Otakar Batlička

Who was Otakar Batlička?

Otakar Batlička was a Czech adventurer, journalist, ham radio operator, and member of the Czech-based Nazi resistance group Obrana Národa during World War II. In his early adult years, he traveled around the world. His travels became the basis for the semi-autobiographical adventure stories for young people, which he published in the magazines Mladý hlasatel and Vpřed. In his stories, he described his experiences, which he supplemented with stories of people he met. After the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia and the subsequent establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, he became a member of the Obrana Národa, for which his proficiency as a radio operator gained him connections with London. After his arrest, he was eventually imprisoned in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, where he was murdered. His youth is the basis for the fictional series Batličkovských legend.