1942: Czechoslovakia

When this republic in central Europe, a bulwark of progressive democracy and peace, was dismembered in 1938 and 1939, large parts of it were directly incorporated into Germany and Hungary. Out of the rest a 'protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia' and an 'independent' state of Slovakia were formed. The former became a part of the German Reich with a certain, though constantly dwindling, autonomy, the second became a political, military and economic satellite of Germany which guaranteed to 'protect' it for twenty-five years.

Bohemia and Moravia.

The Czechs in this so-called 'protectorate' have never abandoned the hope of national liberation and the rebirth of their democracy. All German efforts to suppress their national spirit and their love of freedom and human dignity have been in vain. In 1941 the dreaded 'hangman,' Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most feared and hated heads of the German secret police, was sent to Bohemia as 'protector' to break the spirit of Czech resistance. In this he did not succeed, in spite of executions of hundreds of Czechs in all walks of life, generals and university professors, officials and workers, peasants and merchants. The terror in Bohemia reached an unprecedented fury when, on May 27, 1942, Czech patriots made an attempt at assassination of Heydrich, who died ten days later. Another dreaded high official of the German secret police, Kurt Daluege, took Heydrich's place and increased the reign of terror. Thousands of Czechs, men in leading positions as well as simple folk, were executed. On June 10 the small town of Lidice, suspected of having hidden the assassins, was leveled to the ground, all its male inhabitants shot, the women and children dispersed in concentration camps and correctional institutions. The name of Lidice became a world-wide symbol of resistance to tyranny. (See LIDICE.)

Special tribunals were then set up throughout Bohemia and Moravia. Despite the fact that an unprecedented reward had been posted for the apprehension of the patriots who had caused the death of Heydrich, the Czech people showed a remarkable solidarity in preserving secrecy. Only on June 19 did the German Government announce that they had found the alleged assailants of Heydrich. They were Czechs who were supposed to have been dropped in Bohemia from a British bomber on Dec. 29, 1941. In the process of arrest they were killed, so that the full truth could not be determined. They had been apprehended in an Orthodox church in Prague. As a result, the Bishop of the Czech Orthodox church, Matthew Gorazd, and several other dignitaries of the church were executed, the church disbanded and its property confiscated. Among those also executed was General Alois Elias, who as premier of the protectorate had collaborated with the Germans, and had been for many months regarded as their faithful and trusted ally.

The protectorate was later forced to adapt its penal code to that of the German Reich, and the death penalty was introduced for all farmers who failed to report their entire crop or to offer it for sale. For minor offenses confiscation of property was to be the penalty. The Jews in the protectorate were even more bitterly persecuted. They were herded together in a small town, Terezin, or Theresienstadt, in northern Bohemia, and those who did not die there were deported under terrible conditions to eastern Europe, where they were exposed to starvation and left to perish.

Slovakia.

In Slovakia the Fascist government of Joseph Tiso carried on the complete coordination of the country with the National Socialist idea and practice. Slovakia declared war on the Soviet Union and on the United States, and units of the Slovakian army fought on the eastern front. In view of the fact that the country produces many important commodities for war, it participated to a certain degree in the general war prosperity. The relations with Hungary remained strained. Slovakia complained about the unfavorable treatment of the large Slovakian minority which in 1938 had come under Hungarian domination, while Hungary continued to regard herself entitled to control of the whole of Slovakia. Jews in Slovakia were persecuted as in other Nazi-dominated countries. Their property was confiscated and many of them were deported.

Czechoslovak Government.

The government of the Czechoslovak Republic continues to function in London under Dr. Eduard Benes as president. The prime minister is Monsignor Jan Shramek, and Jan Masaryk is minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister. The Cabinet consists at present of 5 Czechs and 5 Slovaks, thus symbolizing the unity of the two branches of the Czechoslovak nation. This Government represents Czechoslovakia as a member of the United Nations. During the year 1942 two important events of international significance happened, which may well help to determine the shape of the future peace. On Aug. 5 the British Government published a White Paper in which it formally and finally repudiated the Munich pact of 1938, according to which the Sudetenland had been ceded to Germany. Thus it was agreed that the final settlement of the Czechoslovak frontiers after the war would not be influenced by any changes which had been effected in and since 1938. Thereby the British Government not only rejected the German claim to the Sudetenland but also the separation of Slovakia. The Free French Committee concurred in this view on behalf of the French nation.

Of similar importance was the agreement reached on Jan. 24, 1942, between the governments of Poland and Czechoslovakia regarding their postwar collaboration. Detailed plans were drawn up for a common policy in the fields of foreign affairs, military defense, economic and financial matters, social questions, and finally transport, post and telegraphs. It was declared that the two Governments would welcome other states of central and eastern Europe to the confederation. The confederation will have a common general staff and, in the event of war, a unified supreme command. It will coordinate foreign trade policy and customs tariffs with the view of concluding a customs' union. It will also establish parity of the various national currencies and a uniform system of taxation. All the means of communication by land, water and air will be coordinated and passports and visas between the different members of the confederation will be abolished. Most important for the future democratic character of the peace was the declaration that each member state of the confederation must guarantee to all its citizens equality before the law and free admission to the performance of all state functions, freedom of conscience, organization and association, of the spoken and written word, independence of the courts of law, and finally control of the government by democratically and freely elected national representative bodies. A similar pact of confederation called the Balkan Union, had been concluded on Jan. 15, 1942, between the governments of Greece and Yugoslavia. The Governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland expressed the determination that their confederation should closely collaborate with the Balkan Union, for they felt confident 'that only cooperation of those two regional organizations can assure the security and develop the prosperity of the vast region stretching between the Baltic and the Aegean seas.'