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VLADIMIR
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К
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Паршев
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11.02.2017 12:02:57
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Рубрики
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WWII;
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Могли (+)
In short, yes they were. All men eligible for draft from Sudetenland (annexed to the German Reich) were mobilised in the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS. This includes also those Czechs who remained in the area after 1938 from this or that reason as well as those who were living in mixed community (for example mixed marriages or simply had some Czech ancestors (a grandmother or grandfather) in their past hence their Czech-sounding surnames like Swoboda, Janda, Pokorny, Jelinek et cetera)). Eventually some of them made quite distinguished careers in the German Army in World War 2. The most famous "Czech" in the Wehrmacht that comes to my mind right now would be Oberfeldwebel MARTIN HRUSTAK, born on 17.10.1913 in Sudetenland. Hrustak was a former regular Non-Commissioned Officer in the Czechoslovakian Army before the war and joined the German Army in 1940, and namely to the 162nd Infantry Regiment of the 61st East Prussian Infantry Division. For his outstanding bravery at Kirischi Bridgehead at the end of 1943, where he served as a Zugführer in the 7th Company, he received Germany's highest award for bravery - the Ritterkreuz on 11.12.1943. Unfortunately he didn't survive the war as he was killed in action on 18.08.1944 during a Soviet counter-attack near Riga (Latvia).
More about him (along with his photo) you can find here: http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Infanterie/Hrustak-Martin.htm
However, there was another category of Czechs who served in the German Army in World War 2, who are today mostly forgotten. This namely concernes the Czech soldiers from the Hultschin (Hlučín) Bezirk, a small chunk of land in the Province of Schlesien. Gerichtbezirk Hultschin/Hlučín was part of Prussia for nearly 200 years before being incorporated into the newly formed Czechoslovakia in 1918, only to be again annexed by Germany in 1938. According to the census from 1920 there lived in this area about 48,000 people (39,209 Czechs and 7,707 Germans plus a small number of Poles, Jews etc.). All Czechs from this area were after the annexation automatically becoming eligible for draft and most of them eventually had found their way into the German Army. I am afraid little is known about them. I couldn't find any books, diaries or even memoires. In fact, most Czechs don't know much about them either.
Probably the most famous Czech from Hultschin/Hlučín area, who was serving in the German military in World War I or World War II was Leutnant PAUL BILLIK, a famous German pilot, who was born on 27th March 1891 in a small village of Haatsch (Hat) in the Hultschin Bezirk. He served with Jasta 7, 12, 52 and SS 4 and survived the war with 31 aerial victories. Billik was killed in a crash at Staaken, Berlin on 8th March 1926 whilst flying a Junkers F13.
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Обычно это были люди из районов со смешанным населением, сильно германизированные, люди смешанного происхождения. Читал, что были добровольцы. Общая цифра мелькает в разных источниках до 100 000, но она очень неопределенная.
Бали и в Ваффен СС добровольцы, как без них.