Alois Eliáš

Alois Eliáš (29 September 1890 in Prague – 19 June 1942 at Kobylisy Shooting
Range, Prague) was a Czech General and politician. He served as Prime Minister
Alois Eliáš
of the puppet government of the German-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and
Moravia from 27 April 1939 to 27 September 1941, but maintained contact with
the government-in-exile. Because of his participation in the anti-Nazi resistance,
he was the only head of government to be murdered by the Nazis during the war.

Contents
Education
Military career
World War I
Czechoslovak legions in France
Creation of Czechoslovakia
Prime Minister
Appointment
Resistance activities Alois Eliáš on photo from Atelier
The Sandwich Affair Langhans Prague
Arrest and execution Prime Minister of the Protectorate
References of Bohemia and Moravia
Bibliography In office
External links 27 April 1939 – 27 September 1941
Preceded by Rudolf Beran
(acting)
Education Succeeded by Jaroslav Krejčí
Antonin Eliáš graduated in geodesy from the Czech Technical University in Personal details
1911. Working for a private company as a land surveyor he was sent to Bosnia to
Born 29 September
work on the construction of a railway.[1]
1890
Prague, Kingdom
Military career of Bohemia,
Cisleithania,
Austro-Hungarian
World War I Empire
After the declaration of war on Serbia Eliáš was obliged to join the Austro- Died 19 June 1942
Hungarian Army, and was sent with the Prague 28th Infantry Regiment to the (aged 51)
Russian Front. After only a few days at the front Eliáš was taken prisoner on 28 Kobylisy Shooting
August 1914 in Galicia . Range, Prague,
Protectorate of
Bohemia and
Czechoslovak legions in France
Moravia
In 1917 Eliáš learnt of the existence of Czechoslovak Legions and joined Cause of death Execution by firing
them.[1] The Czechoslovak Legions were volunteer armed forces fighting with squad
the Entente Powers during World War I (France, Britain, Russia). Their goal was Occupation Army general and
to win the Allies' support for independence, in which they were ultimately politician
successful.
Awards Croix de Guerre
Eliáš was later dispatched to France, where he studied at the officer school at St Legion of Honour
Maixent, and was later assigned to the 21st Czechoslovak Regiment as a platoon
commander.

In the autumn of 1918 he took part in battles at Terron and on the Aisne. For his bravery and command skills, he was awarded the
French Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) and a made a member of the Legion of Honour.

Creation of Czechoslovakia
His studies in France significantly accelerated Eliáš' career after the war. In Prague Eliáš became a general staff officer, later
being promoted to Brigadier General.

As a military expert he was a member of the Czechoslovak delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva. In 1936 he was
promoted to General of Division (the second highest army rank) and became commander of the Vth Army Corps in Trenčín.

During the Second Czechoslovak Republic he was appointed Minister of Transportation and member of the Supreme State
Defence Council of Czechoslovakia.

Prime Minister

Appointment
The first government under the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was only provisional, serving as a successor to the
government of the Second Czechoslovak Republic during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Its replacement was
discussed at the end of April 1939, with President Emil Hácha thinking Alois Eliáš would be a good choice for prime minister,
because the popularity he had acquired during his earlier military career would legitimise the puppet regime. Eliáš had served
with the Czechoslovak Legion in France during World War I, and attained the rank of general. Although somewhat dubious, some
historians (who?) have written that Hácha hoped Eliáš's former contacts with Reichsprotektor Konstantin von Neurath could
influence the Reichsprotektor on the desirability of Eliáš as Prime Minister. On 27 April 1939, he was appointed Prime Minister.
Eliáš took office convinced he might have a unique opportunity to help his country by covertly supporting the underground
resistance to the Nazi occupation.

Resistance activities
During the war, Eliáš maintained secret contacts with the Czechoslovak government-in-exile led by President Edvard Beneš, and
supported the Czech resistance.

His situation started to deteriorate after a wave of arrests of resistance members in 1940. Among Eliáš' close contacts, the
government minister Ladislav Feierabend fled to London, while the Lord Mayor of Prague, Otakar Klapka, who was well
informed about Eliáš's activities in support of families of exiled and arrested Czechs and secret messengers and contacts with
Czech president Edvard Beneš in exile, was arrested and later executed.[2] By January 1941, the Gestapo had accumulated
damning evidence of Eliáš' involvement in the resistance. SS and Police Leader Karl Hermann Frank called for his arrest, but was
unsuccessful in having Eliáš removed.[3]
The Sandwich Affair
In early September 1941, Alois Eliáš lost patience with several collaborationist journalists.[4] Eliáš officially invited them to the
Office of the Government, planning to poison them. With the help of his urologist Miloš Klika, sandwiches were laced with
botulism toxin, tuberculosis-causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and typhus-causing Rickettsia bacteria. On 18 September 1941
the invited journalists ate the poisoned sandwiches. Karel Lažnovský, the pro-Nazi editor of the journal České slovo, was the only
fatality.[5] Other journalists, including Jaroslav Křemen and Emanuel Vajtauer, fell ill.[6][7] Although Eliáš handled the
sandwiches, he did not fall ill. Though the Sandwich affair was investigated by the Gestapo, Eliáš was not charged and remained
in office.

