Adolf Opálka" on dewiki

{{Infobox military person
| name = Adolf Opálka
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|1|4}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1942|6|18|1915|1|4}}
| birth_place= Rešice near [[Dukovany]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_place= [[Prague]], [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]
| image =Operace Anthropoid - Adolf Opálka.jpg
| caption =Lt. Adolf Opálka
| nickname=
| allegiance= [[Czech Army|Czechoslovak Army]]
| serviceyears=1936–1942
| rank=''Lieutenant'', 2nd Mountain Regiment, [[Ružomberok]],<ref name="resice"/><br />''Sergent'', Mlle, 85.525, 1er Rgmt Legion Etrangere, [[Sidi Bel Abbes]],<ref name="resice"/><br />''Sergent'', 11éme R.T.S., [[Oran]],<ref name="resice"/><br />''Lieutenant'', 3. Czechoslovak Regiment, [[Agde]]<ref name="resice"/><br />''First Lieutenant'', 1st Czechoslovak Brigade, [[Kineton]]<ref name="resice"/>
| commands= commander of [[Out Distance]]
| unit=
| battles=
| awards=[[Czechoslovak War Cross]],<ref name="resice"/><br />Golden Medal of Cs. Army for Freedom,<ref name="resice"/><br />First Class Star of Czechoslovak Army Order of White Lion for Victory,<ref name="resice"/><br />Order of Milan Rastislav Štefánik (third class),<ref name="resice"/><br />[[King's Commendation]]<ref name="resice"/>
| relations=
| laterwork=
}}

First Lieutenant '''Adolf Opálka''' (4 January 1915 &ndash; 18 June 1942) was a [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] soldier. He was a member of the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|Czech]] [[sabotage]] group [[Out Distance]], a [[World War II]] anti-Nazi resistance group, and a participant in [[Operation Anthropoid]], the successful mission to kill [[Reinhard Heydrich]].

Opálka was born into a middle-class family in [[Rešice]] and joined the Czechoslovak Army in 1936 where he served in the 43rd Infantry Regiment in [[Brno]]. The [[Munich Agreement]] and subsequent [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia]] led to the disbanding of the Czechoslovak Army, and Opálka's career ended. He escaped to [[North Africa]] where he served in the [[French Foreign Legion]], and he later returned to [[French Third Republic|France]]. He then joined the Out Distance group and participated in Operation Anthropoid. He was found days later by the [[Nazism|Nazis]], and he committed [[suicide]] in the [[Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius]] in [[Prague]] after a gunfight in which he was injured.

==Life==

Opálka was born in [[Rešice]] near [[Dukovany]] the [[illegitimate]] son of [[miller]] Viktor Jarolím (1889&ndash;1942) of [[Tulešice]] and Anežka Opálková.<ref name="lib.cas.cz">http://www.lib.cas.cz/parasut/opalka.htm</ref> When his mother died in 1923, Opálka lived with his aunt Marie Opálková (1882&ndash;1942).<ref name="zrcadlo">{{cite web
| last = Grasgruber
| first = Jiří
| title = Atentát na Heydricha před 65 lety
| url = http://www.zrcadlo.info/rservice.php?akce=tisk&cisloclanku=2007050056
| publisher = Zrcadlo.info
| date = 2007-05-18
| accessdate = 2008-03-27 }}</ref>

Between 1932 and 1936, Opálka studied at the Commercial Academy and, shortly after his graduation in 1936, he joined the army of [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref name="army.cz">http://www.army.cz/mo/tisk/areport/2002/9/p5.htm</ref> After recruitment and training, he was assigned to the 43rd Infantry Regiment in [[Brno]] and shortly afterwards attended the Army Academy in [[Hranice]]. After graduation, Opálka joined the 2nd Mountain Regiment in [[Ružomberok]] as a [[lieutenant]].
The [[Munich Agreement]] ended Opálka's army career in his homeland, and he left Czechoslovakia with his cousin František Pospíšil. First traveling through [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] and France, they fled to North Africa, where they joined the [[French Foreign Legion]].<ref name="brno">{{cite web
| last = Menšíková
| first = Miroslava
| coauthors = Jiří Mikulka
| title = Adolf Opálka at Brno Encyclopedia
| url = http://www.encyklopedie.brna.cz/home/?acc=profil_osobnosti&load=2265
| publisher = Brno Encyclopedia
| date = 2008-12-18
| accessdate = 2008-03-29 }}</ref> Opálka served in [[Sidi Bel Abbes]] as a sergeant of the 1st Infantry Regiment. Later, he joined [[Senegal]]'s Gunmen in [[Oran]].

