English Translation

1 112 State Secretary SS Group Leader Karl Hermann Frank: In my speech on the occasion of the first NSDAP rally on the Old Town Square in Prague on 2. In December 1939, I demanded from the Czech people and their leadership — if it wants to live happily and contentedly in the new realm of Adolf Hitler — that the Czechs as a whole should free themselves from the historical myth, from barren illusions and from the well-known legionary ideology. Since the demand for complete liberation from the Czech Legio-närgeist to this day did not find the expected echo in some of the Czech intelligence, and indeed, on the contrary, an inexplicable lack of understanding of certain Czech leaders of this question, which is essential to us, appears again and again, I want to deal in principle with the question of Czech legionaries, since this problem is important for the shaping of the relationship between the Czechs and the Empire. The German position on the legionary problem is thus established and proved that in the new German empire there is no place for a mentality as created by legionaries and partly still represented today, even in the interests of the Czech people. The Czech legions were created during the World War on the part of the enemy powers at that time, especially in Russia, France and Italy, and were composed of members of Czech foreign colonies as well as of defectors from the Austro-Hungarian armies. The only significant factor was the Sogena legion, which, after the end of the war, celebrated its retreat over Sibi East Asia to the Czech-Slovakia liberation legend, which has now emerged, as proof of the heroic forces de. Numerous historical sources and documents, contemporary reports, diaries and records prove the counter, taking into account the extraordinary emergency Czech legionnaire leadership had to see during the Russian settlement process their most urgent task in the quick and secure return of their troops - also the use of extraordinary means and methods can excuse. One cannot, however, beautify or even transfigur those methods of arrogance and perfidiousness which have been demonstrably applied by the Czech legionaries in the exploitation of the internal turmoil of Russia. Broken treaties, betrayal of Russian leaders, a chain of crimes of a purely criminal nature, enormous lootings of the Russian country, unprecedented raw murders of Austrian war-captured German ethnicity accompanied the legion during this "hero procession". "I cannot survive the reproach that has come upon our army through a series of unbridled, fanatical demagogues. They have killed the best in us: our honor." With these words in his farewell letter, the R'Chechian legionary superior Švec died by suicide. Despite these infamous facts, which were established today in the book of world history, decisive Czech politicians of the post-war period surpassed themselves in the glorification of the exploits of their legionaries in Siberia. Thus wrote the first war minister of the Czechoslovak Republic V. Klofatsch on the 14th century. June 1919 in a message to the legions: "You stand great in front of the admiring world, because your deeds have become a legend, and you have far surpassed all the heroic deeds that men have ever done, from Herodotus to this day. What are all the names that are spoken of in the textbooks before you? Superhuman heroism is joined by the wonders of the organization, the practical application of the arts, the all-encompassing intelligence, the unshakable strength and the tireless, fruitful work... After your coming home, you will be the collaborators and teachers of a new epoch, a new life, a teacher of work and organization, but mainly teachers of those heroic feelings that cause a people to rise up the unshakable pillar of freedom.' And Eduard Beneš, in his book "The Insurrection of Nations" about the actions of the Czech Legion, gave the following characteristic rating: "The scientific, financial and cultural work of our Siberian army deserves special recognition. In it, I believe, the best expression was the genius of our race.