Arrest and execution

On 27 September 1941, two days before the appointment of Heydrich as the new Reich Protektor (German governor of Czech
Lands), Eliáš was arrested, put on trial and sentenced to death. Eliáš was executed at the Kobylisy Shooting Range on 19 June
1942. During Eliáš' time on death row, Heydrich himself was assassinated by the Czech resistance.

It was over 60 years later that prime minister Eliáš was given a state funeral with full honours on 7 May 2006 and was buried at
the National Monument in Vitkov in Prague.[8]

References
1. http://icv.vlada.cz/en/tema/alois-elias-29-9-1890---19-6-1942-76879/tmplid-676/ Antonin Eliáš on Czech
Government official site
2. Macmillan, Palgrave (28 February 2017). "The Statesman's Yearbook 2017: The Politics, Cultures and
Economies of the World" (https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=PBs9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA391&lpg=PA391&dq=
alois+elias+executed&source=bl&ots=FFPPgR0mlQ&sig=H5fmVHtF8du6_y078uDwxlilfNI&hl=cs&sa=X&redir_es
c=y#v=onepage&q=alois+elias+executed&f=false). Springer – via Google Books.
3. Mastný 1971, p. 162.
4. http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/alois-elias-adding-poison-to-paradox Adding poison to paradox
5. "Radio Prague - Alois Elias: Adding poison to paradox" (http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/alois-elias-adding
-poison-to-paradox). Retrieved 6 May 2017.
6. "Protektorátní premiér Eliáš otrávil nacistické novináře" (http://zpravy.idnes.cz/protektoratni-premier-elias-otravil-n
acisticke-novinare-pmq-/domaci.aspx?c=A060220_090231_domaci_mr). iDNES.cz. 20 February 2006. Retrieved
6 May 2017.
7. "Rekonstrukce "chlebíčkové aféry" – atentát v režii odboje" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150226133927/http://
www.mzone.cz/clanek/rekonstrukce-%e2%80%9echlebickove-afery%e2%80%9c-%e2%80%93-atentat-v-rezii-od
boje/). Portál Mzone.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original (http://www.mzone.cz/clanek/rekonstrukce-%E2%8
0%9Echlebickove-afery%E2%80%9C-%E2%80%93-atentat-v-rezii-odboje/) on 26 February 2015. Retrieved
6 May 2017.
8. "Plaque unveiled to General Alois Eliáš, protectorate prime minister executed by Nazis - Radio Prague" (http://w
ww.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/plaque-unveiled-to-general-alois-elias-protectorate-prime-minister-executed-by-n
azis). Radio Praha. Retrieved 10 March 2019.

Bibliography
Kvaček, Robert, 2002. Czech History: Part Two [České dějiny II]. Prague, CZ: SPL-Práce, Úvaly, CZ: Albra.
Lustigová, Martina, 2006. 'Alois Eliáš Poisoned Pro-Nazi Journalists' [Alois Eliáš otrávil pronacistické novináře].
Český Rozhlas 7, Radio Praha, 24 February 2006 [cited 25 July 2006]. Available from Alois Eliáš otrávil
pronacistické novináře (http://www.radio.cz/cz/clanek/76230)
Mastný, Vojtěch (1971). The Czechs Under Nazi Rule: The Failure of National Resistance, 1939–1942. New
York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-03303-6.
 Government offices
Prime Minister of Protectorate
Preceded by Succeeded by
Bohemia and Moravia
Rudolf Beran Jaroslav Krejčí
1939–1941

External links
Biography of Alois Eliáš (http://zivotopisyonline.cz/alois-elias.php) (in Czech)
Members of government led by Eliáš, 27.4.1939 - 19.1.1942 (https://web.archive.org/web/20050421142555/htt
p://zivotopisyonline.cz/protektoratni-vlada-1939-1942-clenove.php) (in Czech)
Funeral of Alois Eliáš and his wife 8 May 2006 (https://web.archive.org/web/20070203032706/http://www.ceskate
levize.cz/vysilani/101014917670250-pohreb-generala-eliase-a-jeho-manzelky.html) - record of direct
transmission (in Czech)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alois_Eliáš&oldid=914848915"

This page was last edited on 9 September 2019, at 18:27 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.