Matohlína, Josef

Colonel in memoriam Josef Matohlína


He was born in the village of Zdolbunov near Rovno in Volhynia. In 1903-1906 he attended the general school and in 1906-1911 the civil school, and as the eldest son in 1911-1916 he attended the higher state industrial school in Odessa. Subsequently, he joined the Russian army as a one-year volunteer in the 401st Karachau Regiment. Here he completed the course and was promoted from rifleman to lance corporal and corporal. He then attended battalion school in Zhitomir. From 15 June 1917 he served with his regiment at the front. On 15 February 1918 he joined the 4th Rifle Regiment of the Czech Legions. He was captured by the Soviet troops between 28 May and 2 August 1918, and subsequently became the commander of the 3rd Company of General Kornilov's Czech Regiment from 21 September 1918. Here he is promoted to lieutenant. On 3 March 1919 he was appointed company commander of the Slavic Regiment with the rank of staff captain. He left for Czechoslovakia on 2 March 1920 as commander of the 32nd transport of refugees and prisoners of war, arriving in his homeland on 14 June. While still in Russia, he contracted a marriage with Maria Nagornichevskaya on 25 August 1919. In the Czechoslovakia, he served from 25 June 1920 in the 4th Rifle Regiment in Hradec Králové as an infantry lieutenant in reserve. He graduated from the engineer course in Kroměříž and from September 1922 he served in Krnov as a platoon commander of the 3rd Field Company. From October 1924 he joined the 3rd Engineer Regiment in Komárno as an officer of the engineer troops. Several courses followed, some of which he served as an instructor. He spent the entire interwar period in Slovakia, was promoted to major of the engineer troops on 1 January 1937 and on 8 October was appointed interim commander of the II Engineer Battalion. During the mobilization he was transferred to Prešov and served as commander of the engineer troops in the 22nd Infantry Division. At the beginning of 1939 he returned to Bratislava to the 4th Engineer Regiment. When the Slovak state was established, he was offered to join the Slovak army. He refused and went with his family to Hradec Králové. After the liquidation of the Czechoslovakia. Army was offered to join the Government Army, which he also refused. Subsequently, he worked as chief secretary of the auxiliary service of the Trade Inspectorate until February 1940, when he requested medical leave. At that time, the Regional Military Command for Northeast Bohemia of the resistance organization Defence of the Nation was already in operation, commanded by Colonel Petr Novák, Maj. Matohlína was an active member. Therefore, he went underground, and in February 1940 he was already wanted in his apartment by the Gestapo. The raid against the North Bohemian Defence of the Nation was completed in the summer of 1940. Mjr. Matohlin managed to evade capture, hiding in various places in Bohemia and still cooperating with the resistance. On the night of 6-7 May 1941, however, he was arrested in Nový Hrádek. He was interrogated by the Gestapo, mjr. Matohlína, however, did not reveal anything. He tried to escape further harsh interrogations by two suicide attempts. After the second one, he had to be operated on in a hospital in Hradec Kralove on 3 June. After the successful operation, he was not watched much, as the doctors claimed that he was not even fit for transportation, which he took advantage of and escaped with the help of his associates on 10 July. He was taken to the settlement of Birch to the Václavík family because he needed further medical care. His health subsequently improved. The arrival of R. Heydrich and his measures greatly complicated the life of the resistance fighters. Mjr. Matohlína had to move more often. At the end of 1941, the Gestapo again intervened in the functioning of the resistance in northern Bohemia, and during raids they also obtained information about Matohlin. He was arrested on 14 December in Litomyšl. The interrogations were then much harsher than in the first case, and the Gestapo, of course, did not forgive him for his escape. Mjr. Matohlína was eventually broken and some information was obtained from him. At the end of December 1942, he was transported from Hradec via Prague and Terezín to Dresden, where he awaited trial. The trial took place on July 29, 1943, and Maj. Matohlína was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on the afternoon of 8 October 1943.


Source:
Brunclík, Jan: Josef Matohlína. Legionary and Resistance Fighter (1897-1943), Hradec Králové 2011.
http://legie100.com/krev-legionare/62189/