PURGES IN THE CZECH ARMY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000100380002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2013
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 23, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release a~ 50-Yr2013/04/24 :CIA-RDP82-000478000100380002-6
COUNTRY
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
DATE DISTR.~pr 192
SUBJECT P~Dge~ in the G~a~h Armor
50X1 gCQ~ERED
DATE (~" II~~F'GRMATI(~~1
TH19 OO CUYENT CON TA IH9 INFORYATI ON AFI[CTiN6 THE TIONAL OEi EN 9E
pF THE ,UMITEO 4TA TEST WITHIN THE MEANING OF TI TLE IBr 9EGTI DNS 793
]Q;R!(~ O( TNF U. S. CODEr AMENDF O. IT9 .TRAM 9Y 19910N OR REVE?
LAT16N' li9 CON TEN T9 TO OR9 REEF IPT 9Y AN UNAU THORItFD PER90M 19
PRDNIEI TfO RY LAZY. THE REP RODUETION CF THIS FORM IS OHI RI TE D.
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N0. OF PAGES ~.
N0. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
to fihe Goarmr~zni~ta endeavored to p?(arge the CzPOh As?my of -a11.
hog tile: elements o Of fi~:ere to be p5zrged were di~rided into
the following t~~e~ oateg~~rie~ o
(a,~ De.xigero?~.s
(b~ ~Jnde~i~?able
(o) ~ole~~abJ.e
Dan er?ca~~
20 Under' this o~.tegory were of'fioere who engaged. 3n anti-
Comrn~~.ni~t plots or who deviated fro~ri the C?omm~.:~x~i.et Pty
line ae ~diotated. from Mos::ow~ iea the attemp~ by Glemex~rt~.~~
8~~ermo~,~a9 et al to pattern the ?r~egizrie al.o~.r~ the 1ine~ of
Ma.~~ha1 T:itao ? ~ m Alpo in this oategor~~ were those of"fieer~
~who~ d.Tariasg the laet two wary, had ser~;ed in the army of
and western pow~;r o~? in a Czeoh rnil~.tar~ -unit ~vbordinated
CLASSIFICATION SECRET/SEGURIT~ INFORNA'TION
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/24 :CIA-RDP82-000478000100380002-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release ~a 50-Yr2013/04/24 :CIA-RDP82-000478000100380002-6
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agents name to Pelhrimov and arrested Janda, Presumably
soma notes bearing the names of other conspirators were
found in his possession. after two or three days the rest
to any western power; officers who were abroad in the Czech
.Military Misisior~, or, as reserue officers, were represents-
fives for some trade commission, or representatives of pri-,
vats enterprise,. if they were implicated in some anti-Cnmmu-
nisi activities and/or closely cooperated-with the western
,..
country . - _ _:.
1
Those in-this category who were considered to be most den-
geraus were court-martialled, shot, s.nd their property was
confiscated, Those considered to be less dangerous were --
court-martialled, deprived of their ranks, civil rights,
property, pensions, and imprisoned. Prison sentences ran
s.a high as 25 years at ~ha.rd labor,; usually the sentences
were served in the uranium or coal mines or stone quarries.
An illustration of the first category is the case of four
officers who were arrested in Pelhrimov (4g26N-151~E):in
the S rin of 199.
These tour officers were part o a po cs
movement, eased by 's Gen (fnu} Hasal from Prague, to
overthrow the Communist regime. The up^ising was to have
talon place between 5 ~nc1 9 May ~9, and allegedly S/Capt.
Jaroslav Janda was selected to lead the ~sc,vement in the
county oi~ Pelhrimov. Somewhere in Prague, hewever., the
secret was discovered and mass arrests began. According
to information circulated in Pelhrimov, Ger; Haaal waa shot _
in Prague.. On or about ~ May 4g, the military intelligenee~~
of the grerup in Pelhrimov was arrested; they were:
Mai/Inf' Jiri Valek, S/Copt/Inf Josef Ka.duc, and S/Cape/'
Inf' (fnu) Holna.
s rapt Janda
Ma~j Valek waa sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and is
se orted being held in the military prison at Opava;
-Supt Kadue was aentenc~d to 25 years imprisonment and
50X1 is being held in the military prison at Opava; S/Cape Holzi~~
5, Another officer who was purged under this
5ox1 category Was Capt Inf fnu Budinsky
50X1 at the R~~.litary ~.cademy at Lipnik in '1g 9-50 where he
also waa e.n instructor. Budinsky had served in the Army
as a Sgt Aspirant during the time of Masaryk's Republic.
