czechoslovak: press bureau april 20, 1943-vol.3-no.31 17

CZECHOSLOVAK: PRESS BUREAU 17 90 Broadway, Few York A p r i l 20, 1943-Vo l .3 -No .31

For immediate re lease

JAF MASARYK TOURIFG SCCTIAJMD Jan Masaryk i s v i s i t i n g Scot land f o r an e n t i r e week, '

H i s f i r s t stop was Edinburgh where on Sunday, A p r i l 11th , he l e c t u r e d on " V i c t o r y and Peace*' i n a l a r g e dominion ' cinema under the auspices of the M i n i s t r y of I n f o r m a t i o n . The E a r l of Eoseberry was i n the c h a i r . " Some 701 people had to be refused admiss ion ,

Masaryk s a i d that t h i s time the war would a l so be brought to Germany i t s e l f and' t h a t the Germans must be shown what war i s r e a l l y l i k e . I f we don ' t do i t , he s a i d , he r a t h e r despa i red f o r c i v i l i z a t i o n . He s t r e s s e d the hope t h a t Rommel would be chased out of A f r i c a by B r i t i s h and American t r o o p s . R e f e r r i n g to the d i s c u s s i o n about Ger-m^any's postwar f a t e , he s t r e s s e d that h i s c h i e f concern was not what vras go ing to happen to Germany but v^hat v l l l hap­pen to the U n i t e d Nat ions when the war i s over .

On Monday A p r i l 12th , Masaryk v-as the guest of the Lord Provost [Mayor] of Edinburgh at a luncheon where the host and Lord Alness pa id t r i b u t e to Masaryk and h i s coun­t r y . In the a f t e r n o o n , he inaugurated the ' " ing f o r V i c t o r y campaign, address ing committees and c o l l e c t o r s . In the e v e n i n g , the Edinburgh C i t y C o u n c i l and the B r i t i s h Coun­c i l gave a d inner i n h i s honor .

On Tuesday, A p r i l 13th , he a r r i v e d i n Dundee and v.?as the luncheon guest of the C i t y C o u n c i l and was rece ived

by the pro fessors and s tudents a t the U n i v e r s i t y and opened the Szobel -Goya e x h i b i t i o n " C i v i l i z a t i o n " i n the a r t g a l l e r y At the Dundee T r a i n i n g C o l l e g e , Jan M-saryk addressed an audience of 600, emphasizing the n e c e s s i t y of a speedy v i c ­t o r y and c lose postwar understanding of the U n i t e d Fata ens. He s a i d , that B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d S ta tes and S o v i e t Union should take the l e a d and t h a t the s m a l l s ta tes w i l l f o l l o w .

• On '''ednesday, A p r i l 14th , Masaryk was' the guest of S t , Andrew's U n i v e r s i t y which opened a S t . Andrew s Branch of a S c o t t i s h - C z e c h o s l o v a k S o c i e t y . He s a i d ; "The cemetery of Europe i s g e t t i n g too b i g . Our countr i e s cannot a f f o r d to l o se t h e i r bes t men. There fore , i t i s necessary to end the war o u i c k l y , " He a lso said t h a t Europe ' s m a t e r i a l and s p i r i t u a l needs w i l l be v e r y g r e a t . Later he repeated h i s l e c t u r e on V i c t o r y and Peace, On Thursday, A p r i l 15 th , he v i s i t e d Aberdeen an̂ d -ms the luncheon gu,,§st

OF R S I T Y

1 0 L E D O *VED

APH 30 1943

of the Chamber

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of Commerce, v i s i t e d the U n i v e r s i t y and repeated h i s l e c -• ture a t n i g h t . The Aberdeen Evening Press w o t e on A p r i l '

1 4 t h , that of a l l the European p o l i t i c i a n s who v i s i t e d Aberdeen, none made a greater impress ion than Masaryk.

Q.̂ ECH l E R C M T S DON'T TRUST THE G-EM '̂IANS

The Prague r a d i o has complained that Czech e x p o r t i n g f i rms are demanding' advance payment from Reich f i m s , e l s e they re fuse to s e l l . The broadcaster emphasized that Czech f irms weren ' t e n t i t l e d to ask f o r advance payment and t h a t those who continu'e t h i s p r a c t i c e would face p a r ­t i c u l a r l y s eve IE punishment.

CiECH0SL01/:\ STUDENTS FORCED INTO GEB.aN A R l ^ •

The G;;rman Press Bureau has reported t h a t Czech s t u ­dents who i.vere admitted to German u n i v e r s i t i e s must, a c ­c o r d i n g to r ' egu lat i cns r e c e n t l y i s s u e d , repor t f o r m i l i ­t a r y s e r v i c e , '"hen Moravec wanted to induce Czech s t u -detns to m a t r i c u l a t e i n Reich u n i v e r s i t i e s l a s t autumn, the London C^^echoslovak broadcast warned candidates that they would c e r t a i n l y be dragged i n t o f a c t o r i e s or war con ­s t r u c t i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n s or i n t o f o r ced l a b o r groups. The vrarnings have proved v^el l founded. News has reached Lon ­don that Moravec ' son, a former p u p i l of the Moravska Tfebova Gymnasium [high ' school] has vo lunteered f o r the ^•'ehrmacht [German Army] , He l i v e s i n B e r l i n .

