The Czech Lands during World War II (1938 - 1945)
Vložit
- čas přidán 5. 05. 2023
- What about the Czech lands during World War II? During World War II, the Czech lands, which included the territories of Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia, were occupied by Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. This period of Czech history is often referred to as the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia" and was characterized by brutal repression, persecution of Jews and other minorities, and resistance against the occupiers.
In March 1939, Nazi Germany violated the Munich Agreement by invading and occupying the Czech lands, which had been promised autonomy in exchange for surrendering the Sudetenland to Germany. The Czech government was dissolved, and the country was placed under the control of a Nazi administration, headed by Reichsprotektor Konstantin von Neurath.
The occupation was characterized by brutal repression and persecution of Czechs, Jews, and other minorities. The Nazi regime implemented policies of forced labor, imprisonment, and extermination of those deemed undesirable, including Jews, Romani people, homosexuals, and political dissidents.
Despite the dangers, many Czechs engaged in resistance against the occupiers. Resistance efforts included sabotage, propaganda, and assassination attempts against high-ranking Nazi officials. One notable example was the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Czech resistance fighters in 1942.
The end of the war brought liberation for the Czech lands, but also considerable damage and loss of life. The country was liberated by Soviet troops in May 1945, and the Soviet Union installed a pro-communist government. The post-war period was marked by political turmoil and the establishment of a communist regime, which lasted until the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ► / historyhustler
SUPPORT ME ON PAYPAL ► www.paypal.com/paypalme/Histo...
SUBSCRIBE ► / @historyhustle
INSTAGRAM ► / historyhustle
FACEBOOK ► / historyhustler
TWITTER ► / hustlehistory
SOURCES
- The Vanquished. Why the First World War Failed to End, 1917-1923 (Robert Gerwarth).
- Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Volume 3 (David Littlejohn).
- The History of the Czech Republic and Slovakia (William Mahoney).
- A History of the Czech Lands (Jaroslav Pánek & Oldřich Tůma).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
• Reinhard Heydrich zast...
Reinhard Heydrich zastupujícím říšským protektorem
• Květnová revoluce v Pr...
Květnová revoluce v Praze 1945
• PRAGUE UPRISING 1945
PRAGUE UPRISING 1945
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
MUSIC
"The Descent" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"Constancy Part One" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"Crossing the Chasm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
SOUNDS
Freesound.org.
E-MAIL
historyhustle[at]gmail.com
Learn about countries during WW2:
czcams.com/play/PL_bcNuRxKtpHTLN9AwkENvRE4am3VNcK4.html
Another good one. Let's point out A Czech named Karel Čurda betrayed the location of the Arthropod agents to the Nazis after the attack and received a lot of money. After the war when scores were being settled he was arrested, tried and convicted for this. There is some dispute about his statement on the matter but one thing I read was he did it to stop the Nazi reprisals against ordinary Czechs. Karel Čurda was executed.
@@nowthenzen thanks for sharing.
@@nowthenzen 👍 🇧🇷
Can you do a video on Otto Ernst Remer and his socialist reich party since he was the indirect pawn by the conspirators of operation valkyrie to arrest Joseph goebbels and many ss after the fail attempt to assassinate hitler. If you watch the tom cruise operation valkyrie where he was order to arrest Joseph goebbels but he ended up talking to hitler to realize he was being use and begun going after the conspirators.
You forgot to mention why Munich agreement is perceived as betrayal by the Czechs. It is because Czechoslovakia signed a Defense agreement with France prior to that and was an official UKs ally as well. Great video and pretty accurate. Btw. Hacha is not only a negative figure, accepting such role was not an easy thing to do and he didn’t do it for his own benefit but rather for the nation’s.
Thanks for sharing.
@@HistoryHustle Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war.
- Winston Churchill on the Munich Agreement
What nation? After its founding, six million Czechs, 3.5 million Germans and two million Slovaks lived in this artificial state, plus more than half a million Hungarians and Ukrainians each, and around 200,000 Jews and around 100,000 Poles.
Beware of Nazi propagandists in the comments!
That's the pivotal thing. Chechoslovakia had not some vague guarantees but an official mutual defense treaty with A and F. As well as with the USSR, by the way. And the Soviet Union tried up to the end to defend Chechoslovakia. But it was isolated first and foremost by the British efforts, by Chamberlain and Halifax. The USSR was excluded from the Munich conference, but fascist Italy was invited. And after all this debacle Hitler understood a very simple thing: that for A and F any written accords don't mean anything serious. That if they consider it suitable for them they easily reject them. After that any British guarantees to Poland weren't convincing enough. Hitler simply didn't view them serious. The last chance to thwart WW2 was at the Moscow talks aiming to create a some sort of tripartite alliance against Hitler. But Chamberlain and Halifax were categorically against them from the beginning mainly because pure hatred to Communism and Russia in general. (Hey, Tik, how about your "it's just business"). Both men made everything for torpedoing the talks and they failed after months of protracted negotiations. After that the war became absolutely inevitable. The infamous hapless M-R pact was simply Stalin's attempt of washing his hands of European affairs. To try to establish some modus vivendi with Nazi Germany not leading to an immediate war with it In the end, this attempt also failed but that's another matter.
My dad was in the US 5th Division that crossed into Czechoslovakia in May 1945. He said they could have easily marched on and captured Prague…but Patton ordered them to turn south into Austria.
I had a German uncle who was captured by the Czechs in the closing days of the war. It was a very unpleasant experience due to the Czechs seeking out retribution for the German occupation of their country. More than a few of the POWs were executed. They released him and he had to walk back to Germany. Him and the group of guys he traveled with traveled only at night for fear of being executed by irate Czech civilians. Him and his small group made it home.
