enough to fight the Czech resistance, so at the end of September 1941 he was replaced by Reinhard Heydrich. The Czech government was reorganized, all Czech cultural institutions were closed. The Gestapo began arrests and executions. The deportation of Jews to concentration camps was organized, and a ghetto was created in the town of Terezin.

Reinhard Heydrich (born 1904) - statesman and political figure Nazi Germany, head of the Imperial Security Main Office in 1939-1942, SS Obergruppenführer and police general.

Operation Anthropoid

The plan for the destruction of Heydrich took shape in October 1941. Reason: Edvard Beneš wanted to raise the prestige of his government-in-exile and activate the Czechoslovak Resistance. The assassination of one of the major Nazi politicians would have triggered punitive operations, which, in turn, would have hardened the Czechs and probably provoked more active resistance to the occupiers. It is generally accepted that after the repressions at the beginning of his reign, Heydrich softened the policy in the Czech Republic, which was also not in the interests of the government in exile.

The note. "Anthropoid" means "humanoid"

Two saboteurs were selected to participate in the operation: ethnic Czech and Slovak- Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík. Five more saboteurs were to provide direct assistance to them. On the night of December 28-29, 1941, the landing of the entire group and two cargo containers took place, which contained money, fake documents, weapons and ammunition. The saboteurs hid their equipment and reached Pilsen, where they stayed in predetermined apartments of the Resistance members. Subsequently, they established contacts with many other active members of the underground and began to prepare the operation.

Reinhard Heydrich lived in the suburbs of Prague and traveled to the city center every day in a Mercedes-Benz convertible without security, which made it possible to commit an assassination attempt along the way. Saboteurs have chosen a place for an ambush a section of road with a sharp turn, on which Heydrich's open car, was supposed to slow down and become a convenient target.

In the morning May 27, 1942 saboteurs Kubish and Gabchik, who arrived on bicycles, took advantageous positions. Heydrich's car, with its top down, pulled up at 10:32 a.m. and braked at the corner. Gabchik pulled out a STEN submachine gun and wanted to shoot at Heydrich at close range, but the weapon jammed. Then, with a throw from below, Kubiš threw a grenade, previously brought into combat condition, which had a contact fuse and detonated from hitting the body outside at the right rear wheel, towards the braked car. The explosion wounded both Heydrich and Kubisch (he was hit in the face by shrapnel). Passengers of the tram route No. 3 that stopped at the turn and people at the tram stop were also in the area of ​​the incident.

Heydrich and his driver Klein (SS Oberscharführer) left the car, grabbed their service pistols and tried to engage in a firefight with the saboteurs who were preparing to withdraw. Klein was unable to stop the bleeding Kubis from shooting his way through the crowd at the bus stop and riding away on a pre-arranged bike. By order of Heydrich, the driver began to pursue the fleeing Gabchik, who, breaking away from the chase, hid in butcher shop(Valčíkova, 22). The owner of the shop, running out into the street, informed Klein about the hiding agent, after which Gabchik, who had left the shelter, wounded Klein in the thigh with a pistol and disappeared. Seriously wounded by the explosion, Heydrich fell near the Mercedes. He received a fracture of the 11th rib on the left, a rupture of the diaphragm and a wound to the spleen, which was hit by a metal fragment and a piece of car seat upholstery. Heydrich was taken to the hospital in a truck, which was stopped by a Czech policeman who happened to be nearby.

The note. In our time, at the site of the assassination attempt on Heydrich, there is the Operation Anthropoid Memorial, the inscription on the bronze plate at the base reads “... the heroic Czechoslovak paratroopers Jan Kubis and Josef Gabczyk ... could never have completed their mission without the help of hundreds of Czech patriots, who paid for their bravery with their own lives." Also on one of the adjacent buildings there is a memorial plaque with the inscription "Patriots do not forget, unlike Czech politicians" (a hint of the period 1948-1989, when a negative attitude towards the activities of the Czechoslovak government in exile officially prevailed in Czechoslovakia, and its sabotage operations tried to do not mention). In honor of the saboteurs in the area of ​​the assassination attempt, two streets are named - Gabčíkova and Kubišova

Around noon on May 27, Heydrich was operated on, his spleen was removed. On the same day, Himmler's personal doctor arrived at the hospital. He prescribed large doses of morphine to the wounded man. On the morning of June 3, information appeared about the improvement in Heydrich's condition, but in the late afternoon he fell into a coma and died the next day. The final cause of death has not yet been determined.

The note. Documentary footage of Heydrich's funeral and a short plot of the importance of this event are shown in the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring".

