Josef Balabán

Josef Balabán (June 5, 1894 in Obory near Dobříš - October 3, 1941 in Prague) was a Czechoslovakian soldier mostly know for his involvement in resistance against Nazi Germany during World War II.

During World War I Balabán joined Czechoslovak Legions in Russia. Later, he served as an officer in Czechoslovakian Army, in artillery units, as a staff officer and then at the Ministry of Defense (reaching rank of lieutenant-colonel). After occupation of the rest of Czech lands by Germany in March 1939 he started to cooperate with resistance group Obrana národa ("Defense of the nation") set up by former army officers. Since sumer 1939 he was one of the leaders of the group. Together with Josef Mašín and Václav Morávek they formed group known as Three Kings ("Tři králové") carrying out intelligence gathering and sabotages.

The group continued in communication with Paul Thümmel (agent A-54), a Nazi intelligence officer also working as a spy for Czechoslovakia. The most visible sabotages were two bomb attacks carried out in Berlin: one in January 1941 against the Ministry of Air Travel ("Reichsluftfahrtministerium") and police headquarters and second in February 1941 in the Berlin-Anhalt rail station, intended to kill Heinrich Himmler.

On April 22 1941 Gestapo grabbed Balabán after a short gunfight. In spite of being tortured he didn't disclose any information about the resistance. After Reinhard Heydrich took position of Deputy Reichsprotektor (September 1941) martial law was established and Balabán was sentenced to death. He was executed in Ruzyně Prison on October 3rd.

Literature

* [http://www.usd.cas.cz/cs/pracovnici/petr-koura Petr Koura] : "Podplukovník Josef Balabán. Život a smrt velitele legendární odbojové skupiny „Tři králové“" ("Lieutenant-colonel Josef Balabán. Life and death of the leader of the legendary resistance group "Three Kings"), Prague, 2003, ISBN 80-86182-72-X.