BRITISH I'iOVIE ON CdECH SABOTAGE

The MGM p i c t u r e "Sabotage Agent" d i r e c t e d by Haro ld Bouquet and s t a r r i n g Robert Donat and V a l e r i e Hobson, shows the dramatic a c t i v i t i e s of a ' B r i t i s h agent, v i T e c k i n g a se ­c re t chemical p l a n t i n P l z e n . The p i c t u r e has a c onv inc ­i n g background o f impress ive Czech underground sabotage and the dogged r e s i s t a n c e of the peop le . I t was shovm i n London to D r . Bones, the government and S t a t e ' C o u n c i l , I t w i l l appear on the screen probably next m o n t h .

CZiECHOSLOirAK SOLDIERS SING FOR BRITISH SAILORS

The Czechoslovak Army d a i l y nev^spaper "Nase F c v i n y " , r e p o r t s the perfcrmance of the Czechoslovak Army s c h o i r at the B r i t i s h Naval Base, Address ing the Czechoslovak s o l d i e r s , the commanding A d m i r a l s a i d that those B r i t i s h s a i l o r s V ± L O had brought them here a f t e r the co l lapse of France , would take them i n the r i g h t d i r e c t i o n to the con­t i n e n t i n order to se t them out on t h e i r v i c t o r i o u s road home,

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BLACm / iILING- C .̂E CHOS LOVAK l A

The Ncues ' " i ener Tagblat t announces a new " P r o t e c t o r ­ate " l oan of f our i D l l l i o n crowns of which two and a h a l f b i l l i o n i s to be subscr ibed by p r i v a t e banks and one and a h a l f b i l l i o n by p u b l i c s o c i a l insurance o f f i c e s .

m GLASS FCH PRIVATE CO^'^DI/PTICN

The l a c k of f u e l has caused the suspension of the man­u f a c t u r e of g l a s s , ceramic and s i m i l a r goods f o r p r i v a t e use i n the " P r o t e c t o r a t e " .

G0FTAGI0U3 DK-'OCRACY

S o l d i e r s i n Hunj a - i a n garr i sons i n occupied Slovak t e r r i t o r y have been advised not to mix w i th the l o c a l pop­u l a t i o n " h i c h is_ s t i l l "contamiinated" by the democrat ic s p i r i t . So ld ier ' s may at tend the cinemas i n groups o n l y .

E2ECUTICTMS I F CHECHOSLOVAKIA

Vienna repor t s that the f o l l o w i n g Czechs vrere executed i n Vienna f o r h igh treason on March 16th :

Anton in Tuma, 48 E r a n t i s e k P l o t n a r e k , 38 E r a n t i s e k F i a l a , 43 Jan Meduna, 48

Prat-ue • r e p o r t s t h a t J i r i F i e d l e r , an innkeeper , 38, from J i r n y , ^as executed f o r l i s t e n i n g to a f o r e i g n broad­cast and a l l o w i n g h i s guests to l i s t e n too .

The execution ' of tv^elve more Czechs were o f f i c i a l l y ' a n ­nounced b' Prague. T^-Q of them v^ere Fr&nt i sek St rouha l^ 35 P r o s t e j o v , f o r possessing arms and aTMiruit ion and Antonin P i c a , 45, R a d c t i n f o r m- isappropr iat ing r a i l w a y consignments of the Ceman Army, The executions c a r r i e d out on March S6 and • 3 0 t h b r i n g a t o t a l of 67 executed i i : March , On A p r i l 1 s t , t h e • f o l l o w i n g were executed: Bohumil Vejvoda, 51, ijbrasl»=it, f o r h igh treason and s t o r i n g of arms - M i r o s l a v K r y c n a r , 45 , M i l o s B l a z e k , 30, and Ivan Chalupa, 56, a l l from Prague, f o r a c t i v i t i e s i n a sec re t o r g a r i z a t i o n and f a v o r i n g the R e i c h ' s enemies. On A p r i l 6 t h , the f o l l o w i n g were executed: E r a n t i s e k Soukup, 26, Brno , f o r a c t i v i t i e s i n a secre t o r g a n i z a t i o n and "attem.pting to o f f e r the enemy armed ass i s tan . ce " ; Jose f Kocka , 40, Sadska, Jose f Novotny, 6 0 , B o r e j o v , Jose f S t u c h l i k , 56, f o r h i d i n g v/eapons and Jose f Zemek, 35, Vranov i ce , f o r i l l e g a l s l a u g h t e r i n g ,

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A CJSCECGLOVAK MTFTSTFR OF HIS ESC-IPE iBROAD '̂ '''''INS broadcast on the Cavalcade of the -Uni ted F a t i o n s on

, Monday A p r i l 12,1943 10 P»M. E"T

C.uest: You are here i n the Uni ted States on a b r i e f v i s i t D r . Fe ierabend , I understand?

