70th anniversary of the liberation of Ostrava and the end of World War II

Born 11 September 1911 in Postřelkov, West Bohemia. In 1939, as an officer of the Czechoslovak Army, he travelled to the USSR via Poland. He was present at the Battle of Sokolovo in March 1943, and later trained in a tank unit. He was decorated with the Gold Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union for his role in the Battle of Kiev in November 1943. He was a member of a tank unit which participated in the Ostrava-Opava operation. A promising post-war career as an officer was cut short when he was accused of treason and arrested in 1949. He managed to escape captivity and lived in exile with his wife. He returned his Soviet medals as a protest against the Warsaw Pact occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. He died on 30 June 2002 in Northampton, England.