Yeah I would somehow compare this situation at the end of the WW2 to the Rwanda's one. It may sound lil bit weird but I can see some parallels there and hope I can make you understand somehow. For exampůle Czechs lived more than 4 centuries under the German oppression. They become the citizens of the 2nd category and strangers in their own country. The brutal German occupation of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia was only the small eak of pretty bad relationship and when the war was over they striked back twice as hard. Germans were in the position similar to Tutsi minority with all the privileges colonial Power could give them and the members of Hutu tribe were not okay with that at all. The same situation with Czechs who were the majority back in the 19th century but did not enjoy the same rights as Germans used to have back then (Czech language as an official language, lacking Czech university in Moravia....etc). All the frustration of injustice showed painfully later as we know. As I said many many similarities between Hutu tribe + Czechs and Tutsi tribe + Germans. We only can hope all goverments and rulers can draw a lesson from this tragic incidents and do not prefer one nationality (or tribe for that matter) to other to prevent exactly these massacres
@@davidknichal6629 what oppression are you talking about? What brutal occupation are you talking about? Do you have any actual knowledge of history or are you just regurgitating good old Czech nationalistic-commie-hussite propaganda?
The German invasion of Czechoslovakia was for 2 primary reasons
1. They had a fairly modern army of over 20 divisions and Germany feared if there was a war they would side with the allies
2. Skoda was the 2nd largest armaments manufacturer in Europe second only to Krupp, so adding their capabilities to Germanys would add significant technology, know how and capacity
Thanks for sharing this.
Would you have some sort of a source for Škoda being the second largest arms manufacturer?
I don't doubt it but it would be nice to have it in writing with more authority.
Actually the biggest manufacturer were British Vickers-armstrong and German Krupp
Followed by Schneider of France , Bofors of Sweden, Belgian FN and then the Skoda works
There was no uniform manufacturer of arms in USSR because even Tractor and farming factories were converted to make tanks and artillery
@@PSsinghBains5 Could you provide a source for that? I highly doubt that FN would rank higher, as it only produced small arms and some cars. Bofors perhaps, although I have my doubts once again.
Škoda produced artillery, tanks, automobiles, locomotives and through its subsidiary also planes.
The point is still valid anyways, on top of Škoda there were numerous other large companies that produced armaments (ČKD, Česká zbrojovka, Praga, Aero, Letov to name a few).
@@jangelnar5624 i said Followed by later mentions are not uniform in sequel
Hello to my favorite dutchman
🫡🇳🇱
Nicely put. On factual side just one comment. The Slovak uprising was planned as part of a wider operation, involving the Red army breakthrough via Dukla pass in Carpathian mouintains. Bad communication and coordination resulted in uprising isolation and final defeat, while Dukla pass breakthrough failed as well and became a protracted bloodbath. The sudeten Germans would deserve its own title I believe. They played very controversial role in the WWII opening and sort of paid also quite a high price for it at the end. Ominous twist of fate.
Thanks for sharing.
I always dreamt of being a history teacher. I would like to think if I had made it I would’ve been every bit as cool as you. Keep up the good work.
Many thanks for your reply!
That was a very good video. You went deeper into details than you usually do, and I liked that. Take care.
Many thanks! I also thinking of remaking older countries in WW2 episodes. Serbia for example as I will travel there this summer.
I agree. His 8+ min videos are way too short. He underestimates his audience.
Nooooo! You forgot the battle of Slivice in late 1945, the last battle of WW2 in Europe. It was a delaying action by the retreating Germans hoping to surrender to the Western Allies. Hope you can make a Forgoten Battles episode about it. Love your videos!
Stalin commented on German troops still fighting in parts of Bohemia, I think even after the formal surrender on May 9, and wondered what they were hoping for.
These people are hired and paid to rewrite history.
Excellent content and delivery. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thanks Garry!
The demarcation line between the U.S. army and the Soviets was actually a bit further east of the line shown at 13.23 It was actually a line linking Karlovy Vary - Plzeň - České Budějovice. Patton actually did go a bit beyond that too.
Thanks for sharing this.
Great video. I’ve been waiting for it.
Great😁
Thanks! I respect you for traveling so much to make videos on location (just like the Flying Hollander😀). It's incredible to visit such places👍🏻
With all the crazy stuff going on in the news, there is nothing I like more than going to my little cave, relax and watch some of the best history uploads out there.
Love your style and passion. It has that super extra attention to detail and lot of info digging that shows. Bet it helps living in Europe, knowing all the local cultures and must me mystical.
🙏 Thank you!
Good job on this. Very informative.
Thanks for sharing.
Good job writing down the sources, I appreciate it as a basestone of quality.
👍
Stefan, fascinating bit of history !!! Thank you Amigo ✌️🩵
Thanks for your response.
Thank you so much for this video. It explained the occupation and its events very well.
Thanks for your reply.
How do i like this video? Excellent! Many thanks for this docu. I'd say your students are lucky with you as their "prof". keep up the good work.
Thanks for your reply.
Great Stefan! Congratulations on the work!! Strong hug.!!
Thanks!
Well done a nice presentation.
Thanks for watching.
Awesome video
Thanks for your reply!
Interesting and informative.
Thanks Carl!
Hey professor stefan! I am a patreon again! Glad to be back been traveling for a few months
Yes, I sad it! Many thanks Nick!! Where did you travel to?
@@HistoryHustle mainly around Europe, started out in your country the beautiful Netherlands where I have some relatives in Haarlem And also visited some WW2 memorials and places of importance in Netherlands France and Belgium in relation to WW2 history and battle fields. Was very nice I had an excellent time! Glad to be back on your channel and am currently catching up on your past videos! Cheers!
awesome video mate keep it up cant wait for the video about the Czech legions that pave the road for their independence country of czechoslovakia
Thanks for your reply!
Czech legions brought some gold.
Czars Czech legions that paved the road for their Czech ruled state with the Czars gold, bulldozing Slovaks, Germans and minorities.
Beware of Nazi propaganda in the comments!
