Prague Uprising: “Do not let Prague be destroyed!”

JCFalkenbergIII · #1 (**permalink**) July 24th, 2008, 08:36 PM

Prague Uprising: “Do not let Prague be destroyed!”

[24-07-2008] By David Vaughan

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In last week’s From the Archives we heard about radio’s central role in the Prague Uprising against the German occupation at the end of World War II. Not only did the signal for the uprising to begin come over the air, but the radio also helped to co-ordinate the fighting. It also played a third role. At the time the Red Army was already approaching Prague from the east, and General Patton’s Third Army was in Plzeň just a few dozen kilometres to the west. Many of those fighting in the streets of Prague were untrained and had few weapons, and the scale of the German resistance, especially the SS units, took many by surprise. The radio appealed to the Americans, British and Russians for help.

“This is Prague! Americans and English, help us” We need guns. There are too many Germans. Send us aeroplanes and tanks. Americans before Plzeň. Send us aeroplanes too! The Germans are coming from south, north, west and east. Help us! Help us!”
“Prague calls the Red Army! We need your help!”
Last week we briefly heard the voice of the escaped Scottish prisoner of war, William Greig, who was helping to defend the radio. Here he is again, with more than a hint of frustration in his voice, appealing to the Allies for help.
“Hello, hello, hello! This is Prague calling London. Once again we repeat what I have already said three or four times. The Germans did not keep their promise. Prague is in great danger. The Germans are attacking with tanks and planes. We’re calling urgently our allies to help. Send immediately tanks and aircraft. Help us defend Prague. Do not let Prague be destroyed. We don’t know how long we can hold out. We are hoping for the best – that English, American or Russian troops will reach us in the next few hours. It has to be very quick and very soon. Good night!”

May 1945
The broadcasts also appealed to German soldiers in the Wehrmacht to hand over their arms.
“Please stop this unnecessary resistance immediately, and give yourselves up to the Czech armed forces”
In the end, by the time the Red Army rolled into Prague on the morning of May 9, the city had as good as liberated itself, and around three thousand lives on both sides had been lost in the process. As the tanks came down the hill towards the city centre, they were joined by a jubilant radio reporter.
“We are coming down the winding hill from the Castle. On the left is Klárov, on the right Hradčany, and before us a city is spreading out whose joy reaches the stars. At this moment the Red Army has liberated Prague.”

Prague Uprising: â€œDo not let Prague be destroyed!â€ - 24-07-2008 - Radio Prague

JCFalkenbergIII · #2 (**permalink**) July 25th, 2008, 08:26 PM

D-Day and Dukla: liberation draws closer

[10-07-2008 09:31 UTC] By David Vaughan

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By 1944 Czechoslovakia’s liberation no longer seemed a distant prospect, as Nazi Germany’s enemies closed in from East and West. On June 6 1944 over 130,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. Later that same day, the Allied forces’ Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower, took to the airwaves:

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, photo: U.S. National Archives
“People of Western Europe. A landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of a concerted United Nations [ie Allied] plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with our great Russian allies. I have this message for all of you. Although the initial assault may not have been made in your own country, the hour of your liberation is approaching.”
Czechoslovak participation was initially limited mainly to the air, but a few weeks later, the British-based Czechoslovak 1st Armoured Brigade was deployed: its mission to besiege the German-held French port of Dunkerque. It was to the Czechoslovak Brigade that the German garrison was eventually to surrender right at the end of the war in May 1945.
“This is a Czechoslovak government dispatch, recorded at Dunkerque on January 21, describing the visit of Red Army men…”
In January 1945, the Czech language section of the BBC came to visit the Czechoslovak troops outside Dunkerque, where they had been joined by over 800 Red Army men. The Soviet commander opened proceedings with a greeting in Russian, speaking of the friendship between the Soviet and Czechoslovak peoples.
His men were Soviet soldiers who had escaped from German prison and labour camps in Holland and Belgium, and had managed to survive in hiding or in the underground resistance until they were liberated. Now they were getting ready to go home, and the Czechoslovak troops in France wanted to thank them for the Red Army’s victories on the Eastern Front. The celebrations were loud and enthusiastic, with a good deal of singing – all still preserved on the recording.

Dukla
Nearly 2,000 miles to the east the Nazi empire was also shrinking fast. In Slovakia, the town of Banská Bystrica became the focus of the Slovak National Uprising that broke out at the end of August 1944, when Slovaks rebelled against the Nazis.
Radio played a role in rallying Slovaks to join the rebellion - with speakers appealing to citizens and army reservists. Several recordings are preserved in our archives.
At the same time the Red Army, including over 16,000 Czechoslovak troops was approaching from the north and east. Soviet radio, through the voice of its legendary broadcaster, Yuri Levitan, informed of the Red Army’s advances as troops entered Czechoslovak territory.
But the Red Army offensive was to meet far tougher German resistance than had been expected and the Dukla-Prešov operation was to prove one of the bloodiest in the history the Eastern Front. In the two-month campaign 21,000 Soviet troops lost their lives along with nearly two thousand Czechoslovak soldiers.

D-Day and Dukla: liberation draws closer - 10-07-2008 09:31 UTC - Radio Prague