Czech celebrations of end of WWII - Zeman appoints new generals

On the occasion of the anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Czech President Miloš Zeman has appointed new generals. Milan Píka, the son of Heliodor Píka, a Czechoslovak army officer who was executed by his country’s Communist regime after a show trial in 1949, has become a Brigadier-General.   

The Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Petr Pavel, has been promoted to the highest Army rank of General. Zeman has also called on the Czech Defense Ministry to support Pavel’s candidacy for high office in NATO.  

The Czech head of state traditionally appoints new generals on Victory Day, 8 May. Pavel (age 52) has led the General Staff since 2012 when then-President Václav Klaus appointed him Lieutenant-General.    

Pavel studied in Britain and has worked on international military staffs. In 2003, for example, he represented the Czech Army in the command of Operation Enduring Freedom in Tampa, Florida, where he worked as the liaison officer to the American command of the invasion against Iraq. 

"I would like to express my hope that [Pavel] will soon become one of the leading military representatives of NATO," said Zeman, who has reportedly already discussed the candidacy with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The Czech President said he hoped that with the support of the Czech Defense Ministry, Pavel’s candidacy would be a success.

The Army also received two new generals today: Zeman promoted Colonel Petr Mikulenka (age 49), Deputy Director of the Czech Defense Ministry’s Joint Operations Center, who has made a significant contribution to training Czech pilots in how to fly the supersonic Jas-39 Gripen jets, to Brigadier-General. The President also promoted the Deputy Commander of the Czech Air Force, Jaromír Šebesta (age 51), who has previously commanded the helicopter fleet based in Přerov, from the rank of Colonel to that of Brigadier-General.

Zeman also promoted three military veterans who fought during WWII; one of them, Milan Píka (age 91) has also been appointed a General in Slovakia. Emil Boček (age 91) and Mikuláš Končický (age 89) have now been promoted to Brigadier-General.

Zeman congratulated all of those promoted after the ceremony. He emphasized that Milan Píka was being promoted on his own merits.

"On the other hand, we can never forget his father, Heliodor Píka, who was murdered in 1949," said the President, who considers the execution of Heliodor Píka to have been judicial murder. For his part, General Pavel compared the symbolism of his promotion today to being granted a knighthood.

"For those of us who still have several years of service ahead of us, we have an obligation to achieve what this rank entails," Pavel said. The ceremony was observed by Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnický, the chair of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, Jan Hamáček, the chair of the Czech Senate, Milan Štěch, and the Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka.

Milan Píka went to Romania in 1939 to join the Czechoslovak Armed Forces abroad. After the fall of France he went to England. 

In Britain he was assigned to the 310th Fighter Squadron of the Royal Air Force. He was removed from flight training due to defective vision and performed administrative service.  

When the war ended, Píka was the commander of an RAF supply center with the rank of second lieutenant. The show trial and execution of his father deeply impacted the rest of his life.

The communist regime would not permit Píka to complete his college studies. Disciplinary proceedings were opened against him for having negotiated with several people in 1948 about how to help his father escape police custody and get across the border.   

Emil Boček fought the Nazis as a member of the 312th Squadron of the Royal Air Force in England and later as a pilot with their 310th Fighter Squadron. In 2010 he was awarded the Order of the White Lion by Czech President Klaus. 

Mikuláš Končický fought during WWII as a member of the First Tank Battalion of the First Czechoslovak Armored Brigade. His unit participated in all of the combat deployments in the former Czechoslovakia and the former Soviet Union. 

After the war Končický remained in the Army and worked in military education. He was persecuted for his political views in 1968 and then released from service.  

The Czech media has been reviewing when exactly the last shot was fired in the Second World War. The date on the Victory Monument near Milín is 11 May 1945, commemorating the last battle of WWII on Czechoslovak territory. 

Prior to 1989, the end of WWII was celebrated in Czechoslovakia on 9 May, the date of the liberation of Prague. After 1989, the end of WWII was celebrated on 9 May as V-E Day.

However, the final end to WWII was the capitulation of Japan on 2 September 1945. The official end of WWII in Europe was the moment when German capitulation took effect on midnight from 8 – 9 August 1945. 

The ceasefire took place throughout Europe at different times. In Yugoslavia, for example, the fighting lasted until 14 May.

In Czechoslovakia the fighting continued until 11 May. The last German unit did not surrender until the start of September on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen.