Richard Tesařík (3 December 1915 – 27 March 1967) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

officer (Major General in 1956) and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

hero.

Career

Tesařík first emigrated to Poland after the

occupation of Czechoslovakia Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

and then, at the outbreak of World War II, fled to the USSR. He became commander of an infantry platoon in the Battle of Sokolovo (1943) and later a commander of a tank

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

, during which time he fought in the

Battle of Kiev (1943) The Second Battle of Kiev was a part of a much wider Soviet offensive in Ukraine known as the Battle of the Dnieper involving three strategic operations by the Soviet Red Army and one operational counterattack by the Wehrmacht, which took plac ...

Battle of Dukla Pass The Battle of the Dukla Pass, also known as the Dukla, Carpatho–Dukla, Rzeszów–Dukla, or Dukla–Prešov offensive, was the battle for control over the Dukla Pass on the border between Poland and Slovakia on the Eastern Front of World ...

(1944) and in the Ostrava Offensive (1945). He also became a

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

References

Czech generals Czech people of World War II Czechoslovak Army officers 1915 births 1967 deaths Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union Czechoslovak military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Military personnel from Prague Eyepatch wearers {{czechRepublic-mil-bio-stub