Alois Eliáš (29 September 1890 – 19 June 1942) was a Czech general and politician. He served as prime minister of the puppet government of the German-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from 27 April 1939 to 27 September 1941 but maintained contact with the government-in-exile. Because of his participation in the anti-Nazi resistance, he was the only head of government who was murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

Education

Eliáš graduated in geodesy from the Czech Technical University in 1911. Working for a private company as a land surveyor, he was sent to Bosnia to work on the construction of a railway.

Military career

After the Austrian declaration of war on Serbia, Eliáš was called up for service with the Austro-Hungarian Army and was sent with the Prague 28th Infantry Regiment to Galicia. After only a few days, Eliáš was taken prisoner by the Russians on 28 August 1914 during the Galicia campaign.

In 1917, Eliáš learnt of the existence of Czechoslovak Legions, which he joined. Hácha believed it was desirable for the Czech government to introduce anti-Semitic laws on its own both to prove its loyalty to the Reich and to ensure that the assets owned by the Czech Jewish community, which were worth 20 billion crowns, be transferred over to Czechs rather than the Germans. Under Eliáš's draft, Jews were to be completely excluded from the arts, education, the civil service, the courts, the corporations, and medicine. Notably, Eliáš in his draft defined Jewishness in terms of religion rather than race, and German officials objected to Eliáš's draft as far too moderate for their liking, complaining that there were too many loopholes and that any Jew could easily escape the measures by converting to Christianity. The Israeli historian Livia Rothkirchen wrote that Eliáš was an active Free Mason known for his Czech nationalism, and there is no evidence that he personally ascribed to anti-Semitism. By January 1941, the Gestapo had accumulated damning evidence of Eliáš's involvement in the resistance. SS and Police Leader Karl Hermann Frank called for his arrest but was unsuccessful in having Eliáš removed. By this point, Eliáš himself was planning to going to Belgrade and from there to flee to Britain. Eliáš officially invited them to the Office of the Government and planned to poison them. With the help of his urologist, Miloš Klika, sandwiches were laced with botulism toxin, tuberculosis-causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and typhus-causing Rickettsia bacteria. On 18 September 1941, the invited journalists ate the poisoned sandwiches. Karel Lažnovský, the pro-Nazi editor of the journal České slovo, was the only fatality.

Although Eliáš handled the sandwiches, he did not fall ill. Though the Sandwich Affair was investigated by the Gestapo, Eliáš was not charged and remained in office.

Arrest and execution

On 27 September 1941, two days before the appointment of Heydrich as the new Reichsprotektor, Eliáš was arrested, put on trial and sentenced to death. At his trial, Eliáš speaking in the third person stated: "... he [Eliáš] found himself in a dilemma while having to choose between the moral imperative of humanity [Menschlichkeit] and the interests of the Reich. He thus decided to harm the Reich".

The Czech philosopher Jiří Přibáň and the Czech journalist argued that in the Czech memory of the past, there is a tendency to focus more on the Czechs as the victims of others rather than as actors in the story of their history. Přibáň and Hvíždala wrote that in the Czech memory of World War Two, the defining episode was the Lidice massacre of June 1942 while the story of Eliáš tends by contrast to be neglected. Přibáň and Hvíždala maintained that Eliáš showed extraordinary courage and managed to lessen at least some of the burden of the occupation, but that his story is neglected because while "...the Czech nation has heroes, but it is not so fond of them because it prefers victims".

References

Bibliography

  • Kvaček, Robert, 2002. Czech History: Part Two [České dějiny II]. Prague, CZ: SPL-Práce, Úvaly, CZ: Albra.
  • Biography of Alois Eliáš
  • Members of government led by Eliáš, 27.4.1939 - 19.1.1942
  • Funeral of Alois Eliáš and his wife 8 May 2006 - record of direct transmission