@@dittmannrudolfrohr2149 Soviet propaganda by Stalin and the USSR. By the way, also Czechoslovakia during the communist rule from 1948 to 1989. The legionnaires gave the gold to the Bolsheviks, otherwise they would not have allowed it to be shipped in Vladivostok. Thanks to the Czechoslovak legionnaires, the much-needed captured Hungarian and German units, which were released thanks to the Brest-Lithuania Peace, did not reach the western front in time. I owe the Legionnaires the fight for Czechoslovakia, which was created thanks to them, and especially that the Allies were able to win the First World War thanks to the containment and fight against the Hungarians and Germans.
Great job!!
👍
Czechs were very smart to survive some very difficult conditions.
Indeed, as a small landlocked country, they've done well in retaining their country.
But a bit of luck is also part of it. If the Nazis had won World War II, the Czechs would have suffered a lot more. The “Generalplan Ost” also provided for forced labour, expulsion and murder for them. The Czechs who would have survived would probably live in Siberia today.
"Czechs were very smart " Cunning.
"Cunning" means unsympathetically clever...
Here a Nazi tries to mock the Czechs' struggle for survival.
The so-called “Generalplan Ost” by the Baltic German doctor Dr. Hans Ehlich was the product of an individual and was never taken seriously within the German leadership. A German policy of planned decimation of East German groups is a legend. It was only after the war that Polish propaganda took up this alleged "plan" and supplemented it with numerous forged documents in order to give the appearance of justification for the expulsion of the Germans from their homeland in East Germany and the theft of German assets.
Such a plan never was followd, not in the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, not in the Eastern territories.
Withouta constructive occupation policy, it would be unthinkable that millions of Slavs, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Russians and Cossacks, Latvians, Estonians, Caucasians and Western Europeans fought on the German side.
But hey did.
"", the Czechs would have suffered a lot more. The “Generalplan Ost” "
Nonsense, Germans had the means to start right in March 1939.
Not to forget: Czechoslowakia , After its founding, six million Czechs, 3.5 million Germans and two million Slovaks lived in this artificial state, plus more than half a million Hungarians and Ukrainians each, and around 200,000 Jews and around 100,000 Poles.
The Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, in which the Czechs enjoyed very extensive autonomy rights, similar to the Sorbs and Kashubians, who also have their settlement areas on German national territory. The autonomy even went so far that no Czech had to do military service during the Second World War. The police remained Czech and the Czech koruna continued to be the national currency. The national border also remained unchanged and entry and exit for Germans was still only possible with a passport.
The establishment of a protectorate is nothing unusual, since an entire continent itself, India, was also a protectorate of England at the time. For example, while England had no legitimate claim to India, in the case of Czechia there was at least a possible historical justification, since Bohemia was long a part of the Old Kingdom, and Prague was even its capital under the Luxemburgs.
Maybe I missed you saying it, but who was the ex-army officer who wanted to raise a unit? Emanuel Moravec?
I think but I'm not sure!
I have deep respect for czechs my father origin is from there he is a good man hard working and gifted. I always speak in high regard on this nation when the subject is rise in a conversation
I did not watch this video last saturday, but now I rushed into it. Praha seems to me one of the most beautiful capital cities of EU. Good to know it was preserved from total destruction back in the dark days of WW2
Obrigado, Stefan! ヽ(͡◕ ͜ʖ ͡◕)ﾉ 🍀 🇧🇷
Thanks for you response.
i think there were 5 movies made about heydrich. the heavy hitters are OPERATION DAY BREAK, ANTHOPOID and THE MAN WITH THE IRON FIST
Have seen the 2nd and 3rd you mentioned.
thanks bro
👍
Thanks!
Hi Jesse, I am extremely grateful for your generosity!
Another informative and attractive introduction of that political event by an excellent, favorite history teacher (Sir Stefan) ...video clearly explained all factors & historical background of invasion of Czechoslovaka by Nazism army
Many thanks for your comment.
Czechoslowakia , After its founding, six million Czechs, 3.5 million Germans and two million Slovaks lived in this artificial state, plus more than half a million Hungarians and Ukrainians each, and around 200,000 Jews and around 100,000 Poles.
The Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich (Autumn 1938) after Munich agreement.
Hungary occupied border areas partly Hungarian ethnic group as well the Ruthenian-speaking Carpathian Ukraine (autumn 1938).
Poland occupied areas in Teschen (autumn 1938).
Slovak independence March 1939
On March 14, 1939, there was a meeting between Hitler and the then Czech President Emil Hacha in Berlin, at which Hacha asked for protection. As a result, the rest of Czechia was annexed by Germany and became the so-called Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Before the Nazi propaganda that Dittmann Rudolf Röhr spreads here (as in almost all of his comments) is taken for the truth: Emil Hácha asked Germany for protection because he was forced to do so. Göring threatens to bomb Prague. This is evidenced by several sources.
Short but good. 👍
I haven't heard anything that contradicts what I've learned about the Occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Okay, soon more on specific aspects like the Prague Uprising.
@@HistoryHustle Allow me to give you one tip:
So that your channel does not lose its seriousness, you should pay more attention to the fact that Nazi propaganda is not simply reproduced and historical falsification is carried out. Which has already happened in some comments here.
@@marcusaurelius724 This is true. Especially the user "Dittmann Rudolf Röhr"
spreads historical misrepresentations.
Czechoslowakia , After its founding, six million Czechs, 3.5 million Germans and two million Slovaks lived in this artificial state, plus more than half a million Hungarians and Ukrainians each, and around 200,000 Jews and around 100,000 Poles.
The Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich (Autumn 1938) after Munich agreement.
Hungary occupied border areas partly Hungarian ethnic group as well the Ruthenian-speaking Carpathian Ukraine (autumn 1938).
Poland occupied areas in Teschen (autumn 1938).
Slovak independence March 1939
On March 14, 1939, there was a meeting between Hitler and the then Czech President Emil Hacha in Berlin, at which Hacha asked for protection. As a result, the rest of Czechia was annexed by Germany and became the so-called Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
@@HistoryHustle This comment by Dittmann Rudolf Röhr is what I mean:
Emil Hácha did not ask for protection but was blackmailed.
