Padre and Reba

The publication presents the unknown fates of two of the fourteen military officers who served in Czechoslovak foreign units during the Second World War. It is based on authentic diaries kept by František Petružela (nicknamed Padre) and Hanuš Rezek (Rebe) directly at the front. Both stories tell of simple, consistent and faithful service to loved ones, not only on a spiritual level, but above all on a generally human level.

The text shows the everyday raw face of the war, introduces the reader to the organization and operation of the military clergy in our foreign army, and presents a number of other personalities of the resistance besides the two main actors. The publication, based on previously unused sources, will include several dozen unique photographs, in addition to appendices, notes and an index, which will add a new dimension to the picture of our foreign resistance.

Mgr. Martin Flosman (*1979) works as an archivist at the Military Historical Archive in Prague. He has long been involved in military ministry since the Austrian c. k. army until 1950, and his priorities include the participation of clergy in the second foreign military resistance. He has dedicated his graduate student theses to this topic and has also published on it in professional and popular journals.