The Holy Three Kings – History and Perceptions of a Legendary Resistance Group
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: March 17, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
“I believe in God and in my pistol” was Václav Morávek’s response to a question from Josef Mašín as to what he believed in. Eighty years ago, on 21 March 1942, the last member of a resistance group known as the Three Kings still at large fell in a shootout with the Gestapo at
Prague’s Power Tower. The Gestapo gave the name Holy Three Kings (Heilige drei Könige) to the intelligence and diversionary resistance group of Lt. Col. Josef Balabán, Lt. Col. Josef Mašín and St. Cpt. Václav Morávek. The legendary trio, who referred to themselves as the Three Musketeers, were supported by many friends. They were involved in maintaining contact with London, intelligence cooperation with the Soviets, the publication of the illegal magazine V boj and various diversionary operations, including outside the Protectorate. Josef Mašín was captured by the Gestapo during a shootout on 13 May 1941. He was executed on 30 June 1941 at the Kobylisy shooting ground. Josef Balabán was shot dead at the Ruzyně barracks on 3 October 1941 and Václav Morávek, known for outlandish acts of daring, was killed in a shootout in March 1942.
The history of this resistance group, transformations in perceptions of them and a planned Memorial to Three Resistances in Lošany will be discussed by historian Petr Koura, writer and publisher Jiří Padevět and researcher and journalist Jaroslav Čvančara.
Chaired by historian Petr Blažek.
Joint evening of the Václav Havel Library and the Museum of the Memory of the 20 the Century.