Report from celebrating Brandýsek, which experienced the bloody end of the war

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Brandýsek

This small village near Kladno was an important center of resistance during the Prague Uprising. Its inhabitants actively participated in the uprising, which led to direct clashes with retreating German troops and ended with the liberating arrival of the Red Army.

Chronology

Local residents began removing German signs and road signs on the night of May 4 to 5. Under the leadership of reserve officers, they began to prepare the village's defenses in the following hours, building barricades and patrols and courageously detaining fleeing German groups of cars, from which they obtained weapons (mostly rifles and grenades).

On May 5, there was a shootout with a group of SS officers, whom they forced to retreat.

On May 6, the insurgents occupied the railway station and captured several German soldiers. Later, soldiers who refused to bomb Prague were also captured. They were disarmed and released.

However, the insurgents' position deteriorated dramatically on May 8, when a heavily armed and numerous SS convoy, supported by an accompanying aircraft (possibly a Fiesler Fi-156), wanted to drive through the village. The aircraft also fired at individuals. In addition, civilians were tied to the vehicles as human shields. The insurgents retreated to shelters, and despite intense firing, only one civilian was injured. The convoy passed through.

The Germans took advantage of the gaps between the Soviet convoys rushing from Berlin to Prague and entered the village on the morning of May 9. The insurgents stopped and captured them, but during another attack by strong SS units, they called for help and were freed. Chaos ensued, and the first casualties among the inhabitants of Brandýsek occurred.

The Germans, armed with machine guns and bazookas, brutally suppressed the uprising, occupied the local office, and freed the prisoners. The situation was very critical.

At the right moment, however, another Red Army convoy arrived. The Soviets surrounded the Germans and crushed them after a short battle.

Memorial to the victims

More than ten civilian victims of the May fighting are buried in the local cemetery, including two Soviet soldiers. Twenty-nine Germans were killed.

Celebrations

Every year, Brandýsek celebrates the unprecedented heroism of the local residents who bravely stood up to the Nazi forces.

There is often much written about the great battles in Prague and elsewhere, but we should not forget the smaller local resistance movements and acts of courage that also contributed to the defeat of the German forces.

Scenic report

This edited, unconventional video is available from the performance:

It also mentions the passage of Americans through Brandýsek. It should be added that this was not a combat unit, but a reconnaissance or negotiating unit.

The role and presence of the Americans

This was a mission with which they had already passed through Prague on May 7 to the village of Velichovky near Hradec Králové. The goal was to convince (successfully) the German Army of the Center, commanded by Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, not to continue fighting unnecessarily after the surrender and to lay down their arms. On their way back, however, they avoided the turmoil of the Prague uprising and headed for Beroun via Kralupy nad Vltavou and Brandýsek.

In Brandýsek, however, it could have been a stray convoy or a group acting on its own with tacit approval. The Americans crossed the demarcation line, but it should be emphasized that they did not engage in the fighting behind it.

However, news of the Americans' presence spread quickly, giving people the courage and hope to join in the last resistance.

The very brief presence of the Americans in Brandýsek is confirmed by Pastor Vojtěch Linhart from Kolče in the municipal chronicle, as well as the chronicle of the village of Stehelčeves, František Blahník's brochure On the War History of Brandýsek, and the Fire Brigade Chronicle of the village of Brandýsek. All of these are, of course, sources from 1945.

It is a pity that the naive President Roosevelt trusted Stalin so much and that the demarcation line did not extend beyond Moravia. SMERSH units (Soviet military counterintelligence) began arresting and deporting citizens of Czechoslovakia (originally Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) to unknown locations practically immediately after the arrival of the Red Army.