Karel Čurda (10 October 1911 - 29 April 1947) was a

Czech resistance Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate o ...

fighter who later became a Nazi collaborator during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He infamously informed on the assassins of

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

, who were later all cornered and killed.

Wartime activities

A soldier 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 ...

in exile, Čurda was parachuted into the

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

in 1942 as a member of the sabotage group ''

Out Distance Operation Out Distance was a Czech resistance group active during World War II. It was dispatched by Special Group D of the Ministry of Defence of the Czechoslovak government in exile in London. The group operated in the Protectorate of Bohemia a ...

''. Later that year, he betrayed the Czechoslovak army agents responsible for the assassination of top

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

official

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 ...

. His reward was 10,000,000 Kronen or 1 million Reichsmarks and a new identity, "Karl Jerhot". He married a German woman and spent the rest of the war as a

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 ...

collaborator.

Execution

After the war, Čurda was tracked down and arrested. When asked in court how he could betray his comrades, he reportedly answered, "I think you would have done the same for 1 million marks." He was found guilty of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

on 29 April 1947 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 ...

.Czech Traitors Hanged Today
, ''

The Free Lance–Star ''The Free Lance–Star'' is the principal daily newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States, with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, ...

'', 29 April 1947.

Alternative theory

Modern Czech historian Jiří Plachý gave a different account of his personality and motives. According to research, Čurda stayed with his family in

South Bohemia The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part of the South Bohemian Reg ...

in the immediate aftermath of the assassination. That put him under huge pressure as he knew the Nazis could wipe out his whole family or village, just as they had wiped out

Lidice Lidice (; ) is a municipality and village in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Lidice is built near the site of the previous village, which was completely destroyed on 10 June 19 ...

and Ležáky. It is posited that this was the key factor in his actions.

Fictional depictions

In the film ''

Operation Daybreak ''Operation Daybreak'' (also known as ''The Price of Freedom'' in the U.S. and ''Seven Men at Daybreak'' during production) is a 1975 war film based on the true story of Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS general Reinhard Heydrich i ...

'' (1975), Čurda is portrayed by

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition in the role of Ray Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the ti ...

. In '' Anthropoid'' (2016), he was portrayed by Jiří Šimek."Full Cast & Crew"

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

In '' The Man with the Iron Heart'' (2017), he was portrayed by Adam Nagaitis.

References

1911 births 1947 deaths Czech resistance members Czechoslovak soldiers Czechoslovak military personnel of World War II Executed Czech collaborators with Nazi Germany Executed Gestapo informants Operation Anthropoid People executed by the Third Republic of Czechoslovakia by hanging People from Třeboň People from the Kingdom of Bohemia {{CzechRepublic-mil-bio-stub

Wartime activities

Execution

Alternative theory

Fictional depictions

See also

References