After Heydrich's death, there was speculation that the protector could be saved by using sulfanilamide. Under the leadership of Karl Gebhardt, a series of experiments was carried out in concentration camps, during which wounds were inflicted on experimental prisoners with the implantation of glass, earth, sawdust, mud, followed by treatment with sulfanilamide and other drugs. The doctors who conducted the experiments became defendants in the Nuremberg trials of doctors.

After the assassination of Heydrich, a group of seven saboteurs (Jan Kubisch, Josef Gabchik, Josef Valchik, Adolf Opalka, Josef Bublik, Jan Hruby, Yaroslav Schwartz) took refuge in the crypt of the Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius. On June 16, 1942, the traitor Karel Churda (a parachutist abandoned on March 28) voluntarily gave the Gestapo the names and places of residence of dozens of Resistance fighters and their families, who were promptly arrested. During interrogations with the use of torture, the Germans learned that a group of saboteurs was hiding in the cathedral.

Karel Czurda (born 1911) was caught in 1947 and executed. As a result of his betrayal, 254 people died. During the trial, when asked by the judge how he could betray his comrades, he answered: “I think you would have done the same for a million marks.” That's exactly what cash reward was promised for information about the participants in the assassination attempt (for comparison, Heydrich's new convertible cost about 12 thousand Reichsmarks). The protectorate authorities paid Czurda half of the promised amount, issued new documents, he took German citizenship and married a German woman. Despite his progressive alcoholism, he worked for the Gestapo until the end of the war. He believed in Hitler's victory and planned to move "to the east" after the war. In May 1945, Czurda tried to escape to the American zone of occupation, but on May 5 he was arrested by Czech gendarmes near Pilsen.

Battle in the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius

On June 18, 1942, German SS troops and the Gestapo stormed the cathedral. The fight started at 4:10 am. The Germans entered the building and were inspecting the kliros when Kubiš, Opalka and Bublik opened fire. For two hours they exchanged fire with the Germans until they ran out of ammunition. Opalka and Bublik, using the last cartridges, shot themselves, not wanting to surrender, and Kubis died from his wounds.

Another group consisting of Gabchik, Valchik, Gruba and Schwartz took refuge in the crypt of the temple. According to some reports, they tried to break through the wall of the crypt in order to leave the cathedral through the sewers. Through a small window in the western part of the cathedral, the Germans threw hand grenades and launched tear gas, but the saboteurs could not be smoked out. Firefighters hurried to help the Germans, who tried to flood the besieged with water, but they pushed the fire hose back out onto the street with the help of a wooden ladder and fired at the firefighters themselves. The situation became more complicated after the attackers blew up the old entrance to the crypt. At the same time, firefighters managed to pull the stairs out of the crypt and direct water through the fire hoses directly into the basement, but they failed to completely flood the crypt. The paratroopers fired back to the last, and when each of the fighters had a cartridge left, all four shot themselves so as not to be captured.

In our time, at the bullet-riddled window of the crypt of the cathedral, there is a National memorial to the memory of the heroes of terror Heydrich.

The note. In 2016, the feature film Anthropoid was released (based on real events). Starring actors Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy. Filming took place entirely in Prague to make it as close as possible to the perception of the Czechs. For filming the fight scene inside the cathedral, a replica was built in the studio. Filming locations included Prague Castle, Charles Bridge. The shooting of the assassination scene took place at the intersection of Hotkova and Badelnikova streets, where old Prague landscapes are still preserved.

Punitive actions for the assassination of Heydrich

The assassination attempt on Heydrich made the deepest impression on the leadership of the Reich. On the day of Heydrich's death, the Nazis launched a campaign of mass terror against the Czech population. In Prague, mass searches were carried out, during which other members of the Resistance, Jews, communists and other persecuted categories of citizens hiding in houses and apartments were identified. 1331 people were shot, including 201 women.

The Gestapo received information that two Czech pilots who fled to Britain, whose relatives lived in the village, could be involved in the murder Lidice. Despite the fact that this information was not confirmed, it was decided to destroy the village. On June 9, 1942, the day of Heydrich's funeral, the village of Lidice was destroyed as retribution. All men over 16 years old (172 people) were shot on the spot, 195 women were sent to a concentration camp, the children were distributed among German families, traces of most of them were lost.

Later, the Gestapo received information that in the village Sunbeds Hidden radio operator Jiri Potuchek, who, with the help of the only surviving radio transmitter, ensured, in particular, the communication of the saboteurs of the Anthropoid group with London. He was warned in time, managed to leave the shelter and save the radio transmitter. However, the fate of the village and all its inhabitants was sealed. The Nazis shot 18 women and 16 men, and 12 out of 14 children were gassed. Only two sisters survived, who were given to German families "for Germanization."

