Husárek, Karel

Divisional General Karel Husárek


He was born on January 31, 1893 in Čechovice near Prostějov. From 1904 to 1912 he attended the grammar school in Prostějov and then began studying civil engineering at the Brno University of Technology.


After the outbreak of World War II, he had to leave his studies and in August 1914 he joined the Austro-Hungarian army as a one-year volunteer. After graduating from the engineering school, he was assigned to the sapper battalion in the Krakow fortress and in the summer of 1915 he left for the Russian front. In the rank of lieutenant on June 4, 1916 near Sopanov, he was captured and sent to a prison camp.


In August 1917 he submitted an application and on August 25, 1918 he joined the Czechoslovak legions in Russia. He first served briefly with the 5th Rifle Regiment and in September 1917 transferred to the rank of lieutenant to the 2nd Independent Engineering Company. He took part in a number of battles in Siberia and in August 1918 was promoted to major. At that time, he worked in the staff of the so-called Eastern Group, among other things as a diplomatic agent. In September 1918 he became Chief of Staff of the 2nd Rifle Division of the Czechoslovak Legions, in 1919 he joined the Russian army in Siberia, commanded by General Radol Gajda. In the Russian service, he served, among other things, as commander of special strike units in the Urals. He left Russia in November 1919 and returned to Czechoslovakia in February 1920. From Russian MS. legions was eliminated on 19.2.1920. Remains in Czechoslovakia. army. In November 1920 he was appointed commander of the Engineer Regiment 4 in Bratislava, in December 1923 he took command of the Engineer Regiment 5 in Prague and in September 1924 he went to war university in Paris. Simultaneously, he studied at the School of Political Science in Paris and successfully completed both in 1926. After returning from France, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the staff of the Provincial Military Command in Bratislava and in December 1927 chief of staff of this headquarters. In 1930 he served in the Mountain Infantry Regiment 3 in Poprad, in January 1931 he joined the Course for Senior Commanders in Prague and after his excellent graduation he remained as a professor. At the same time, he formally commanded first the engineer army of the Provincial Military Command in Bratislava, then the 10th Infantry Brigade in Písek. In 1933 he was appointed commander of the 16th Infantry Brigade in Místek, in February of the same year he was promoted to brigadier general. During his time in Prague, Karel Husárek proved to be excellent, started studying strategy and, as editor-in-chief of "Military Perspectives", raised their level. It was therefore no surprise when he came to the General Staff as part of major personnel changes in the army command, where he took over the position of First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Czechoslovak Armed Forces on 31 December 1933.


Among other things, he was involved in the construction of fortifications, and in March 1935 he also became the director of fortification works. Thanks to his results, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff in October 1935 and promoted to Division General in July 1936. At the end of 1937, due to his workload, he resigned as Deputy Chief of Staff and remained only the director of fortification work. In November 1937, he worked out a detailed fortification plan, which is known as the so-called Husárek program. In 1938, he tried to speed up the construction of the fortifications as much as possible, especially on the former Austrian border. He also participated in the deepening of military cooperation with the Soviet Union. After the announcement of the mobilization in September 1938, he remained at the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the mobilized army, General Krejčí, and became his closest collaborator. At the meetings, he assured the political leadership of the state that the army was ready to fight if it was ordered to do so. After the adoption of the Munich Agreement in early October 1938, he worked as a military expert in the International Commission in Berlin, where he tried in vain to prevent the mutilation of Czechoslovakia and to secure at least a little favorable borders. From October to December 1938 he was Minister of Public Works in General Syrový's caretaker government, and at the end of October he was involved in organizing E. Beneš's departure abroad. With regard to the loss of most of the fortifications and the planned reorganization, he decided to leave the army and in January 1939 he joined the Škoda plant in Pilsen as an arms expert.


After the occupation of the Czech lands, he was sent to Dubnice nad Váhom in Slovakia, where in the summer of 1939 he became the director of the local armory. In this capacity, he sought to secure arms supplies to the Soviet Union and hamper arms production for Germany. After the German attack on the Soviet Union, his position deteriorated and at the end of 1941 he had to leave Slovakia and return to Prague. Until the end of the war, he worked in the research of Škoda plants. In 1943, at the behest of the Škoda plant management, he prepared material on the Czechoslovak army. In May 1945, he took part in the organization of the Prague Uprising.


Soon after his liberation, he was arrested and charged with working in the arms industry during the occupation.


In the summer of 1946, he was released from prison, the investigation continued at large, and in December 1948, an extraordinary people's court acquitted him completely. He had to defend himself before the military disciplinary committee, which also wanted to acquit him, but after the intervention of the new Minister of Defense A. Čepička, he found him guilty in October 1950, demoted him to a soldier and reduced his pension. In the 1950s, Karel Husárek worked at the State Publishing House of Technical Literature as a translator. He became seriously ill in the 1960s and had to be hospitalized. He died on July 26, 1972 in Prague.


His remains were transported to Paris in 1974. In November 1991, Karel Husárek was posthumously restored to the rank of division general. His name would probably fall into oblivion, but fortunately the ever-growing interest in the Czechoslovak fortifications prevented this, and General Husárek is often mentioned in connection with the fortifications.





Awards:


Czechoslovakia:
Czechoslovak War Cross 1918 with two linden branches
Order of the Falcon with swords
Czechoslovak Revolutionary Medal 1914 - 1918
Czechoslovak Medal of Victory 1918


France:
Honorary Legion officer
War Cross 1914 - 1918 with a star


Jugoslavia:
Order of the Yugoslav Crown II. class


Romania:
Order of the Romanian Star with Swords II. class


Russia:
Order of St. Anny with swords II. class



Source:
Military archive, armada.vojenstvi.cz

From 12.07.1939 to 14.12.1941 pôsobil ako riaditeľ branch of the škoda works závodov in Dubnici nad Vahom and súčasne from 09.04.1941 to 03.03.1942 pôsobil aj ako one of the reprezentantov the so-called "Akciovej company predtým Škodove races in Pilsen, reprezentácia pre Slovensko" ("Aktiengesellschaft vormals Škodawerke in Pilsen, Representanz für die Slowakei") vytvorenej on the basis of nostrifikačného of the law on riadenie pobočiek protektorátnych zbrojoviek in Slovakia.

After the removal of Dubnice bol pridelený to Hlavnému technical riaditeľstvu in the Prahe and mal for the role sledovať development work vo fyzikálnom and strojnom výskume. The danom poste zotrval until the end of the war.

Source: SOA Plzeň, f. DG Škoda Plzeň personal writings, zbierka 0448. Personal file Karl Husárka in Zdena Muráriková: Škodove races in Dubnici nad Vahom, Military história 4/2013; VHU Bratislava 2013[/resources].