LiberationLiberation

Liberation

65th ANNIVERSARY 2010

By Rona Mendelsohn

During the final weeks of World War II, the task of freeing the western por- tion of Czechoslovakia fell to the soldiers of the American Third Army, led by General George S. Patton, Jr. The following article is a day-by-day account of that momentous two-week period, which is clearly etched in the memories of those who lived through it. Many Czech citizens have written to the Ameri- can Embassy, sending photographs and sharing their recollections of those days in great detail. The Embassy thanks them for their generous assistance and valuable information. This account, however, has been compiled from the American side.

It was written by Rona Mendelsohn, a professional writer in Washington, D. C, after consulting more than 20 original sources, including letters, books, military records, newspaper articles, and personal interviews.

Cover and left: After its liberation, Pilsen was the scene of a victory parade by the U.S. 3rd Army. 1 n May 4, 1945, General the passes before anything hit us.” He had George S. Patton’s forces were also profited from the 97th Infantry Divi- deployed along the Czechoslo- sion’s attack on Cheb on April 25. Other vak-German-Austrian border. U.S. Army elements had advanced beyond He received a call from Gen- Cheb to Schönbrunn. eral Omar Bradley, Commander of the U.S. The American Third Army, now num- 12thO Army Group, saving that “the green bering more than 500,000 men in 18 divi- light is on for the attack on Czechoslovakia,” sions, was poised and ready to storm through and wanting to know when Patton could put Czechoslovakia in the early morning hours the invasion into effect. of May 5, 1945. “Tomorrow morning,” Patton replied. Bradley was skeptical that the attack could be carried out so soon, but after his Wednesday, April 25, 1945 long acquaintance with the way Patton oper- ated, he had reason to believe Patton would The last offensive of the war had actu- do as he said. ally begun just as advance patrols of the Patton wrote in his diary about that day: U.S. First and Ninth Armies made contact “I immediately called the V Corps and told with the Russians on April 25. Units of Gen- them to get going with the First and Second eral Hodges’ First Army found soldiers from Infantry Divisions and the Sixteenth Ar- Marshal Konev’s First Ukrainian Army at mored Division.” the Mulde River, at the Elbe, and beyond Major General Clarence R. Huebner was the Elbe near the northwestern border of just sitting down to dinner when he received Czechoslovakia, in German territory. It was Patton’s call. Patton remembered the conver- a historic and joyful meeting for the two al- sation: lied armies, the first link-up of forces in the “I want you to attack Pilsen in the morn- war. Nazi German was, at last, cut into two. ing.” That same day, American bombers hit “Yes, Sir.” the notorious Škoda Military-Industrial “Can you do it?” Works and Airfield in flights over Pilsen. “Yes, Sir.” American troops of the 97th Division “Fine, move fast now. We haven’t got followed closely upon the bombers’ path. At much time left in this war. I’ll be up to see 9:00 a.m., the soldiers moved on Cheb. En- you. Good-bye.” countering heavy enemy fire from mortars, General Huebner reportedly returned to machine guns, rockets, and small arms, the his table and announced, “We attack Pilsen Division spread into the southwestern sec- at daybreak.” tion of the city. Mine fields and booby traps Patton’s earlier plans of deployment had also lay in the soldiers’ route, hindering their paid off. He had allowed the Fifth and the forward movement. It took nine hours for 90th Divisions to open crossings at several them to capture the city; but by 6:00 p.m. points along the Czechoslovak-German bor- only scattered snipers remained. der. “In case we had to attack Prague,” Pat- Cheb was the first major Czech city to be ton reasoned, “we would at least be through liberated by American forces.

2 Infantrymen of the 97th Division (above and bottom right) comb the streets of Pilsen and take out of combat the last shelters of the German snipers. Below: Pilsen illuminated by signal lights shortly before the air attack on April 25, 1945.

3 A convoy of the 26th Infantry Division makes its way to the village of Lažíšťko, east of Prachatice. Right: The first U.S. tank reaches Sušice. Opposite: Celebration in the square of Starý Plzenec.