On September 4, 1942, the priests of the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Vaclav Chikl and Vladimir Petrshik, the headman of the Cathedral, Jan Sonnevend, and Bishop Gorazd, who voluntarily joined them, were shot. September 27 Czech Orthodox Church was banned, its property was confiscated, the clergy were arrested and imprisoned.

Resistance movement

In Britain, the Czechoslovak government-in-exile (the unofficial name of the National Committee for the Liberation of the Czech Republic) operated, headed by Edvard Beneš, which received diplomatic recognition as a government from the leading world powers (in particular, the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with it). The Czechoslovak government in exile collected information and cooperated with the military services of Britain, which prepared and dropped into the occupied territory of the Czechoslovakia several reconnaissance, sabotage and intelligence groups from among the Czechoslovak military and volunteers.

Four main resistance groups operated on the territory of the occupied Czechoslovakia, most of their members were former officers disbanded Czechoslovak army. At the beginning of the occupation, propaganda work and strikes were carried out, later sabotage and sabotage became widespread. Whenever possible, Czech workers tried to produce defective military products. The partisan movement did not spread.

The note. On July 20, 1941, during the battles for the city of Türi (Estonian SSR), it was noticed that many mines fired by German troops did not explode. When studying them, it was found that instead of explosives, the mines were filled with sand. In one of the mines there was a note “we help in any way we can,” written by Czechoslovak workers.

The note. In February 1942, the German occupation authorities registered 19 acts of sabotage and sabotage, in March 1942 - 32, in April 1942 - 34, in May 1942 - 51.

In September 1942, on the Labe River, underground workers flooded barges with cargo for the German army, and in October 1942, a train was derailed on the Prague-Benešov railway, as a result, 27 platforms with tanks were broken.

In 1943 alone, about 350,000 Czech workers were deported to Germany. At the same time, on the orders of Hitler in October 1943, the German authorities refused any use of Czech officials in the civil service. Within the protectorate, all non-military industry was banned.

On February 14, 1945, 60 US Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft dropped 152 bombs on the most densely populated areas of Prague. More than a hundred unique historical buildings, dozens of important engineering and industrial facilities were destroyed, 701 people were killed and 1,184 people were injured.

Formation of an infantry battalion

In 1942, the First Czechoslovak Infantry Battalion was formed in the USSR from the former military personnel of the Czech Republic. Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) Ludwik Svoboda became the commander. The number of the battalion was 974 people. In addition to Czechs and Slovaks, there were six Rusyns and Jews among the military personnel. The personnel were dressed in British uniforms (which had previously been supplied to Polish units) with insignia of the pre-war Czechoslovakia army.

The formation of the battalion was carried out with significant problems and delays. However, they also had a downside: all this time, the commander of the battalion Svoboda conducted intensive combat training, so the level of training of the battalion personnel turned out to be very high.

Battle of Sokolovo

In February 1943, the battalion was sent to the front in the Kharkov region and took up defensive positions along the left bank of the Mzha River (the front was 10 km wide). The village of Sokolovo, lying on the banks of the river, was also included in the defense system.

On March 8, the battalion's positions were attacked by about 60 German tanks and a motorized infantry battalion. The Czechoslovaks defended valiantly. On this day, the Germans lost 19 tanks, from 4 to 6 armored personnel carriers and up to 400 people killed and wounded. The battalion held the defense on the Mzhe River until March 13, when an order was received to leave their positions. 87 servicemen were awarded Soviet orders and medals. Losses amounted to 112 people killed, 106 wounded (according to other sources: 153 killed, 92 wounded, 122 missing).

The feat of Otakar Yarosh

Otakar Yarosh (Czech. Otakar Jaroš, born in 1912) - lieutenant, company commander. Ethnic Czech. On March 8, 1943, while defending the village of Sokolovo, Yarosh was wounded twice, but continued to command a company and fire at the advancing enemy. During the battle, Yarosh tore off a bunch of grenades from his belt and rushed to the German tank that had broken through. Posthumously, the Czech hero was awarded the title of captain, and on April 17, the first of the foreign citizens was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Nowadays, in Prague, one of the embankments is named after Captain Yarosh.

Formation of an infantry brigade

In May 1943, on the basis of an infantry battalion, the formation of the First Czechoslovak Infantry Brigade began. Replenishment occurred at the expense of Soviet citizens of Czechoslovak origin and Rusyns. Most of these Rusyns crossed the Soviet border (after the capture of Subcarpathian Rus by Hungarian troops in March 1939) and were initially convicted of "illegal crossing the border", but later amnestied.

By September 1943, there were about 3,500 soldiers and officers in the brigade. Of these, about 2,200 people were Rusyns by nationality, about 560 Czechs, 340 Slovaks, 200 Jews and 160 Russians. Later, another 5,000 to 7,000 Carpathian Ukrainians were included in the brigade.

