17.3.1939 Hitler in Brno

The Germans welcomed Adolf Hitler to Brno on 17 March 1939 with great glory. Mayor Oskar Judex was waiting for him at the New Town Hall, together with his beleaguered son, who thanked the Führer that he could eat enough. The German terror did not wait long...

Hitler arrived in Brno by train the day after the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was established. That is to say, on 17 March 1939, at eleven o'clock in the morning. The Germans, about a fifth of whom lived in Brno, were delighted by his visit. They welcomed him with raised right hands as a liberator. Right at the station Hitler got into his car.

"In a procession of honour he passed the Zemsky Theatre, the Coliseum, the German House, Lažanské Square, Rašín Street, theSvoboda Street and up Zamecnick Street to Dominikánské náměstí, where he then entered the New Town Hall," the Internet Encyclopaedia of the History of the City of Brno describes Hitler's ride through Brno.

German troops were on standby to give the "Führer" a proper welcome. Hitler's detour to Brno on his way to Vienna was not originally planned. About two hours before him, SS commanders, including the supreme boss Heinrich Himmler or Reinhard Heydrich, arrived in the largest South Moravian city.

From the balcony of the New Town Hall, Hitler, dressed in a brown uniform, delivered a speech. He was greeted by Oskar Judex, who immediately assumed the role of mayor of Brno on 15 March. His fat son thanked Hitler that he could finally have enough to eat. They wanted to present Hitler with the first surviving copy of the 14th-century Konschel law of Brno, which was based on German law. But Hitler refused the gift, saying that what had been in the walls for hundreds of years should stay there.

However, Hitler at least signed the Memorial Book of the City of Brno, which also contained the signature of President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk from 1928, when he visited the Brno Exhibition Centre. On the occasion of Hitler's visit, the post office occasionally issued a stamp.

On the occasion of Hitler's visit, Freedom Square was also temporarily renamed Adolf-Hitler-Platz. The following day, however, the name was fortunately restored. But on March 19, they named the nearby Moravian Square, where the German House stood, after Hitler. All in all, Hitler spent just over two hours in Brno. "At 1:30 p.m., he went from the New Town Hall back to the train station and from there he continued by train to Vienna," the Internet Encyclopedia of Brno History says.

The terror began immediately after Hitler's departure, when the Germans burned down the synagogue in Spálená Street. The Gestapo arrested and interrogated people. They used brutal methods, for example, putting the person in a bathtub filled with ice and hot water.

Sources: Brno City Museum, www.encyklopedie.brna.cz, www.pametnaroda.cz