With thanks to the family of the late Mirko Kren, and to all others who have kept photo material to this day and lent it for reproduction in this pamphlet. 4 5 6 XII Corps Division rolled southeast from the Czechoslovak-German border and on May 6 liberated Horažďovice (left), Katovice (bottom), and Strakonice (right). In Rokycany and all other towns the citizens removed the German eagle from public buildings.

7 8 On Independence Day, July 4, 1945, Pilsen was the scene of a victory parade in the presence of General Dwight D. Eisenhower (left), Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. The Commander of the U,S. 3rd Army, George S. Patton, is shown in Horažďovice (right).

9 Thursday, April 26, 1945 maps, C Troop finally located its destina- tion and succeeded in releasing the prison- Meanwhile, part of Patton’s Third Army ers, whose numbers turned out to be more was moving swiftly southeastward, to the nearly 670. All available trucks were sent right of the First Army. In late April snow from Second Cavalry headquarters to help and rain, the soldiers rolled through the evacuate the men. Sudetenland and deployed along the Ger- As C Troop was completing its mission, man-Austrian border. Then came an April soldiers from A Troop rushed south to cap- 26 announcement from General Dwight D. ture the horse breeding farm of Hostouň, one Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the of the best-known in Europe. In addition to Allied Forces in Europe. taking 200 Nazi prisoners, the troop seized Eisenhower ordered Lieutenant General 750 new aircraft engines at the site. William H. Simpson to halt his Ninth Army at the Elbe and commanded the American First and Third Armies to halt where they Friday, April 27 to were. According to a New York Times ar- Monday, April 30, 1945 ticle of the era, it was unclear whether the order had been “dictated by the Great Pow- During four more days, portions of the ers” (Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the American First Army took up position along United States) or made “in the belief that it the German border and inside Czechoslo- was a military necessity.” vakia to the northeast. From the junction of Despite the order, the American Second the Elbe and Mulde Rivers at Dessau in the Cavalry Group also crossed the border far- north to Ronšperk in the south, the Ameri- ther south into Czechoslovakia on a well- can troops faced the disorganized and disin- intentioned mission. During the night, an tegrating Nazi Army. Their orders were “to American and two British escapees made clear a zone extending generally southeast”; contact with the unit, informing the soldiers the task was completed in alpine snow, rain about a group of approximately 350 British and cold, with slippery roads impeding their and American prisoners some eight kilome- advance more than enemy opposition. ters ahead near the Czech town of Bělá nad The American Third Army continued to Radbuzou (northwest of Domažlice). They press toward Czechoslovakia to the south, urged the soldiers to liberate the prisoners. east and northeast. Some groups were oc- Suspicious at first, the men from C Troop cupied with seizing the Železnorudský Pass decided to undertake the task after getting into the country, while other moved farther the go-ahead from one of their colonels. The south, from Hostouň to Zwiesel and Grafe- troop, reinforced by a platoon of light tanks, nau in Germany. Along the way, the Second dashed through a wooded area along a ridge Squadron of XII Corps received the surren- and arrived at the Czech town, astonishing der of 4,696 White Russian soldiers who had the residents, who had been unaware of how been fighting with the Nazis. close the Americans actually were. Other Allied Armies in Europe did their Momentarily stalled by confusion over last fighting against the Nazis on April 29.

