To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the English section of Radio Slovakia International has prepared a special series on the Slovak, or rather the Czechoslovak-British wartime connections. Over the next six episodes, Zuzana Botiková will walk you through some historic milestones, places and personal stories that shaped the outcome of World War II in the Central European region. The first episode looks at the First Czechoslovak Republic, during those years which may be described as "the calm before the storm".
HISTORY_1_final Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
Marína Paulíny with her nephew Ivan, 1930s
Leaving from and for war
The second episode of this special "We shall never surrender" podcast series is dedicated to those men and women who escaped from the fascist Slovak state in order to join the resistance against the Nazis. We will speak about the routes they took, the obstacles they overcame on the journey, and the destinations at which they arrived.
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Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
A memorial to Sir Nicholas Winton and the Kindertransport at Liverpool Street station in London
The years spent "somewhere in England"
In the third episode we will take a walk around some of those places in the UK where thousands of Czech and Slovak soldiers spent time during the war - in training, learning the English language, and socialising with the locals.
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Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
The Pavel family in Royal Leamington Spa in 1940s
A-class operations: Alsterufer and Anthropoid
The fourth episode looks closer at two military operations in which Czechoslovak soldiers based in the UK got involved. One was a comprehensive air combat mission, with the other being perhaps the most notable as well as controversial act of Czechoslovak resistance. Both of these stories have a name starting with the letter A: Altsterufer and Anthropoid.
HISTORY_4_final Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
The portrait of Ján Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík taken at a brick wall in the courtyard of Porchester Gate in London
Brits and the Slovak National Uprising
Even though the official name of the 1944 armed insurgency would suggest that only Slovaks were involved, the truth is that people from 35 nations and nationalities took part in the uprising, thanks to which Slovakia officially joined the alliance of countries that won the Second World War. This fifth episode introduces the British intelligence officers who took part in the Slovak National Uprising.
HISTORY_5_final Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
Mjr. John Sehmer (with pipe) at the Tri Duby military airbase in September 1944
What came after the war
In the final episode of this historic series dedicated to the Czechoslovak-British wartime connections, we will speak about what happened to those connections after May 8, 1945, when peace was declared in Europe.
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Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
The Czechoslovak section in the Military Cemetery in Brookwood
Members of the Memorial Association for the Free Czechoslovak Veterans together with the Slovak Embassy in the UK working on the reconstruction of the tombstone of Marína Paulíny in Brookwood cemetery
Georgina and Jiří Pavel at the "Parachute" Memorial Fountain in Leamington Spa
