Alone with a Revolver
During the Prague Uprising in 1945, Jaromír Klika became a commander of the 4th company of the Intelligence Brigade (Zpravodajská brigáda). At that time, Prague was being bombed. By circumstance Jaromír Klika found himself alone in the riding hall of the Jiří z Poděbrad Barracks, guarding a large group of remaining Gestapo members. The German prisoners demanded their relocation to anti-raid shelters. Jaromír Klika recalls: “As soon as the German bombing started, those German officers started shouting at me: ‘As soldiers, we are entitled to places in anti-raid shelters! Let us go to the anti-raid shelters!’ I was there alone, standing against them with a mere revolver. That was the first time and the only time in my life when I was scared that they would attack me. Back then I feared for my life.” However, Jaromír Klika did not give in. Despite the fact the group of hundred men had numerical superiority, the conflict was avoided.
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Jaromír Klika
Jaromír Klika was born in Prague on 25th February 1919. His father was a renowned urologist, hygienist, he was a member of the Prague council and an official in the newly established Boy Scout movement. Jaromír joined the Boy Scouts at the age of 14. He was a member of the 5th group known as the Five. His nickname was Bob. He finished grammar school in 1938 and he was accepted to the Medical Faculty at the Charles University. After the Boy Scouts were banned in 1939, he established an illegal group Zbojník. The group was preparing for underground resistance and printed leaflets with lists of collaborators. Members of Zbojník later merged with the group of Veleslav Wahl to create the Intelligence Brigade (Zpravodajská brigáda) which concentrated on mapping the Prague defense system. They monitored the position of anti-aircraft spotlights, cannons etc. and they transmitted the data to the Military radio headquarters (VRU) in London. In May 1945, Jaromír Klika participated in the Prague uprising. He commanded the 4th company of the 1st battalion. After the war, he finished his studies at the medical faculty (spring 1948). He worked in Jindřichův Hradec and as a surgeon in České Budějovice. Same as his father, he finally specialized in urology. He worked in Prague at the Bulovka hospital then he became the head of a hospital in Příbram. He was arrested, imprisoned for a few months and interrogated in connection with the emigration of general Antonín Hasal.Presently, Jaromír Klika is a member of the Intelligence brigade veteran club, a captain at the 5th marine Boy Scouts veteran club in Prague and a honorary member of A. B. Svojsík club and a vice chairman of the Parnas club. He was decorated for saving a drowning boy at the Nežárka River in 1953 and for assisting at the emergency operation during a mining accident on the 39th floor of the Anna mine in Příbram. Activities of the Intelligence Brigade were downplayed by the communist propaganda, its members were fully recognized only after 1989. Jaromír Klika was decorated with The Czechoslovak War Cross and with the first grade of The Medal of Merit, with Boy Scout decoration the Cross of Junák 1939-1945 and an Honorable Order of the Trefoil Lilies and a first grade honorary badge of the Czech philatelist union.
