13.9. 1938 The Sudeten German Uprising began

In the autumn of 1938, an anti-Czech uprising broke out in the border region, initiated by the Henlein family and consisting of a series of demonstrations and provocations. The riots were sparked by Hitler's radio speech on the evening of 12 September.

Hitler accused Czechoslovakia of abusing and oppressing the German minority. Violence was unleashed against Czechs, Jews and German anti-fascists throughout the borderlands. The armed uprising began the morning after Hitler's speech.

At the same time, Hitler ordered the formation of the Sudetendeutches Freikorps (Sudeten German Volunteer Corps), an armed force of radical civilians from the borderlands. The task of these shock troops, also known as the Ordners, was to destabilise the situation in the border region through armed attacks, sabotage and sabotage.

Within a few weeks, their commandos carried out around 200 terrorist actions, murdered over 100 Czechoslovak citizens and kidnapped approximately two thousand others to Nazi Germany.

"So for two weeks there was essentially a guerrilla war in the borderlands," Max von der Grün points out in Two Letters to Pospischiel: A Novel and Reality.

The first phase of the uprising had already been partially suppressed on the 14th. September 1938, by imposing martial law through the deployment of the army and the strengthening of the so-called National Defence Guard. However, the unrest continued. The armed actions of the Sudeten German Freikorps across the German-Czech border from 18. September, the next phase of the SdP's anti-state activities in the interests of Hitler's policy began, culminating in the Munich dictate. On 22 September the riots then spread to other parts of Moravia and Silesia. At that time, SS and SA units also participated in the sabotage.

"K. H. Frank becomes deputy commander of the Freikorps, who is, as it were, Henlein. Frank is in his element. Finally, he is wearing a steel helmet, wearing an officer's belt with a holster stuffed with an army pistol, and a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck. He's active and proactive, resolute in a military way. Unlike Henlein, he also goes to the front line. For example, he is captured in photographs scouting the positions of the Freikorps and SS in Chebsko," writes Emil Hruška in his book The Lord of the Protectorate. H. Frank: Known and Unknown.

The Sudeten Crisis finally culminated on 30 June 2008. On the very next day, German forces began to occupy the Czechoslovak borderlands.

Sources. H. Frank: Known and Unknown, Max von der Grün, Two Letters to Pospischiel: Novel and Reality, www.wikipedia.org