If you leave such misrepresentations uncommented or not deleted, the seriousness of your channel suffers.
Hell yeah! As a Czech I love this video! Thankyou 🎉🎉🎉
🇨🇿👍
Hacha went to Berlin and asked for protection, after Slovakia declared independence and Hungary annexed borderlands.
Before the Nazi propaganda that Dittmann Rudolf Röhr spreads here (as in almost all of his comments) is taken for the truth: Emil Hácha asked Germany for protection because he was forced to do so. Göring threatens to bomb Prague. This is evidenced by several sources.
History, especially military history and war studies are the best subjects to learn and be interested in.
👍
Czech Republic was very useful in economic and military way for Germans in WW2. Even all people in that country were against Nazzi. Before WW2 it was one of the most developed country in world. Even in Hasbur monarchy Czech was reacher than all Hungary part of empire. In WW2 Czechs factories produced 30%of all German tanks.
Thanks for sharing
And there probably lies the real reason for the German invasion, not the Germans living in Czech but it’s munitions factories.
@@graham6496 that was independent factories ?
@@graham6496 What you think about role of Soviet Union in the de-occupation Czech?
as for the "30% of tanks"..... that is a a nonsense. The German army took over large stoockpile of Czech LT-38 tanks, which were also produced for some time after the occupation (they become obsolete quite quickly. Therefore the figure of 30% might be close(bit exaggerated) to true in the beginning of the war- Polish and French campaign. But definitely not after 1940 later;) No other type of tanks than LT-38 have been produced in Czechia during the WW2
Thanks for the upload, you could `ve visit me, I am living in Prague :D
Great city 👍
What do your students think of your videos Stefan? Are they highschoolers?
Highschoolers, they sometimes watch them.
Hello, very nice video about our country. Please focus more on the pronunciation of the names. Thank you.
I do my best.
I was introduced to the father of my father-in-law's cousin, who by then was quite old, in Bonn (this was early in this century). I was told he was an administrator of Prague for the Germans. He had also retired as a judge in Germany after the war. They had traced their family background back to 1700. The were originally from the Dresden area. It was all very strange and interesting. In the apartment on the Rhine, I was shown the family photo album. In it the cousin's uncle, I think, who was a captain in the German Army appeared. He was a model German officer with an Iron Cross. He died on the Eastern Front. When the cousin visited us in the US a few years later I was showing him some of my hunting rifles. We are both hunters. I had a Mosin-Nagant rifle made in 1942. That I did not show him, since it might have been the type of gun that killed his uncle. The cousin, by the way, was a high official in the German military, on the political side. Most of the family were lawyers, except for the cousin's oldest son, who had an MBA. I guess he was the black sheep of the family.
Will you ever make a video on the Austrian rule of Poland (Galicia)? My family comes from there (half was Polish and half was Austrian/German - “Galiziendeutsche/Gluchoniemcy”) and all of the videos on CZcams mostly focus on the Prussian and Russian occupation zones :(
Perhaps one day when I am in the area, but not anytime soon I'm afraid.
Im here in north Czech right now visiting from Australia with my wife to research her German speaking ancestors hiistory in Czech. I have received so much help from people here and its been fascinating to discover what happened. Loved your video as always Stefan.
Thanks for your reply. Enjoy your stay!
"German speaking ancestors "
Face it, they were German!
Beware of Nazi propagandists in the comments!
@@dittmannrudolfrohr2149 Exactly true. Who in the end of the war were expelled or killed by the "freedom loving democrats" . Ie allied criminals Churchill,Roosevelt and the fanatic criminal benes.
@@dittmannrudolfrohr2149 - in the South Moravia /in the Moravian capital Brno (Brun) the german speakers considered themselves firstly Austrians :) also they spoke with Austrian / southern Bavarian accent, furthermore the censuses during Austrian - Hungarian times (until 1918 ) recorded only the first language used for communication (not a nationality as such ) at home , this changed after the first CZ republic census when they asked for a nationality - for example in my grandfather village the last A H census (1910) counted 70 % German speakers and 30 % of Czech speakers - the numbers were repeated during the first CZ census in 1920s - however the CZ authorities did not liked it -(ie the result) the first census results were cancelled and the census was repeated again and this time the result was 50% Germans and 50 % Czechs ... as many families were intermarried , in this village all residents were fluent in both Czech / German language without any accent - however after 1938 this village become a part of the German Reich ..based on the results from 1910
It’s still so frustrating to hear the story of how Chamberlain and his notorious group sat and discussed how Germany could just take a part of another sovereign country without even having that country at the table. This was surely against International Law? The Czechoslovaks obviously realised at this point there’s trouble coming.
1938:
Evian Conference in July
Munich Conference in September
Kristalnacht in November.
@@jonlenihan4798 and the Anschluss in March
@@mammuchan8923 Yes. It says something about the low esteem in which the Jews were held in 1938, that none of the appeasers balked at handing the Czech Jews over to the Nazis.
@@jonlenihan4798 shocking really💔
This goes back to Versailles peace conference where Czechoslovak delegation under Edvard Beneš aggreed that alies (UK/France/Italy and USA) would have power of arbiter over borders of Czechoslovakia. Bigger betrayal was that UK and France at Munich guarranteed new borders (and that in case o violation by Germany they would declare war on Germany.)
9:52 almost half of the czech gouverment army that was send to italy deserted and joined italian partisans.
7:59 you did not mention the 1st czechoslovak independent army corp in the USSR which took part (or its predecessor 1st czechoslovak independent brigade in USSR) in liberation of Kyiv in november 1943 they were first unit that reached center of the city and fulfilled its task
Thanks for sharing this.