Ans:. Yes , the main purpose of my present v i s i t i n t h i s country i s to gather f i r s t hand i n f o r m a t i o n on e-conomic matters p e r t a i n i n g e s p e c i a l l y to the v ' e l l -be ing of the Czechoslovak people whose independ­ence has to be r e e s t a b l i s h e d a f t e r t h i s war i s over .

O.uest: How about t e l l i n g aar l i s t e n e r s something of your escape from Czechoslovakia?

Ans: This of course , i s an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t s t o r y , sad and d i f f i c u l t ' to speak of and much of i t must s t i l l remain u n t o l d . As you know, I remained i n the Czechoslovak Government' a f t e r P r e s i d e n t Benes r e ­s i g n e d . I d id so at D r . Benes ' reouest and c o n t i n ­ued even a f t e r the occupat ion of my country by the Germans,

Quest: ''.'hat p o s i t i o n s d i d you hold? Ans : I was the M i n i s t e r of A g r i c u l t u r e , but we rem^ained

i n r e g u l a r underground' communication v d t h Dr . Benes whi l e he was i n London.

Quest: " a s there any p a r t i c u l a r reason f o r your escape from your country?

Ans: I was safe and working, s t e a d i l y u n t i l my a c t i v i t i e s v/ere revea led by a sheer a c c i d e n t . One of our c o l ­l a b o r a t o r s crashed v a t h his motor v e h i c l e and was taken unconscious i n t o a German-contro l led near-by h o s p i t a l . In h i s pockets the Gestapo found i n c r i m i -i n a t i n g m a t e r i a l that l ed to my underground s e c t o r . Everyone , except those who got the alarm i n time were executed .

Quest: How d id you manage to get cut of the country?

Ans : That was not'my worry . I t was a l l arranged by our o r g a n i z a t i o n . I had a week's time to des t roy p e r ­s o n a l l y a l l documents and m a t e r i a l t h a t I could not' take v l t h m.e or leave behind wi thout being detected , , I worked as a s'toker on an engine, m.y face a l l b lack with soot . And the engineer l e t loose so

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much smoke and steam, I h a r d l y could understand how he played that t r i c k . . I t showed h i s experience i n a m a t t l e r l i k e t h i s s ince I was not h i s f i r s t " passenger. ' He was a f i n e man, an ardent p a t r i o t , b e l i e v e me. He f i n a l l y caught on another s i m i ­l a r t r i p and sho t . During the e n t i r e t r i p I m-oved by m y s e l f , s h o v e l i n g the c o a l . But another man whose o v e r a l l s , coat and boots I was i«^earing had put on my c l o t h e s before I s t a r t e d on t h i s t r i p a -cross the border , I had a l l my money for the t r i p sewn into my s u i t which I exchanged again on the other s ide of the border where the r i g h t s t o k e r was v /a i t ing f o r me. This v^orked s p l e n d i d l y and can nov-be d i s c l o s e d s ince ' the Gestapo has meanwhile d i s ­covered t h i s t r i c k .

And then ycu were cut i n a n e u t r a l country I suppose

Not at a l l , d i f f i c u l t i e s r e a l l y began now, Hungary as ycu icay knov?, p layed f i d d l e f o r H i t l e r and t h e i i ' p o l i c e and agents of the ever -present Gestapo were l o c k i n g for me there j u s t as w e l l . The people i n the v i l l a g e s through vfhich I had to pass , a long the h i l l y border r e g i o n , were a l l very h e l p f u l . This t e r r i t o r y , now t e m p o r a r i l y occupied by Hungary, i s i n h a b i t e d by S l o v a k s , ^"hen I s t a r t e d to t a l k i n Caech to these people , they e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y spoke about the good o ld times when they had l i v e d i n u n i t y v l t h the Czechs and expressed the hope of an e a r l y r e u n i o n . And, mind yoti, they were not aware v-hG I was and , although they were not members o f ar underground o r g a n i z a t i o n , these simple people r e a l ­i zed what I was up t o , and helped me wherever and however they c o u l d , I t rave l ed on t h e i r s l e i g h s and stayed i n t h e i r homes, h idden and t r e a t e d as a s p e c i a l guest , u n t i l I was able to proceed by t r a i n to Budapest . However, I was d i s covered and shadowe by a Hungarian p l a i n - c l o t h e s man, j u s t as I was pur­chas ing my t i c k e t f o r an express t r a i n to the cap­i t a l o f a n e u t r a l country a t the Budapest South s t a t i o n . He heard me i n q u i r i n g r a t h e r lou'dly f o r that p a r t i c u l a r express t r a i n accomodation, "hen the t r a i n v/as about to s t a r t , !• boarded i t and was f o l l owed by the agent. A f t e r that he l o s t me i n the crowded t r a i n which I l e f t through another door j u s t as i t was about to move. I took another t r a i n produced my w e l l prepared p a s s p o r t , made out i n an ­other name, s l i p p e d through the customs and border p o l i c e and once on the other s i d e of Hungary s b o r d e r , i t was easy to contact f r i e n d s - to send " word to the underground that I had landed s a f e l y o u t s i d e , and to report f o r f u r t h e r d u t i e s w i t h the Czechoslovak Government i n London,

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