Josef Balabán

Who was Josef Balabán?

Josef Balabán was a Czechoslovakian soldier known for his involvement in the resistance movement against Nazi Germany during World War II.

During World War I Balabán joined the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia. Later, he served as an artillery officer in the Czechoslovakian Army, then as a staff officer and at the Ministry of Defense. After Germany occupied the remainder of Czech lands in March 1939, Balabán started to cooperate with the resistance group Obrana národa that had been organized by former army officers. Beginning in the summer of 1939 he was one of the leaders of the organization. Together with Josef Mašín and Václav Morávek, Balabán was part of the group known as the Three Kings, which carried out intelligence gathering and sabotage.

The group continued in communication with Paul Thümmel, a Nazi intelligence officer also working as a spy for Czechoslovakia. The most visible acts of sabotage were two bomb attacks carried out in Berlin: one in January 1941 against the Ministry of Air Travel and police headquarters, and the second in February 1941 in the Berlin-Anhalt rail station, which was intended to kill Heinrich Himmler.