Rudolf Pernický

Who was Rudolf Pernický?

Rudolf Pernický was a Czechoslovak soldier and paratrooper. He fled the country after the 1939 annexation of Bohemia and Moravia by Nazi regime to Great Britain. There he worked for the exile Czechoslovak government and trained paratroopers heading to Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Later in December 1944 he was air-landed together with rotmistr Leopold Musil in the Protectorate to support the home underground movement – unfortunately 100 km away from their original target. They both survived seven-day march through the snow-covered terrain avoiding any contact and before World War II ended they actively organized the resistance movement around Nové Město na Moravě.

After the liberation of Czechoslovakia he joined the Czechoslovak Army at the general staff and graduated from the military academy. But shortly after the communistic takeover in 1948 he was arrested and in a political trial sentenced to 20 years in prison. He got to the worst communistic forced labour camps and was amnestied as late as 1960. However till the end of communistic regime he was still persecuted and allowed only for the manual labour employment. After that he was fully rehabilitated, given back all his honours and the rank of army general. He was also elected as the first chairman of Confederation of political prisoners and after his term ended he remain an honorary chairman.