1938- 1945 “Czechs and Slovaks will never accept this intolerable repression of their sacred rights and cease their fight...” Dr. Edvard Beneš on 16 March 1939 Wooden spoon from a German jail in Leipzig (with the initials Č.N.D.O. in Cyrillic), which belonged to Ondřej Čermák from Křenovice, imprisoned member of the Sokol resistance group Jindra Shirt of Marshal Rodion Jakovlević Malinovsky, commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (a copy of the company Kras Brno from the 1970s) Helmet of the German fire police with tricolor and the inscription of the Czechoslovak revolutionary fighter from May 1945 Arm band for members of resistance groups, which was part of aviation supplies of weapons and material from the Italian bases of Western Allies Mandatory marking for the Jewish population in the form of a yellow six-pointed star with the inscription "Jude" was introduced on September 19, 1941 Prisoner clothing of Oldrich Jedlička from the Dachau concentration camp with the red triangle and the letter "T" (Tscheche), indicating the nationality of the prisoner A poster about the closure of Czech universities in November 1939 Czechoslovak gun, model 1924, often used by resistance workers or partisans, glasses and pince-nez from the estate of Lieutenant colonel Vladimír Štěrba Execution grounds for executing Czech nationalists below the sgraffito of Saint Wenceslas in Kounicov campus in Brno Military boots with wooden soles with heels and studs from German concentration camps Protectorate identity card, kennkarte, tram pass, student card and National Partnership Card A sign prohibiting Jews from entering Lužánky park in Brno Muster of the 1st Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka in liberated Zlín in May 1945 Training of Czechoslovak soldiers in Great Britain, 1941-42 Anti-Jewish signs in Olomouc, March 1939 The Great Jewish Synagogue in Brno, destroyed by the Nazis on the night of 17 March 1939 American-made Sherman-type Soviet tanks on Křenová ulice 26 April 1945 Battledress and beret of a staff sergeant of the CS separate armored brigades in the UK Personal card of Ludwig Kubicek, prisoner of Auschwitz concentration camp Service uniform of a member of the 311th CS RAF bomber squadron of František Zabloudil Soviet pistol Tokarev mod. 1930/33 The period of 1939-1945 was the most tragic period in the modern history of Moravia and the whole Czech lands. The Munich Agreement of 1938 marked the end of the first Czechoslovak Republic and only 5.5 months of existence were reserved to its successor state called the Second Republic. In addition to border areas annexed to Nazi Germany, the Republic had to give up large areas of southern Slovakia to Hungary and the Poles occupied the Cieszyn area. Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia were given autonomy and separatist ideas continued to grow. The shock of the Munich Agreement was also reflected in the increase of fascist tendencies in society, biased criticism of the policies of Masaryk and Beneš, and first racially motivated attacks against Jews. However, even the curtailed Czechoslovakia was a hindrance to Hitler and he was preparing for its final elimination. He used the situation in the eastern parts of the Republic and the occupation of the rest of the Czech lands began after the declaration of independence of Slovakia on 14 March 1939. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was officially formed two days later as an autonomous part of the German Reich, and the Hungarians completed the occupation of the Carpathian Ruthenia which they annexed to their territory. This completed the process of disintegration of Czechoslovakia. After the establishment of the Protectorate, the Nazis made it clear how they intend to govern the newly occupied countries. Immediately after the arrival of their military and security units in March 1939, the first arrests of non-conforming individuals began. An occupation administration headed by the Reich Protector, as Hitler’s direct representative, was established in the Protectorate. President Emil Hácha elected in December 1938 remained in office and there was also a protectorate government, but their powers were more and more curtailed by the Nazis over time. The population was then divided into three categories. First of all, there were the nationals of the German Reich, which also included Germans previously living in Czechoslovkia (about 150,000 Germans lives in Moravia during the time of the Protectorate). Another category were members of the Protectorate, i.e. residents of non-German nationality. The third category included Jews and Roma who found themselves in the position of population with no rights. When it comes to the position of Moravia in the protectorate system, a branch of the Office of the Reich Protector was established in Brno and operated until December 1941. It was then closed by the Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich. The Regional Office in Brno was preserved, but the Nazis were limiting its powers from the beginning. The longtime Moravian provincial president Jan Černý was replaced by Jaroslav Caha in June 1941. After his tragic death in January 1941, Jaroslav Mezník, who was in contact with resistance organisations, took office. He was arrested in autumn 1941 and tragically died on 14 November of the same year in the Gestapo police prison in the Kounic Student Halls. The post of the provincial president then remained vacant until the end of the occupation and the Office was run by JUDr. Karl Schwabe, a Nazi from Brno, as the vice president. The Nazis also used major Moravian businesses for their war production, and many young people were forced to work for the Reich within the so-called total deployment (Totaleinsatz). Despite the oppression of the occupation regime, however, the residents of the Protectorate did not give up and many of them were soon involved in resistance activities. Especially activities of the organisation Defence of the Nation were important and particularly wide-spread in Moravia. Other groups also emerged, but the Nazi security apparatus headed by the secret state police (Gestapo) during the occupation managed to break up or severely cripple activities of many of them. Thousands of arrested resistance fighters ended up in Nazi prisons, penitentiaries and concentration camps, and many of them paid the ultimate price for their bravery. From late summer 1944, Moravia became the target of the first air raids of the Allied air forces and especially the important industrial centres (Brno, Moravská Ostrava) were bombed. Numerous air strikes were also aimed against rail transport. During April and early May 1945, Moravia was liberated by units of the Red Army and the Romanian Royal Army, and in some areas there were fierce fights with heavy losses for all parties involved. German Afrika Korps shirt, used by a member of the 5th division of the partisan group of General Luža, Karel Kasal, Soviet submachine gun PPŠ-41 Protectorate and Reich workbooks Moravia in the Shadow of the Swastika British Type 3 Mk.II - B2 radio set, which Czechoslovak paratroops from the West were equipped with in the years 1944-1945