The Clash at Habersbirk ( Czech: ''Habartov'') was the first armed confrontation between the Czechoslovak gendarmerie and the

Sudeten Germans German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part ...

. It is sometimes marked as the first battle of the Second World War.

Background

In 1938, Habersbirk was inhabited by 3,135 people, of whom 207 were Czech. The population was overwhelmingly

Sudeten German German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part ...

. The local gendarmerie was composed of four Czech men: chief (''praporčík'') Jan Koukol and sergeants Jan Pardus, Antonín Křepela and Matěj Příbek. During the year, the gendarmerie station received a number of threatening anonymous messages, mainly targeted at Pardus. The ordners set out to guard crossroads in the area.

The clash

The first incidents occurred in the morning of 13 September. Sergeant Pardus was intercepted by a crowd of Sudeten Germans on his way to purchase cigarettes, but only met with swear words. A

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

banner was hung from the church tower, which Pardus and Koukol set out to remove. The confrontation with the crowd got tenser at the church, but both gendarmes were left to return to the station, where the crowd partially dispersed. Another part of the German crowd thrust into the building and dragged out Pardus' wife, Růžena Pardusová. They forced her back into her apartment and imprisoned her there, demanding the capitulation of the gendarmes. This resulted in a gunfight between the gendarmes and the Germans, who stormed the building but were driven out by the gendarmes. Jan Koukol and the leader of the insurgents, Otto Plass, were killed in the action, Sergeant Příbek was wounded. The crowd brought Růžena Pardusová in front of the station. The gendarmes were given an ultimatum to stand down, lest she be shot. The gendarmes then started to exit the station unarmed, Příbek first, then Křepela and Pardus. Pardus was immediately shot at and lynched by the crowd, who pierced his ears with swastika-shaped holes. Around 14:00, eleven more gendarmes arrived in the town in a bus and immediately confronted the Germans. Gendarmes Roubal and Černý were killed in the engagement. The Germans were forced to flee. Later, the dead body of Křepela was found with signs of torture.

References

{{reflist Habersbirk Habersbirk Sudetenland Sudeten German people