Bedřich Reicin (29 September 1911 – 3 December 1952) was a Czech politician and army officer of the
Czechoslovak Army
The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá armáda'') was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary.
History
In t ...
Biography
Reicin was born on 29 September 1911 in
Přerov
Přerov (; ) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre is we ...
. He was born into a poor Jewish family (his birth name was Friedrich Reinzinger, sometimes written as Reicinger). He first studied at a gymnasium, and later at a business college from which he was expelled after discovery of his activism for the communist party. In the 1930s, Reicin became a functionary of a communist youth organization and contributor of the party newspaper ''
Rudé právo
''Rudé právo'' ( Czech for ''Red Justice'' or ''The Red Right'') was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
History and profile
''Rudé právo'' was founded in 1920 when the party was splitting from the social demo ...
''. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany in 1939, he was imprisoned by the
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
. He was released after seven months and, in 1940, he managed to flee into the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. There he worked as a radio propagandist. After the attack by Germany on Soviet Union, he was interned (as were many people having
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a partially-annexation, annexed territory of Nazi Germany that was established on 16 March 1939 after the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945), German occupation of the Czech lands. The protector ...
citizenship). In February 1942, he joined the newly formed First Czechoslovak Army Corps and soon became a propaganda officer there. In 1945, Reicin was named the head of the counter-intelligence service of the Corps, a role he reprised after the war. Between 1948 and 1951, Reicin served as the Deputy Minister of Defense, responsible for army personnel management. In 1948, he obtained the rank of brigade general (''brigádní generál''), and in 1950 the rank of division general (''divizní generál'').
During and after the war, Reicin always promoted interests of the communist party in the army. After February 1948, he organized mass purges of officers who were felt to not be loyal enough to the new regime (including flying ace
František Peřina
Wing Commander General František Peřina (8 April 1911, MorkůvkyAlexej Čepička, who had been the Minister of Defense since 1950, felt threatened by Reicin and conspired against him. In February 1951, Reicin and many of his coworkers were imprisoned. Reicin was selected for participation in the
Slánský Trial
The Slánský trial (officially English: "Trial of the Leadership of the Anti-State Conspiracy Centre Headed by Rudolf Slánský") was a 1952 antisemiticBlumenthal, Helaine. (2009). Communism on Trial: The Slansky Affair and Anti-Semitism in P ...
, and for year and half was prepared and tortured to fit the role. One of the accusations was handing Julius Fučík (a communist journalist) over to the Gestapo, a technical impossibility since Reicin was already in the Soviet Union at this time. At the Slánský Trial, Reicin and ten others were sentenced to death and hanged at
Pankrác Prison
Pankrác Prison, officially Prague Pankrác Remand Prison (), is a prison in Prague, Czech Republic. A part of the Czech Prison Service, it is located southeast of Prague city centre in Pankrác, not far from Pražského povstání metro stati ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...