10 11 The Nazi forces in Italy surrendered that Irwin wrote in his diary. As part of the plan, Sunday, with the capitulation to become ef- General Huebner’s V Corps (First Army) be- fective at noon on Wednesday, May 2. gan relieving the northernmost units of XII But even better news came to the troops Corps. Two days later, V Corps would be on the final day of April: It was announced transferred to the Third Army. that Adolf Hitler had been found dead in his Gradually, the First Army was preparing bunker in Berlin; Admiral Karl Dönitz had to redeploy in the Pacific Theater of the war, been appointed Führer. leaving the Third Army to mop up in Central Final victory for the Allies in Europe Europe. The stage was also being set for an seemed at hand, but still the Americans operation that General Eisenhower had told fought on. No order to halt and await sur- the Russians about a few days earlier — an render had been given. And so the First and advance of troops up to 64 kilometers inside Third Armies regrouped in Central Europe Czechoslovakia to Karlovy Vary, Pilsen, and even as they awaited the end of the war. České Budějovice. It took two more days for the troops to be sufficiently in place and ready for the -fi Tuesday, May 1, 1945 nal push into Czechoslovakia. During those days, until the order was given to advance on Continuing its limited attacks, the 97th May 4, reports of large-scale Nazi surrenders Division arrived at Domažlice. Another regi- elsewhere began filtering in. The Russian flag ment farther to the north launched an assault flew over Berlin, and Nazi forces in Denmark to gain better ground, while advancing and had turned themselves over to Danish patriots. occupying Schönbrunn, southwest of Kar- As though he sensed the final demise of lovy Vary. Germany, Admiral Dönitz declared Prague In the South, the Second Cavalry Group an open city, or “hospital town,” before leav- cleared the Einstein Pass into Czechoslova- ing Hamburg on May 3. By that designa- kia while facing moderate small arms fire tion, he indicated abandonment of hope that and reaching Prokop. The troops lined the it could be held as a final citadel. Yet Nazi pass, keeping the gateway into Czechoslo- troops still occupied the “Golden City,” and vakia open. both American and Russian generals were eager to grasp the prize.

Wednesday, May 2, 1945 Friday, May 4, 1945 Early the next day, further plans for han- dling the end of the European phase of the When Patton at last received the go- war began to emerge. At 2:00 p.m., Major ahead from General Bradley on the night of General Stafford Leroy Irwin received or- May 4, V Corps and XII Corps were ready ders not to cross the Danube into Austria and to mount the attack. Part of the mission was to limit the number of troops sent to the East. still vague, and Patton preferred it that way. “Apparently we invade Czechoslovakia,” Prague, perhaps, could be the goal.

12 Patton wrote: “I had instructions from Rescued several days later, the platoon Bradley, which I passed on to the Corps, that survivors reported that two men had been we were not to advance beyond a northwest- killed in the fight. They were the last men of southeast line through Pilsen in large force, the Second Cavalry to die in action. but could and should reconnoiter vigorously toward Prague.” The Second Infantry Division prepared Saturday, May 5, 1945 immediately to move out in the rain. It was to relieve the 97th Division in the Sudeten- With Czechoslovakia now under the land, and its first assignment was a gratifying Third Army’s massive attacks, all troops one. were driving eastward. In the V Corps, the Before the changeover, the 97th had First Infantry and Ninth Armored Divisions made arrangements to accept the surrender pushed toward Karlovy Vary, while the 16th of the elite Nazi 1lth Panzer Division. Be- Armored headed for Pilsen. Farther south, ginning at 9:00 p.m., the well shaven, clean- troops from XII Corps sped toward Klatovy uniformed Nazi group began its movement and Prášily. The Fourth Armored Division through the Second Division’s line, to the reconnoitered routes to Prague, which it ex- rear. It was a mass capitulation of a panzer pected to attack in full force the next day. division, virtually intact, surrendering with This belief was most likely due to a radio all its personnel and arms. report Patton heard about partisans having In order, they laid down their weapons taken Prague. In view of the report, Patton and walked into the Division’s prisoner-of- wrote, “it seems desirable to me to push on war enclosure. The ground was dotted with and help them.” neat stacks of rifles, grenades, and other Pursuing that goal, an American special- equipment meticulously placed as the troops services (OSS) team, headed by Captain Eu- marched into captivity. Their commander, gene Fodor, drove into Prague on the main General von Wietersheim, went into the en- road from Pilsen. On their way, they passed closure with his men. through a long column of Nazi soldiers, in- The situation was considerably rougher cluding an SS Division, marching west in in the Second Cavalry Group’s zone, to the search of American forces to whom they west of Klatovy. Nazis abruptly attacked a could surrender. platoon of American soldiers that had been When the adventuresome OSS team in the process of liberating Zejbíš. Forced to entered Prague after an uneventful trip, the withdraw from the town, the men had one of Americans were immediately surrounded by their most difficult days of the war. One pla- joyful Czechoslovak patriots who had liber- toon, surrounded by the enemy, had to fight ated their capital city. Fodor was taken to its way back from the city. Another platoon the patriots’ headquarters in a basement on leader abandoned his jeep, returning to his Wenceslas Square in the city’s center. There, command post on foot for help. That night, the Commander of the Prague partisans, the platoon stayed in the woods outside General František Kratochvíl, “surrendered” Zejbíš. the city to Fodor and his team.

