Prague, Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral
Hiding place of parachutes during the WW2 · Resslova 1780/8, 120 00 Prague-Prague 2, Czech Republic
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My Brother Was Hiding the Parachutes

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Jiřina Petřková´s brother, Vladimí Petřek, was an orthodox priest hiding parachutes in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral. In this group of parachutes there were also Gabčík and Kubiš who killed the dreaded leader of the Protectorate, Reinhard Heydrich in May, 1942. After the betrayal of Karel Čurda, one of the parachutes and the hiding place was revealed and Vladimí Petřek was arrested. The process of his examination and torture was under the control of K. H. Frank. Jiřina´s family did not know about Vladimír´s involvement in the resistance movement. “In those days he was not very talkative. He just dropped a word or two. As I said. it was in Spring, 1942 and the only thing I remember is that my sister Zdena told me that K. H. Frank should disappear, that somebody should kill him and Vladimír replied: ‛Do you really think so? I know about someone better! ’ That was the only thing.” Under the terms of sudden reprisals Jiřina Petřková went through three different concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

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Jiřina Petřková

Jiřina Petřková

Mrs. Jiřina Petřková was born on April 2, 1914 in a Greek Orthodox family. She spent her childhood in Pavlovičky near Olomouc. She studied at a grammar school and a teachers' institute. After graduation she worked in minority schools in Moravská Chrástová and Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou. After the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938, she returned to Olomouc and she taught in the nearby villages. Her brother, Vladimír Petřek, was a Greek Orthodox priest who had studied theology in Yugoslavia. He was involved in the resistance movement during WWII and he helped to hide the paratroopers who had assassinated R. Heydrich. He was executed in September, 1942. Mrs. Jiřina and her family were first imprisoned in Olomouc and subsequently in Brno. In March, 1943, they were transported to Auschwitz. Mrs. Jiřina worked on leveling the ground and later she was separating clothing confiscated from the newly arriving prisoners. Her mother and her sister Milada died in Auschwitz. In August, Jiřina and her sisters were transported to Ravensbrück and shortly after, to Neubrandenburg where she worked in an aircraft factory. In Spring, 1945 she and other prisoners were to leave Neubrandenburg in another transport. In the chaos at the end of the war, the wardens abandoned the transport and the imprisoned women were left free. Mrs. Jiřina returned to Czechoslovakia, settled in Prague and continued to work as a teacher. She died just a day before celebrating her 98th birthday on Sunday April 1, 2012.

Prague, Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral

Available in: English | Česky

The orthodox cathedral of Ss. Cyril and Methodius was a hiding place and after that a scene of the last resistance of five Czechoslovak parachutes from England during the Second World War. Between these five there were also the soldiers who organised and assassinated the Reich protector Reinhard Heydrich. The parachutes fought almost 800 members of the security forces of the Protectorate. The fight lasted incredible six hours.

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