Jaroslav Emminger you mention at 9:57, who was a commander in chief of the Troops of the Goverment (or Czech Goverment Army), was hardly a collaborator. He secretly worked with the resistance and actively covered desertions of his soldiers to partisans. There was a very strong anti-german sentiment prevalent in the whole "Army". That is why the Germans distrusted the Army and intentionaly kept the whole force low on weapons, ammo and training and finally in 1944 had sent almost all of the soldiers to Italy (where desertions to the partisans started pretty much on day 1 of the deployment) . Even the post-war trial found Jaroslav Emminger not guilty of collaboration a recognized his resistance efforts.
However there were pro-nazi collaborators, every story has heroes and villains - the most infamous one is Emmanuel Moravec, Protectorate minister of eduacation, who was very active in the media promoting the Nazi cause. Commited suicide during the Prague uprising in 1945
Famous quote of Gen. Eminger - When one of his officers asked, what they should do if they discover an Allied parachutist agent, he replied:"If they are a few, you will leave them be. If they are many, you will join them. "
Thanks for sharing this.
hello from Czech, you done it perfect. Keep up the good work
Thanks for you response.
I'm interested in what was going on there because my parents bought china marked Czechoslovakia when they married in 1938. During WWII they got some more place settings and the marking was then Bohemia.
Come on Stefan , there was no liberation, Czechs became Soviet puppets until the 80s.
deoccupation by occupation
Initially the Czechs cheered the Soviets.
@@HistoryHustle yes because they didnt know what will became after few years nobody normal cheered
@@HistoryHustle the cheering didn’t last long.
That was my great grand father. General Tad Malinowski of Poland who walked into that Czech town.
Thanks for sharing.
Komt deze ook op het NL kanaal? Niet dat ik geen Engels begrijp, maar ben gewoon benieuwd 😂
Jawel.
Regarding 4:45 - while its true there were forced labourers, you missed an opportunity to explain a critical component of life in the protectorate.
The exchange rate between Reichsmarks and Koruna was intentionally skewed very favourably towards Germany by Nazi officials. This meant that you could purchase much more Czech goods with German marks than you could otherwise with Korunas. This was also a contributing factor to a mass shortage in goods across the protectorate.
When Czechs were offered labour in Germany proper, some were happy to go work so as they would come back far wealthier. Fun fact: some streets after the war in some villages in Czechia were renamed 'At Hitlers' etc. to make fun of folks who had benefited and built houses with labour money from Germany.
Thanks for sharing this.
That's "fun?"
Not very sure about them volunteering to go to work to factories in Germany. My great-grandmother told me, that there has been chosen years, which had to go to work to the factories. She was one of them, as she was born in 1924. My great-grandfather offered her to marry her, so she did not have to go in the end - they married within 2 weeks, even when they did not know each other, just that she does not have to go there.
In the factories were working many people - mainly women - from different nations, kidnapped woman's from occupied countries etc. Her friend was not lucky and had to go to work there. She was saying terrifying stories. When americans came to the Germany, the first thing they did was bombarding these factories. Her friend was save, as that time she went back home for holidays. They hid her in a hole in the forest, so she did not have to go back.
Many czechs and slavs died in these factories. If you disagreed with anything, they did not have any issue to torture you or kill you. Not very fun staff and definitely the people were not getting wealthy from that.
Would worth it to check the facts before spreading this disinformation, how good was to go to work to gun factories in Germany next time.
Was general Toussaint originally French?
As far as I know he wasn't.
Not to be forgotten history!
Never forget.
I guess it was necessary to check a pronunciation of the Protectorat's Staatspräsident's name: he was [ˈɛmɪl ˈɦaːxa] (wiki: In Czech, the letter ch is a digraph... however it is a single phoneme (pronounced as a voiceless velar fricative [x])), not [ˈɛmɪl ˈɦaːtʃa] as you told.
And once more: historically more correct is to say that pro-Axis Russians took part in Prague uprising wasn't ROA, because it hadn't been exist at that moment (and, to be honest, de facto never existet), it was a part of Armed forces of the Peoples' of Russia Liberation comittee (ВС КОНР, Вооруженные силы Комитета освобождения народов России), which consisted of not only former ROA units and members but also a lot of former and still existing Russian collaborationist units (f.e. XV SS cavalry corps). But only one Comittee Armed Forces unit took part in the uprising - it's 1st Infantry (or in German designation 600. Infanterie-division (Rus.)) leading by it's commander Maj.Gen. S. Bunjachenko.
The short-lived name ROA continued to be used.
Where have you been ?
Right here.
As czech person Thank You for makeing this video ♥️ just be carefull, most of the czech names you wrote incorrect
Thanks for watching.
Munich 38. No Czechoslovakia attending.
Paris 73. No South Vietnam attending.
Doha 2021. No Afghanistan government attending.
……….
🤔
Great video, thank you very much, but... The Czech resistance weren´t only assassination of Reinhard Heydrich and Prague uprising. For example: On the 28. of October 1939 took place in Prague big demonstration against nazi occupation (approximately 100 000 people were in the streets). Central Leadership of Home Resistance during 1940-1941 had best intelligence and military reports for London from all occupied countries (from Prague were sent to the London more than 20 000 wire messages). The three kings of Czech resistance (Josef Balabán, Josef, Mašín and Václav Moravek) was responsible for bomb attacks in Leipzig, Munich, and Berlin. For example: They placed on the 15. of September 1939 in Berlin one suitcase of explosives in police headquarters and another at the Ministry of Air Travel. Both buildings were damaged. On the 30. of December 1940 they tried to assassinate military commander and leading member of the Nazi Party Heinrich Himmler in the railway station. Unfortunately, Himmler’s train was diverted to another station due to technical problems, but bomb blew up and station was very damaged. In summer and autumn 1941 make resistance sabotage and strikes, work slowed down and so on.
Thanks for sharing this.
Another excellent piece of work Stefan. Josef Tiso was an interesting character. A priest who fully supported the Germans and was hanged after the war for treason.(Not to be confused with Josef Tito of Yugoslavia)
The Soviets made a habit of hanging priests on false charges before, during and after the war. Ditto for the Nazis. Communists and Nazis alike made Church leaders among their first targets when crushing resistance to their rule.