Opálka's fiancée spoke about this period of his life:
<blockquote>
…shortly before he left he burned all our correspondence, I did the same on his request. In the morning before he left, I photographed him for the last time. The picture is unhappy just like the departure itself, because we didn't know what he was putting himself into…<!--|20px|20px|Miluška (Rudolfa Hainová)--><ref name="resice">{{cite web
| last = Grasgruber
| first = Pavel
| title = Rešice, Druhá světová válka
| url = http://www.resice.cz/valka2.htm
| publisher = UOK Znojmo
| accessdate = 2008-03-29 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080221165405/http://www.resice.cz/valka2.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2008-02-21}}</ref><ref name="resice"/><ref name="zrcadlo"/>
</blockquote>

After the start of [[World War II]] and the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Opálka returned to France from Africa and joined a developing Czechoslovak army in [[Agde]], serving as leader of an infantry platoon of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Czechoslovak Infantry Division.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} In January 1940, he was transferred to the 3rd Infantry Division and commanded the 5th Infantry Battalion.<ref name="zrcadlo"/><ref name="brno"/>

On 12 July 1940, when [[Battle of France|France was defeated]], Opálka sailed on the ship ''Neuralia'' to the [[United Kingdom]] and as an unfiled officer served in a [[machine gun]] [[platoon]]. In the summer of 1941, he volunteered as a soldier for [[covert operations]] behind enemy lines. He had been trained in [[Scotland]] in Special Training Schools. Afterwards, he became leader of the group codenamed "[[Out Distance]]".<ref name="brno"/>

==Out Distance==
{{main|Out Distance}}
Opálka (cover name "Adolf Král"), Ivan Kolařík ("Jan Krátký"), and [[Karel Čurda]] ("Karel Vrbas") secretly parachuted into the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]] on 28 March 1942 to perform covert operations including bomber navigation and sabotage. The operations of Out Distance were complicated from the beginning. A navigational mistake by the [[Handley Page Halifax]] plane bringing them in caused the entire group to be dropped at the wrong location.<ref name="lib.cas.cz"/> This, together with the loss of equipment, led to the splitting up of the group. Opálka contacted captain Alfréd Bartoš from the group Silver-A and informed him of the situation. He later joined the group gathered around [[Operation Anthropoid]] in [[Prague]] and became leader of the Prague parachuters.<ref>{{cite book
| last = White
| first = Lewis M
| title = On All Fronts: Czechoslovaks in World War II
| publisher = East European Monographs
| isbn = 0-88033-456-8 }}</ref>

==Operation Anthropoid==
{{main|Operation Anthropoid}}
[[Image:CyrilMethodious.JPG|Crypt of the [[Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius]], Prague|thumb|right|200px]]
After the successful kill of Heydrich with a modified anti-tank [[grenade]], Opálka and his six fellow combatants (Josef Bublík, Josef Gabčík, Jan Hrubý, Jan Kubiš, Josef Valčík, and Jaroslav Švarc) were trapped in the [[Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius|Church of St. Cyril and St. Methodious in Prague]].<ref name="army.cz"/> At 4:15 p.m. on 18 June 1942, the church was besieged by 800 soldiers of the [[Wehrmacht Heer]] and [[Waffen-SS]].<ref name="resice"/> After a seven-hours fight,<ref name="princip">{{cite web
| url = http://www.army.cz/mo/tisk/areport/2002/9/p1.htm
| title = Atentát z hlediska vyššího principu
| last = Marek
| first = Vladimír
| date = 2002-09-01
| publisher = army.cz
| accessdate = 2008-03-28 }}</ref> the outnumbered group of paratroopers fell. All died, including First Lieutenant Opálka who, injured by shrapnel, committed [[suicide]].<ref>{{cite web
| title = Sedm statečných z Resslovy ulice
| url = http://www.army.cz/mo/tisk/areport/2002/9/p5.htm 
| publisher = Ministerstvo obrany Ceske republiky
| accessdate = 2008-03-29 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080223133400/http://www.army.cz/mo/tisk/areport/2002/9/p5.htm| archivedate= 23 February 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| title = With Blood and with Iron: The Lidice Story 
| last = Hutak
| first = J.B.
| pages = 133
| publisher = Robert Hale }}</ref>