The personnel of the brigade were uniformed in the Czechoslovak military uniform, had Czechoslovak military ranks and served in accordance with the military regulations of the Czechoslovak army. On organizational issues, the battalion was subordinate to the Czechoslovak government in exile, on operational issues - to the higher command of those Soviet military units to which it was attached. In the future, this order was maintained until the end of the war.

The brigade participated in the third battle for Kharkov and the liberation of the Left-bank Ukraine. In November 1943, the brigade participated in the liberation of Kyiv, and later - in the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine.

Formation of an army corps

In April 1944, the formation of the First Czechoslovak Army Corps began on the basis of the brigade. Its number was 16 thousand, 11 thousand of which were Rusyns and Ukrainians by nationality. Later, the brigade was replenished with mobilized residents of Transcarpathia of all nationalities.

In the autumn of 1944, the army corps took part in the East Carpathian operation. On September 20, the city of Dukla was liberated, and on October 6, the fortified Dukel Pass, located on the old Czechoslovak border, was taken by storm. On this day, Czechoslovak and Soviet units entered the territory of the Czech Republic, marking the beginning of its liberation from the enemy. Until the end of the war, the corps was no longer withdrawn to the rear, offensive battles alternated with defensive actions. On April 30, 1945, units of the corps entered the territory of the Czech lands with battles. On May 10, 1945, the advanced detachment of the corps on Soviet tanks entered Prague. On the same day, parts of the corps held their last major battle.

May 17, 1945 in Prague took place parade the entire personnel of the First Czechoslovak Army Corps (18,087 corps fighters, and together with the rear and training units 31,725 ​​people). Since June 1945, the formation of the Czechoslovak People's Army began on the basis of the corps.

The losses of the corps (taking into account the losses of the battalion and brigade) amounted to 4011 people dead, missing and dead from wounds, 14 202 people - sanitary. The German troops experienced animal hatred for the captured fighters of the corps, subjecting them to brutal torture and torment. So, the Germans hung five captured wounded soldiers of the Czechoslovak battalion near Sokolovo alive upside down in the cold, before that their ears, noses, and tongues were cut off. Having found 8 seriously wounded soldiers of the battalion during the capture of Kharkov in one of the hospitals, the German soldiers killed them right on the hospital beds. In the battles in Slovakia in 1945, the painful executions of captured soldiers (up to being burned alive) were massive. For 26 months of fighting, Czechoslovak troops destroyed 24,600 Nazis.

The note. Four Czechoslovak squadrons fought in the RAF: 310th, 311th, 312th and 313th. The British special services prepared and dropped into the occupied territory of Czechoslovakia several reconnaissance, sabotage and intelligence groups.

Joseph Burshik

Joseph Burshik (1911–2002) - Czechoslovak officer, participant in World War II, who went through a full combat path as part of a battalion, then a brigade and a corps. He is best known for the fact that in 1968, in protest against the entry of troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into the Czech Republic, he handed over all his Soviet awards to the Soviet embassy in London. His awards: Hero of the Soviet Union (December 21, 1943), Order of Lenin (December 21, 1943), Order of Suvorov III degree (August 10, 1945), Order of the Red Star (April 17, 1943).

In 1949, Burshik was arrested on charges of anti-communist propaganda and sentenced to 10 years "for treason." Having ended up in a prison hospital due to a severe form of tuberculosis, he managed to escape in August 1950 and cross the border to Germany. In 1955 he emigrated to the UK, where he underwent treatment and underwent two operations. At the personal request of Queen Elizabeth II, Burshik was granted British citizenship, which he refused. Appreciating this noble deed, the queen endowed Burshik with all the rights of a citizen of the United Kingdom. At home, Burshik had a wife and two daughters, who were released to the West to their father in 1963. In 1969 he was officially deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and all awards of the USSR. In 1992, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and all Soviet awards were returned to him.

Bombing of Prague in February 1945

On February 14, 1945, the US Air Force flying to bomb Dresden veered off course and bombed Prague by mistake. As a result of the raid, 701 people were killed and another 1,184 were injured of varying degrees of severity. The vast majority were civilians. Another 11,000 citizens lost their homes. Not a single plant or other strategic facility was damaged. Bombs fell exclusively on civilian buildings in the districts of Radlice, Vysehrad, Zlichov, Nusle, Vinohrady, Vrsovice, Pankrac and Charles Square.

In just three minutes, 62 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers dropped 58 tons of bombs on the central part of the city. 183 buildings turned into ruins and about 200 were seriously damaged. Some of the buildings were of cultural and historical value, for example, the Emmaus Monastery, the house of Faust, the Vinohrady synagogue.

Prague uprising (1945)

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After the war, Soviet troops were withdrawn from the territory of Czechoslovakia in November 1945.