There are some in Slovakia today who view Tiso as a patriot and a martyr
Tiso sure was an interesting man. Indeed do not confuse him with Tito.
Father Tiso solved an administrative problem for the Nazis. Who was to pay German Rail to deport the Jews to the death camps in Poland? Father Tiso's solution : German Rail should be paid from the looted assets of the deported Jews.
@@alswann2702 Hitler was quite pleased with Tiso.
I'm like, "Which Czech and where did he land?" Then I got it.
🤣👍
Who would use the real name. Typical stupidity and audacity of these people.
I had a friend, Herbert Pink, who was a cook in the American Army. They moved into Pilsen (Plzeň) in April of 1945, and were there until the end of the war. Each day Sgt. Pink would collect the leftover bread and take it into town, and hand it out to the townspeople. When the war ended, some men came to Sgt. Pink with a keg of beer. They explained that they were the local Czech resistance, and had been saving the keg to celebrate the end of the war. But, since he had fed them and others who were starving, they decided to give him the keg. Sgt. Pink was gracious, and took the keg, but, since he didn´t drink alcohol, he took it back to his company and explained that he didn´t know what to do with it. The men in the company said, "Don´t worry about it, sarge, we´ll take care of it for you."
Thanks for sharing.
Is it me or is the video like it's filmed on VHS in 1998....ah I listen more than I watch anyway....:)
Haha, those were the days.
A additional point to be made is the partial invasion by Poles and Hungarians, taking regions of the Kocise region and Poles areas in the north. The great what "if" of WW2 would have been if Checoslovaks had engaged the Wermach. The Slavic army was well organized, well trained, and in some cases had better equipment than the Wermach soldiers. I had a Checoslovak vz24 rifle and found it smoother than the K98, my opinion.
Thanks for sharing.
@Dittmann Rudolf Röhr Not of the German Empire!!! You are confusing it withe multinational Holy Roman Empire, called Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, dissolved in 1806. The bond with Germany was artificially created in some individual locations, it was very limited. It was promoted successfully after 1933 which made it impossible for the Germans to stay in the Republic after the war. Yes, they were chased out brutally. Just as the Czechs chased out of the Sudetenland previously.
I originate from Upper Silesia/Hultschiner Land near Ostrava/Czech Republic, when the Germans came in 1938 and the Hultschiner Land became part of Deutsches Reich, my Grandpa needed to join the German Wehrmacht, he fought in Eastern Front, in Stalingrad, he survived, my dad was born in 1944 as Deutsches Reich citizen, in 1945 the land has been returned back to Czechoslovakia and my Grandpa and dad became the Czech citizens again. I was born in Czechoslovakia in 70ies and when I was 18 years old, I 've got a German Passport (Bundes Republik Deutschland) base on my family origin. The Germany still acknowledge the Citizenship Law from the Third Reich and German Reich! People born on the lost German land in Eastern Europe are still treated as Germans despite of the present territory situation!
Yess he finally made it
😁👍🇨🇿
In Prague in the spring of 1945, Tatiana Metternich wrote in her memoirs, "And yet in the restaurants, on the trams, in the streets, everybody was reading Russian primers. An ominous sign, for in the West they were reading English ones. But there was no sign of hostility, although Paul [her husband who had been discharged from the army because he was a prince] still wore his cavalry officer's uniform. They would look up and then look away again: their road to salvation was not ours, but that was all. One dreaded to think of their rude awakening."
Excellent work again 👍. Hope you enjoyed Praag (Prague) to.
Greets from Grun', 🇳🇱 T.
Had a great stay. Thanks!
Jablonkow Incident:
1939 August 25 - 26 Slovak / Polish Border. A German commando unit, unaware that Herr H had postponed the war, invaded Poland as per plan. Captured the Mosty Railway Station. Failed ? Aborted ? Were under heavy Polish gun fire and retreated to Slovakia about noon with 2 wounded.
My favorite history teacher
😁
Prime Minister Alois Eliáš was hardly "murdered". He was working with Allied forces at home and London. So when arrested he was convicted and executed.
It is still a murder one way or another. Tell his family it was not a murder and we ll see
looks lovely there
😎
The Czech republic is a beautiful country.
1:48 : mixed population led to problems. That is still the case.
Please explain.
As I watch the slow death of journalism , book bans and the construction of reproductive health in my nation . It is reassuring to know that well sourcec history survives on this channel
I'm Ukrainian, but I watch your videos and I really like them❤
Thanks for your response.
The assassination of Heidrich is a bit controversial these days, as it didn't bring the war any closer to the end and cost a lot of innocent people their lives. It is seen by some people (including me) as a gesture to make it look like our exiled government still cared about what happened here.
Also letting the Soviets "liberate" us after giving up our territories to the Germans in Munich is a double whammy from the Western allies.
Your integrity and honour are more important than your own immediate life.
@@Ian8008 Tell that to the murder families, killed with kids included. I visited the memorial of Lidice and I can tell, I would trade a whole village for one living Nazi general in a blink of an eye. He would have died all the same but the innocents would live on.
@@Ian8008 Thats really easy to say...
Lukas Kubik - exactly sharing your thoughts, I also think killing Heidrich was a crazy move instigated by the bored out czech government in London, not that Heidrich didn't deserve it, he certainly did, but all of those innocent people, whole families etc that have payed with their lives for that, and the exile czech government knew what is going to follow as this was a normal german vendetta procedure what ever country they occupied, like the germans would substitute Heidrich with some angel!!! Nothing at all won, just lost !!!
Jak víš, že to bylo k ničemu? To si myslíš jen ty. Myslím, že to vyvolalo v nacistech strach, že by také mohli zemřít.
In the end surrendering Chechoslovakia ti Hitler was very detrimental. First, Hitler got first class war industry. Second, he got lots of first class weaponry, first of all heavy guns. Which guns were present at the siege of Sevastopol, Leningrad and so on.
Thanks for sharing this.