Opálka wrote this shortly after his departure, on his 27th birthday, speaking of [[Nostalgia|homesickness]]:
<blockquote>
I'm 27 years old today, the entire trip I pondered upon the words "Longing for home is a terrible thing, I know". Yes, only now do I know and understand. And this "homesickness" of [[Božena Němcová]], which I never understood, is nothing compared to my longing for home. I'm willing to suffer through, and do whatever it takes, but only home and home and to honestly work, work for something... How can some speak of beauty, when they've never seen Rešice and the fields from [[Kordula]] to Rešice, who never strolled through the warm dirt there, who never felt the warm air and over the grain fields, who never saw our chapel in the milk of white cherries, Husák's garden, which always reminded me of [[Sholokhov]], especially the dirt lumps under the "vortex" and the "Bare Hill" and all the other places on all of which I am. Parts of me are all over the world. In England, little was left of me, maybe more in Scotland... 27 years of life behind me. Death for my homeland. With that I have dealt, and am ready to do what it takes.<ref name="zrcadlo"/>
</blockquote>
After the mission of the paratroopers, the [[Nazism|Nazis]] unleashed strong reprisals. Opálka's aunt, Marie Opálková, was executed in [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp|Mauthausen]] on 24 October 1942.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.vets.estranky.cz/clanky/vpm-okres-znojmo/resice
| title = Pamětní deska Adolf Opálka
| date = 2006-05-22
| publisher = eStránky.cz
| accessdate = 2008-03-29 }}</ref> His father, Viktor Jarolím, was also killed.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.vets.estranky.cz/clanky/vpm-okres-znojmo/vemyslice
| title = Pomník obětem válek
| publisher = eStránky.cz
| date = 2007-02-21
| accessdate = 2008-03-29 }}</ref>

==Honors and decorations==
* 1939, 1942, and 1945 [[Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945|Czechoslovak War Cross]] (''Československý válečný kříž'') <ref name="resice"/>
* 1947 [[Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct|King's Commendation]], [[posthumous award|posthumously]]<ref name="resice"/>
* 1949 Gold Medal of Czechoslovak Army for Freedom, posthumously (''Zlatá hvězda Čs. vojenského řádu Za svobodu'') <ref name="resice"/>
* 1968 [[Military Order of the White Lion|First Class Star of Czechoslovak Army Order of the White Lion for Victory]], posthumously (''Hvězda I. třídy Čs. vojenského řád u bílého lva Za vítězství'') <ref name="resice"/>
* 1991 Order of [[Milan Rastislav Štefánik]], Third Class, posthumously (''Řád M. R. Štefánika III. třídy'') <ref name="resice"/>
* 2002 Promoted to [[colonel]], posthumously<ref name="brno"/>

==Films==
Many films based on [[Operation Anthropoid]] were made. The Czechoslovak ''[[Atentát (film)|Atentát]]'', and the [[United States|American]] ''[[Operation Daybreak]]'' where Opálka was portrayed by [[Jiří Krampol]]. There is also [[Germany|German]] television film, ''Reinhard Heydrich - Manager des Terrors''. ([http://us.vdc.imdb.com/title/tt0234584/ IMDB profile])

==See also==
*[[Special Operations Executive]]
*[[Czech resistance to Nazi occupation]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[[David Stafford]], ''"Britain and European Resistance, 1940−1945"'', University of Toronto Press 1980, ISBN 0-8020-2361-4.
*Lewis M. White, ''"On All Fronts: Czechoslovaks in World War II"'', ISBN 0-88033-319-7.
*David Chackom ''"Like a Man"'', ISBN 978-0-9723737-4-6.
*J.B. Hutak, ''"With Blood and with Iron: The Lidice Story"''

==External links==
* [http://www.army.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=9423 Remembrance of Operation Anthropoid members] {{cs icon}}
* [http://www.encyklopedie.brna.cz/home/?acc=profil_osobnosti&load=2265 Encyclopedia of Brno] {{cs icon}}
* [http://www.lib.cas.cz/parasut/opalka.htm Opalka's personal file] {{cs icon}}

{{Czechoslovakia in World War Two}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              = Opalka, Adolf
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH     = 1915-01-04
| PLACE OF BIRTH    = Rešice near [[Dukovany]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| DATE OF DEATH     = 1942-06-18
| PLACE OF DEATH    = [[Prague]], [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opalka, Adolf}}
[[Category:Czech resistance to Nazi occupation]]
[[Category:People killed by Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak soldiers]]
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Milan Rastislav Štefánik]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Commendation for Brave Conduct]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Lion]]
[[Category:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion]]

[[cs:Adolf Opálka]]
[[da:Adolf Opálka]]
[[eo:Adolf Opálka]]
[[it:Adolf Opálka]]
[[pl:Adolf Opálka]]
All content in the above text box is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license Version 4 and was originally sourced from https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=148387041.
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by the Wikimedia Foundation or any of its affiliates. In fact, we fucking despise them.