Tomas Sedlacek, 94, Czech general fought with Allies in World War II
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS August 27, 2012 7:38PM
FILE - Retired army general Tomas Sedlacek appears at the Czech Ministry of Defence in Prague, Czech Republic, to take over badges of honour, in this October 26, 2010 file photo. Czech World War Two veteran General Tomas Sedlacek, who fought on both eastern and western fronts, died at the age of 94 years on Monday, August 27, 2012. (AP Photo/CTK, Stan Peska, file) SLOVAKIA OUT
Updated: September 29, 2012 6:17AM
PRAGUE — A Czech general who fought with the Allies in France, Britain and the Soviet Union during World War II and who later resisted the communist regimes in his own country has died.
Gen. Tomas Sedlacek, aged 94, died Monday at Prague’s Motol hospital, the Defense Ministry said.
President Vaclav Klaus praised him as “a true soldier.”
Mr. Sedlacek, who graduated from a military academy, fled to France in 1940 when his nation was occupied by Nazi troops. After France was defeated, he joined the British army before moving to the Soviet Union in 1944 and helping liberate Czechoslovakia.
After the Communists took power there, he was arrested in 1951, convicted of anti-communist activities and jailed for life. He was released in 1960 and exonerated by the Czech Velvet Revolution in 1989. AP