We were ready to fight for freedom and relied on our allies..It was a blow we will not forget.
They sacrificed us for the sake of peace.. A year later Czechoslovak tanks occupied France..
Learn from history so it doesn't repeat itself.
Thank you for this video👍I am proud that we were determined to fight
Who? Czechs? They were Hitler's allies. Czechs are probably the most cowardly nation on the world.
Soviets continued to offer Czechs military assistance after Munich, despite British and French betrayal.
Probably unfortunate for Europe the Czechoslovakian government turned them down.
@@rjames3981 Unfortunate? Mate, Soviets made no secrets about their wishes to invade and expand to this region of Europe. They already invaded Poland in 1920, do you really think Poles would allow soviet armies to march through the entire Poland to reach Bohemia? Naaah mate, keep dreaming. It would have been the same story as in 1945, only this time they wouldnt probably do much since the US was not supporting them yet.
VH - In 1938 (despite France and Britain backing down at Munich) the Soviets continued to offer military assistance to Czechoslovakia including 700 fighter aircraft and parachute regiments (if requested).
This they hoped would force Germany to back down. Germany was weaker in 1938 than a year later. (Partly because they took all the Czechoslovakian military equipment)
Despite interest from the Czechoslovakian military the civilian government refused the Soviet offer, and simultaneously Poland attacked Czechoslovakia along with Germany. (Poland took 3 regions, and also colluded with Germany in continuing to occupy the southern third of Lithuania)
Realising they couldn’t trust Poland or the West the Soviets did a deal with Germany.
@@rjames3981 i think Poland took a bordering City but they were hardly marching arm and arm with landsers into Prague. Most certainly they didn't crush the Czechs
12:24 - Black-bordered notice in Czech with picture of Hitler - "The Leader has fallen".
Thanks for sharing.
❤
Thanks for watching.
You forgot the czechoslovaks that faught on the easten front.
I believe I mentioned the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, else I do that in a future video. Didn't forget it. I choose not to, since it's an overview video.
In simpler terms for nations, told them they had to give up certain lands that were within their country. The Czechoslovakians should have resisted.
Czechoslowakia , After its founding, six million Czechs, 3.5 million Germans and two million Slovaks lived in this artificial state, plus more than half a million Hungarians and Ukrainians each, and around 200,000 Jews and around 100,000 Poles.
@@dittmannrudolfrohr2149 ty
@@Americanpatriot-zo2tk The Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich (Autumn 1938) after Munich agreement.
Hungary occupied border areas partly Hungarian ethnic group as well the Ruthenian-speaking Carpathian Ukraine (autumn 1938).
Poland occupied areas in Teschen (autumn 1938).
Slovak independence March 1939
On March 14, 1939, there was a meeting between Hitler and the then Czech President Emil Hacha in Berlin, at which Hacha asked for protection. As a result, the rest of Czechia was annexed by Germany and became the so-called Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
@@Americanpatriot-zo2tk Before the Nazi propaganda that Dittmann Rudolf Röhr spreads here is taken for the truth: Emil Hácha asked Germany for protection because he was forced to do so. Göring threatens to bomb Prague. This is evidenced by several sources.
@@dittmannrudolfrohr2149 ty for info
well done hus
👍
Excellent.
👍
Years back I talked with a U.S. vet who was there. He told me that when they were giving the order to withdraw, instead of bringing equipment back with them, they dug massive trenches and buried everything. He said it was less to carry and the Russians wouldn't get it. He also added that it would have made any U.S. taxpayer cry.
Interesting video, though it should be reminded that a Czech legion fought alongside the Red Army in the liberation of Kiev (Kyiv) in WW2.
Perhaps also it should be remembered that the Soviets offered military support in 1938 to the Czechoslovakians.
This was eventually turned down by the Czechoslovakian government.
👍
Soviets later supplied military support to Czechoslovakia against The West.
Dittmann Rudolf Röhr operates history misrepresentation and reproduces the Nazi propaganda of that time. His entire statements should be distrusted and checked with the help of reliable sources.
It wasn't declined.
Dobry - ‘A new cabinet, under General Jan Syrový, was installed, and on 23 September 1938, a decree of general mobilization was issued. The Czechoslovak Army was modern, had an excellent system of frontier fortifications and was prepared to fight. The Soviet Union announced its willingness to come to Czechoslovakia's assistance. Beneš, however, refused to go to war without the support of the Western powers‘
Sudetenland, Böhmen, Mähren. Die jetzige Bevölkerung kann man sehr schnell wieder aussiedeln.
That happened after the war yes.
Prague was liberated mainly by the Czechs under the command of General Kutlvašr. General Vlasov's army also had a large share. Prague was the last liberated capital in Europe. As the Vlasovs were considered collaborators with the Nazis, the Soviets executed them. General Koněv's army arrived in Prague, which unjustly demanded liberation. During communism, Koněv had a statue in Prague, which was recently and rightly removed.
Thanks for sharing. Soon more on the Uprising.
Jak muzes tvrdit takove svinstvo. Konev mel sochu zcela zaslouzene a v pozadi jejiho sundani neni nic jineho, nez vecna americka snaha prepisovat historii, pripisovat si zasluhy jinych a skodit kazdemu a vsem. Co tak se podivat na to udajne americke osvobozeni Plzne, kde zavrazdili tisic lidi a bombardovali prumyslove body a civilisty. Co vsechno by se muselo strhnout a prejmenovat tam, ze? Tenhle vytecnik je stejne placeny za zkreslovani historii stejne jako rada jinych youtuberu a vychod ho neplati.
Dobrá praca.
Prečo Česi povstali 5 dní po smrti Hitlera ?
+ 30. IV. 1945 Hitler sa zastrelil.
* 5. V. 1945 povstali Česi proti mrtvemu Hitlerovi .
Čakali či vstane z mŕtvych ?
Soon more on your question.
možná proto, že se zprávy nešířili tak rychle jako dnes?
Prague was still in Nazi's hands.
