- Josef Šnejdárek
Infobox Person
name = Josef Šnejdárek
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birth_date = birth date|1875|4|2
birth_place =Napajedla ,Austria-Hungary
death_date = death date and age|1945|5|13|1875|4|2
death_place =Casablanca ,French Morocco
residence =
ethnicity = Czech
citizenship = Austrian, French, Czechoslovak
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occupation = Military officer
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footnotes =Josef Šnejdárek (
2 April 1875 inNapajedla -13 May 1945 inCasablanca ) was a Czech soldier, who served 43 years in theFrench Foreign Legion and later was a military officer forCzechoslovakia . He participated inWorld War I , conflict withPoland overCieszyn Silesia and with theHungarian Soviet Republic over territories in todaysSlovakia .Šnejdárek was born in a
miller 's family. After graduating from the cadet school he entered theAustro-Hungarian Army and served inBudapest andInnsbruck . He left then the Austro-Hungarian Army and joined theFrench Foreign Legion , in their ranks took a part in fights inNorth Africa .In
World War I Šnejdárek fought on the Western Front, was wounded several times and awarded. He served then in theCzechoslovak Legion inFrance .In 1919 Šnejdárek returned (as a French citizen) to Czechoslovakia. He became the commander of Czechoslovak forces operating in
Cieszyn Silesia and led his forces in a short armed conflict withPoland . He later became the commander of division in fights against theHungarian Soviet Republic in todays Slovakia, where was victorious in the battle ofZvolen . However as late as in 1927 Šnejdárek formally leftFrench Army and joined the Czechoslovak Army.In the Czechoslovak Army Šnejdárek was named the general and land military commander in Slovakia. In 1932 he gave order to fortificate
Petržalka with concretebunker s. Nine objects have been built. He retired in 1930s.In 1939 Šnejdárek went to the French exile. When France was defeated by
Nazi Germany he went to North Africa, where he died. His remnants were in 1996 transferred from Casablanca to family grave in Napajedla.In 1939 he published his autobiography named "Co jsem prožil" (What I Lived Through). It was published again in 1994 under the name "Pochoduj, nebo zemři!" (March or Die!).
External links
* PDF| [http://www.wittmannholding.sk/eng/fam/snejdarek.pdf Slovak article about Šnejdárek] |979 KB
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