In 1945-~6 he attended the ilitary u:chool a.t Hranice,
graduated with the rank of Lt/Inf anti remained at the school-
. as an instructor until h~.s arrest-and imprisonment in
April 19 0. ~he Infantry School moved to Lipnik in
Q~~~>~~-5~~ ~F 7. Tt waa said. at the school that Budinaky had
been in dose contact with former General (.fnu) Haaal
and-with the anti-Communist organization. Bud.inaky was
50X1 sentenced to 17 years at hard labor
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SECRET/SECURITY .INFORMATION
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/24 :CIA-RDP82-000478000100380002-6
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U~iele.~.9 ~;ra?tJle
In this category were off ~ce~~= v~ho, :for varied. reasons, 'Wert
cons3.~.ered to be po1l..tica,lly unreliable . Also in this cote-
~crry were older ot?f'icers who ha,d served in the army under
the government of Masa.rAyk a.nd .Hanes . These of~'icers were
not considered sufficiently p].1.a.b~.e to conform v~~ith the
Communist- regl.me .
Cff~.cers considered politically unreliable, yet not dan-
gercus were discharged from the Army and. were given sen-
tences ranging f ro~i tvao to five ye:~.r s . After having Served.
their sentences, their civil rights might be reinstated snd
their property might 'be returned.. ?lder officers, otherwise
-in good. standing b'ut considered. unreliable because they did'
not readily ac; apt Comriiui~ist idealism, were being diSChargQ~
Sometimes without pensinn privile:~;eS. coheir property and
civil rights might have rennained unmole4,ted. Sao hard and
faSt'.rulc could be applied to this category because of the
so-ee.lled. kzeaman element in each partic~tizlar case .
The f'ollowin~, officers purged
under this category were
} Capt/Inf A.nton~n Kouril, ~n instructor at tY7e Militar;
'School in Hranice from 1g~~6 until e~t,xtily in 19+9, was
arrested, for alleged, anti-G"'ommunl.st activity and, Sen-
. teneec~ to seven ye~.rs impr:~sonznent at hard labor.
Kouril had escaped.' from Czech.osz.ovakia in 19f+0 and
went to `England where he volunteered .for service as
a private with the C;zec9h fox?ces fighting under the
Britisho S~Jhen he ret~ar~ ..~d to Czechoslovakia in 19+5,
Kouril held. the rank of yt.
(b) Another instructtor at the Military School in Hranice,
S/Copt/Inf Karel Va.sice~k~ wa.s ar?x~es'~ed s.nd imprisoned
early in 1949 for allegE~d ;anti-Cor~imunist activity.
Vasicek way graduated. from the Military School at
Hranice with tYze rank of ~.t,~'Znf a.ns.~ was assigned. to
an Infantry unit at Levoc. Durir~.g the German occu-
pation of Czechoslovakia., he wa.s employed in a
finance office somewhere in F3c~he~m~ia. From the Summer
of 1g~+5 until his arrest in 1~~+9, he was an instruc-
for at Hranice.
Military School in Hranice prior f.:c 1939
Copt/Inf (fnu) Beretsky was gr~ad.ua.ted ~?rom
know the enact year) with the rank of Lt/Inf and was
immediately assigned. to t?he Minisi:;ry of rational
Defense. During if">he German occupation he worked aS
He was discharged i'n August 199 as politically
unreliable.
. .50x1 he was assigned to the 48t:h. Inf Regt
50X1 & ciuilian From May 195
'until November 19 he Nerved ~.s a. cryptographic
officer at the Ministry of National Defense. 2n~1948
(d)
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S/Copt Vendelin Micech
joined the Slovak Anti-Nazi
uprising movement. He was a member of the Slovak
SECRET/SECUPI~I?Y xNFC3RMATION
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S'ECRET~'SECT.?.RIT4~~ IN:~r~F~'~.~~.1tl:i~JN
Partisan Brigade "Gen Stef`an~.k'4 u~,.~~i:t. March 1~4g.
In July 196 he was appointed. MI.],:J.~:~a.:p~,y .~~ide 'to Czech
Minister (fr~u) I~~_chner in t