@@KevinNish10 Přesně tak, ale to pan Josef asi neví.
Heydrich was ambushed on May 27 1942 and died of his wounds on June 4, 1942
True.
Had the Czech ever forgive the West for beytradeding them
"The West" 🤔
(That's a lot of individuals.)
it was simple realpolitik. the British and French were still reeling from the Depression, the last world war was less than 20 years before,. noone wanted another world war , which the Germans seemed hellbent on. opinions divided ; what could the Anglo-French forces have done if Hitler simply invaded.. ??? the Munich Agreement gave the Allies an extra year to prepare for the inevitable conflict. Czechoslovakia was an artificial country. the Slovaks were declaring independence and the Sudentenland was going to be taken by Germany .. it would have been complete collapse, with a lot of casualties , even before the western Allies could do anything.... USSR was an ally of Czechs, but in the event did nothing.
That's were it came down to.
@@coling3957 Do you genuinely think that the extra year which France and the UK gained by giving up the Sudetenland, and thus all of Czechoslovakia with it, benefited them more than it did the Germans?
It's not like the western allies were the only ones arming themselves, all while the Germans were busy making sand castles on the beaches of Sylt, is it?
Germany's arms industry was ramping up at a much faster pace than that of the UK and France, and on top of that they gained the formidable Czech industry and armaments.
The allies came out relatively weakened compared to the Germans, not the other way around.
@@coling3957 Which they didnt have to do, since the wehrmacht of 1940 was completely different from the pitiful army of 750 000 green conscripts germans could field in 1938. With the forts there is no doubt in my mind the germans wouldnt get past the border.
Very good/ BZ
The Česko-Slovensks Republica - Malá, ale našě is an interesting map
Belated Happy Liberation Day
🇳🇱👍
Hácha should be pronounced as /'ha:xa/.
Ok.
what? no umbrella toting man wit his "peace in our time" paper ? one of the most shamefull act in history! never negotiate with bullies!
I understand.
It would be awesome if Israel could exist without the world wars and the German Expulsions.
I would love to visit Prussia, Sudetenland, the Baltic Ethnic Germans, the German Romanians Georgia Azerbaijan and Central Asia such a shame that I can't.
I want to know their dialects, culture characteristics and food.
Such a shame that it didn't happen in our lifetime. 😔🙁☹️😟😢😥😭
I'd also love to see an intermixed eastern europe, like pre ww2, Poles, Batls, Ukrainians, and many more living together in 1 city, with germans and jews
@@heartsofiron4ever good idea Hearts of Iron.
@@heartsofiron4ever Like pre ww2 ? That is so incredibly ignorant, it is Stupid.
@@metanoian965 but with peace
No matter how unfashionable it might be, how horrifying to Russophobes of today, we mustn’t forget that the Czechoslovak government was completely willing to accept Soviet offers to provide troops in the face of Nazi drives to carve up the country. Poland refused to allow Red Army passage its territory, and then, went on to join the Nazis in seizing a slice of Czechoslovak territory for itself.
This again? Poland took only a very tiny slice and absolutely nothing above it. Does it bother you that the Czechs weren's as anti-german as the soviet sympathizers would want you to believe? Maybe the Czechs were willing to accept the soviet offer, but unwilling to respect the sovereignty of Poland who would be pacified by the soviet troops. To quote Stalin: "Wherever the red army's soldier puts his foot, there's already the Soviet Union".
@@aleksanderwielopolski8205 ‘ Only a tiny slice ‘ ? I’m quite certain that that is certainly not how the Czechoslovak state viewed matters, seeing Polish nationalists like Beck ( when they weren’t too busy doing there utmost to encourage right - wing Zionist fanatics like Betar ‘ to rid ‘ Poland of as many of its Jews as possible…) slithering in a wholly unscrupulous, disgraceful manner alongside Hitler in the evisceration of a neighbour. Pro-German sentiment in Prague ? Barely existent. The government had its hands full with treasonous collusion, led by Konrad Henlein, to tear off a vast chunk of precious territory, a conspiracy rooted in Berlin. What pro-Germanism are you on about ? Czech politicians were in far closer contact, for obvious reasons, with Moscow than they ever could be with Berlin. Is it coincidental that a Czech stateswoman suffered a cardiac arrest in the company of Nazis, and not the CPSU ? Why, too, have I yet to have read of anything remotely resembling the unbelievably revolting, almost innumerable outbreaks of anti - Semitic pogroms in post-war Poland occurring in Czechoslovakia ?
Russia knew that the liberation of Czechoslovakia would be unrealistic. There was no way to reach them and it just washed its hands populistically like Pontius Pilate. In 1939, it recognized the Slovak Fascist State and the Munich Agreement. So they are traitors like France and Britain. The Russians then helped the Nazis divide Poland and the sphere of influence.
Good point Matthew. As regards Poland it’s Important to note that the Soviets only did a deal with Germany to partition Poland after their offer of a common front against Germany was rejected.
In 1938 (despite France and Britain backing down at Munich) the Soviets continued to offer military assistance to Czechoslovakia including 700 fighter aircraft and parachute regiments (if requested).
This they hoped would force Germany to back down. Germany was weaker in 1938 than a year later. (Partly because they took all the Czechoslovakian military equipment)
Despite interest from the Czechoslovakian military the civilian government refused the Soviet offer, and simultaneously Poland attacked Czechoslovakia along with Germany. (Poland took 3 regions, and also colluded with Germany in continuing to occupy the southern third of Lithuania)
Realising they couldn’t trust Poland or the West the Soviets did a deal with Germany.
PS As pointed out elsewhere a Czech legion fought alongside the Red Army in liberating Kiev.
@@rjames3981 the civil government of Czechoslovakia did not refuse anything, but the USSR, on the contrary, claimed that if France and Great Britain helped Czechoslovakia against Germany, it would also help. But France and Britain signed the Munich Agreement and the USSR later signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and immediately recognized the Munich Agreement
👍
😁
Thanks for your comment.