15.3.1939 Occupation of Czechoslovakia by German troops

During 15 March 1939, German troops occupied Bohemia and Moravia, which was no longer an independent state. On the same day, Adolf Hitler arrived at Prague Castle.

The Czechoslovak army was bound by the decision of the politicians and could not resist. In almost all Czech towns, the local population greeted the German soldiers with insults and threats. On the contrary, Germans living in Prague welcomed their fellow Germans with a raised right hand.

"On the night of March 14-15, 1939, Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha, invited by Adolf Hitler, was confronted with a fait accompli in Berlin. The German occupation of the Czech lands was only a few hours away at this point, and the Wehrmacht troops were on the move. In addition, Hácha was under enormous psychological pressure, as Hitler and Göring were openly threatening him that if any conscriptionresistance, the German air force was prepared to launch a devastating raid on Prague and other Czech cities, with the expectation that they would be ruthlessly razed to the ground. It was mainly the civilian population that was to fall victim," writes Vladimír Liška in his book In the Shadow of the Swastika.

Hitler even yelled at Hácha at one point that if he did not sign, he would be in charge of the extermination of the Czechoslovak population. He signed Hitler's dictate over the morning of March 15, 1939. Hácha was aware of the military power that Germany possessed. Czechoslovakia thus ceased to be an independent state. On 16 March 1939, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was established.

Führer Adolf Hitler arrived in Prague accompanied by tanks on 15 March 1939. He arrived at Prague Castle at 19 hours and 15 minutes, Hácha was just returning by train from Berlin. "The Germans deliberately delayed the train en route so that the government dictate would arrive in Prague before Hácha. Hitler did not forgive himself the gesture of a victor when he welcomed the head of a defeated state to his victorious country to prove to himto prove how defenceless he was now and at his mercy," Liška describes the situation at the time.

Hitler also did not hesitate to prove that he was serious about his declaration to destroy the Jewish race in Europe. At his very first meeting on 17. March, the cabinet of Prime Minister Rudolf Beran issued a decision banning the practice of medicine by "non-a...in all medical institutions and social insurance companies. "Trade Minister Vlastimil Šádek was given the task of removing Jews from all senior positions in his ministry. The next stage of the pressure was to deprive Jews of their right to dispose of their own property and the subsequent Aryanisation," writes Oldřich Klobas in his book The Painter Does Not Die.

The entire country was thus completely subordinated to the Nazi occupation administration, given the extensive powers granted to the supreme and Hitler-appointed office of Reich Protector.

Source: Vladimír Liška: In the Shadow of the Swastika, Oldřich Klobas: The Painter Is Not Dying, www.ustrcr.cz, www.praha.eu