13 The Americans raced back west, through war. It appeared that a large group of Polish the lines of defeated Nazis, looking for Pat- and Hungarian Jewish women had been re- ton, and, they hoped, permission to guide moved from concentration camps in eastern the Third Army into Prague. Fodor found Poland by SS guards and forced to march on the Commanding General with Major Gen- foot toward Austria. They had been beaten eral Huebner at V Corps headquarters near and mistreated while en route; their food had Pilsen, where they were planning for a com- consisted of grass and rotten potatoes. The bat team of the Ninth Armored Division to group had stopped at Volary, prevented from push to Prague. further movement by Allied advance. Patton received Fodor’s news with sat- Those who died in Volary had been isfaction, but it presented difficulties. His dumped in shallow graves; only 60 of the orders were to stop on the line through women were still alive when American sol- Pilsen. Phoning General Bradley, he asked diers liberated the town. These were taken for permission to liberate the capital city. immediately to the German civilian hospital Recognizing that the decision might have and cared for by American personnel of the political implications that only the Supreme Fifth Medical Battalion. Commander could deal with, Bradley placed a call to Eisenhower. Eisenhower was strict in ordering Brad- Sunday, May 6, 1945 ley to stop Patton. On May 4, Eisenhower had spoken to General Alexei Antonov, Chief When Patton returned from church, he of Staff of the Soviet Army, suggesting that was called to the phone. It was Bradley, con- after the Third Army had occupied Pilsen it veying Eisenhower’s orders. be allowed to move to the western suburbs “The halt-line through Pilsen is man- of Prague. Eisenhower waited for Antonov’s datory for V and XII Corps, George,” said reply. Antonov rejected the plan, urging Bradley. “Moreover, you must not — I re- Eisenhower “not to move the Allied Forces peat not — reconnoiter to a greater depth in Czechoslovakia east of the originally in- than eight kilometers northeast of Pilsen. Ike tended line” — to avoid, in his words, “a (Eisenhower) does not want any internation- possible confusion of forces.” Eisenhower al complications at this late date.” agreed to Antonov’s proposition and now Patton was chagrined, but he neverthe- ordered Bradley to inform Patton that under less agreed to follow Eisenhower’s orders. no circumstances was he to go beyond the Meanwhile, troops of the Second In- Karlovy Vary-Pilsen-České Budějovice line. fantry and 16th Armored Divisions raced to In addition, the city of Prague was not to be Pilsen. Lieutenant Colonel Matt Konop had touched. been sent ahead May 4 to place and advance While Patton waited to hear from Brad- party near the town. The Second Division had ley, troops of the Fifth Division moved along followed him through the Sudetenland, meet- the southwest Czech-German border. Reach- ing ragged columns of Nazis, some in horse- ing Volary (west of České Budějovice), the drawn wagons, on the way. The population soldiers came upon one of the horrors of the was hostile to the Americans, and the land,

14 as Captain Charles MacDonald reported, was the war to be the general’s guests for the next strange, “neither German nor Czech.” night in the former Pilsen area Nazi Military As the Second Division continued past Headquarters — now the Second Division’s the apathetic, sometimes sullen Nazi sym- command post. It would be a significant cel- pathizers and the now undefended forts of ebration. Czechoslovakia’s “Little Maginot Line,” the For other troops in the Third Army, May Americans felt that the end of the war could 6 represented a day of rapid forward move- not be far away. ment. The First Division met moderate re- Approaching Pilsen (which had been sistance in the North as it advanced toward officially liberated on the day before by the Karlovy Vary. Along the main road from 16th Armored Division), the troops noticed Cheb to Falkenov (Sokolov), Nazi 88-mm a change in attitude among the population. anti-tank guns were deployed in depth — A scattering of red, blue, and white Czech each one had to be destroyed by the infantry flags appeared instead of the white flags of before the American tanks would be able to surrender. People waved hesitantly from be- move. The Division liberated Sangerberg, hind closed windows. Kynšperg and other towns, while the Ninth And then, suddenly, the soldiers were Armored Division reached Rudolec. met by a cheering, flag-waving crowd of In the South, XII Corps Division spread joyful Czechs. “We had crossed from the over the entire territory from Klatovy to Sudetenland into Czechoslovakia proper,” Strakonice and east to Písek, on the halt line. MacDonald wrote, “and civilians lined the Other troops drove to the Moldau line in streets ten deep. It was Paris all over again, Český Krumlov, southeast of Volary. Fight- with the same jubilant faces, the same de- ing against scattered Nazi troops continued lirium of liberation.” throughout the day, as elements of XII Corps As the Americans entered Pilsen, the defended bridges over the Moldau from ag- people screamed “nazdar, nazdar.” Flowers gressive enemy patrols seeking to detonate were strewn along the paths and into the ve- previously planted dynamite sticks. hicles of the troops, while young girls and old men and women ran to kiss the soldiers. Then MacDonald shuddered, despite the Monday, May 7, 1945 warmth of the greetings, as he passed bat- teries of 88-mm flak guns that had protected As V Corps and XII Corps resumed their Pilsen’s Škoda plant. offensives, the announcement of the uncon- At Second Division headquarters in the ditional surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied town, Matt Konop was given wonderful but and Soviet Forces reached the troops. Mes- still secret news. The war would be over al- sages were immediately dispatched to the most immediately. As an American of Czech attacking units of V Corps, ordering a halt origin, Konop could still speak his native in place. V Corps had already received the language. His commanding general, Walter surrender of Karlovy Vary earlier in the day, M. Robertson, suggested that Konop invite when the town’s mayor had capitulated over civic leaders, artists and other survivors of the phone.

15 Elements of XII Corps received word of reached out into the street where the melody the surrender while engaged in a fire fight was picked up by everybody on the street that with Nazi soldiers outside of Volary. Tank midnight, and who knows when it all ended.” destroyers broke off the fight and withdrew when a courier rushed up with the message “Cease Fire.” Tuesday, May 8, 1945 The Fourth Armored Division, smashing through resistance across western Bohemia For General Patton, the day marked in two swiftly moving columns, actually exactly two and a half years since he had reached the outskirts of Prague, Then they, landed in Africa. During all that time, he had too, heard that the war was over. been in practically continuous battle. His fi- But for the Second Division, another nal casualty report read: problem arose. “As we drove around the outskirts of Prague,” one soldier later wrote, Third Army Enemy “the whole goddam Nazi Army came up out of nowhere. They were screaming, howling, Killed: 21,441 Killed: 144,500 crying, laughing.... During that week, 80,000 Wounded: 99,224 Wounded: 386,200 Germans attempted to give themselves up, Missing: Prisoners of War: and we had to take them, all of them.” 16,200 956,000 That evening, Matt Konop performed his Total: 136,865 Total: 1,486,000 duties as Master of Ceremonies for General Robertson’s party in Pilsen. The Second Di- In 281 days of campaigning in Western vision Band played Czech music and there Europe, the Third Army had liberated or cap- was an exchange of pleasantries between tured 211,203 square kilometers of territory, the General and his guests, with Konop as including 9,025 in Czechoslovakia. translator. At one or two minutes before midnight, the band sounded “attention.” On the stroke of 12, Konop announced to the guests that the hour of liberation had come. “I will never forget the scene that fol- lowed,” he wrote. “They screamed, they cried, they hugged, and kissed. After many minutes of this, one of their men, a director of their local theater group, asked if they could get his group together and, for the first time in seven years, sing their national anthem. “I told them to go ahead, advised the General of this and translated the lyrics. The dedication of a memorial to U.S. soldiers in The guests sang and sang, and their voices Cheb. The Ambassador of the United States of America is standing next to the monument.

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Distributed by the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section Tržiště 15 118 01 Prague 1, Malá Strana

For more information visit the U.S. Embassy’s websites at: http://prague.usembassy.gov/ and http://prague.usembassy.gov/american_center.html

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