1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka The 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka ( ) , initially known as Ušiak - Murzin Unit , was the largest military unit conducting guerrilla warfare against the German occupation forces in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( modern day Czech Republic ) during the Second World War . The brigade was named after Jan Žižka , the 15th century leader of the Hussite army whose use of innovative techniques , such as the wagon fort and the large scale use of firearm s , made him a Czech national hero . During the Second World War , there were two additional partisan formations that separately also used Jan Žižka ' s name : the Jan Žižka Moravskoslezský ( formerly the Bílá Lvice resistance unit ) , operating further north in the Czech lands , and the Czechoslovak Brigade of Jan Žižka in Yugoslavia , operating in the Balkans . Background . When compared to the situation in some other occupied countries , conditions in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia , at that time occupied by Nazi Germany as the so - called " Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia " , did not favor guerrilla warfare . For one thing , there was a general shortage of firearms among the population . After Czechoslovakia yielded to British and French pressure and complied with the Munich agreement by surrendering the fortified border areas to Nazi Germany , Poland and Hungary , it withdrew its army away from the new frontiers . In March 1939 , the Czechoslovak government yielded to German threats of aerial bombing . The army capitulated and the rest of the Czech lands ( Bohemia , Moravia and part of Silesia ) were occupied , while in the east the fascist Slovak government declared independence . The armaments of the Czechoslovak army were stored in army warehouses . Compared to other territories where warfare took place , there were very few guns available to the resistance movement , despite the relatively liberal firearms policies in place prior to the occupation . This lack of firearms would also prove critical during preparations for a coup , planned by the anti - Nazi resistance group Obrana národa , and later in the 1945 Prague uprising . At the same time the Czech lands were highly urbanized , which made the establishment of permanent partisan field camps in woods or mountains impractical . Also , the existence of a ( by now thoroughly politicized ) ethnic German minority meant that the Nazi state apparatus could enjoy the cooperation of many German - speaking civilians and employ local ethnic Germans in the security forces , including the Gestapo , thereby exploiting their knowledge of the Czech language as well as of the local geography . The Czech lands also had an excellent transport and communications infrastructure which was now at the disposal of the Nazi security apparatus . The first documented partisan group , the Green Cadre ( ) , became active in the Hostýn - Vsetín Mountains area at the height of the Nazi Terror , which started in 1942 after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich . More common , however , were urban resistance groups , such as White Lioness ( ) , later known as " Jan Žižka moravskoslezský " , active in the areas of Silesia around Frýdek and Ostrava . At the end of 1943 , representatives of the London - based Czechoslovak government - in - exile , who were located in Russia ( these were mostly communist members of the pre - war Czechoslovak parliament ) asked the Soviet government for help with organizing a partisan movement within the Czechoslovak territory . Units for deployment there received training in Sviatoshyn , a district of Kiev . To secure better cooperation with advancing Soviet troops , organizational paratroopers were to be deployed in advance , initially in Carpathian Ruthenia , then in Slovakia and finally also in Moravia . History of the Brigade . Formation of the unit . The original unit was formed during training in Sviatoshyn . Members came from varying backgrounds , with most being ethnic Slovaks , in accordance with the initial plans which were to deploy in Slovakia . The majority were former members of the Slovak army . Some of these had served in the Hungarian army and then deserted to join either Soviet partisans or the Red Army . Before joining the partisan school , some of them had fought as partisans in Belarus or in the Crimea / Odessa region . The unit also included seven Soviet members , including Captain Dajan Bajanovič Murzin , second - in - command under the Slovak Lieutenant Ján Ušiak . The unit , at this stage named after its leaders and known as the " Ušiak - Murzin Unit " , initially comprised 21 persons ( including a female radio operator ) and was divided into two groups . On 21 August 1944 the first group parachuted into the area of Sklabiňa , Slovakia , which was at the time an operational area of the 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of General Milan Rastislav Štefánik . Unbeknown to the unit , earlier that day the local Resistance had publicly announced the restoration of the Czechoslovak state within the territory under its control . The second group parachuted into the same area on the night of 30 August . The original orders had been for the unit to cross the Fatra mountain range and begin operations in North - West Slovakia . However this was prevented by the start of the Slovak National Uprising . Initially the unit engaged in reconnaissance , as the German forces initiated a counter - offensive , after which the unit received new orders for redeployment to Moravia . As soon as this became public , the unit was joined by Czech partisans wanting to fight back in their home territory . Most of these were members of the Czech resistance who had moved to Slovakia and joined the partisans in order to avoid capture at home . The unit started its transfer on 6 September 1944 , and on that day it became a separate partisan detachment . Transfer to Moravia . During the transfer to Moravia the unit was joined by more troops , many still wearing Slovak Army uniforms . Although the primary objective was to reach the border undetected , there were two skirmishes before the unit reached Štiavnik , the Slovak border town . Since all the units from Štiavnik , including police , had been deployed further inland due to the Uprising , the unit , now grown to 150 members , established itself around Štiavnik , controlling the small area in the rear of the German forces . In Štiavnik more troops joined the unit : these were mostly Czechs crossing the border from the Protectorate in order to join the Uprising , but they also included Russian prisoners of war ( including former airmen and sailors ) who had fled from camps as far away as Saxony , and succeeded in passing through Bohemia and Moravia with help from the local population . It was also while they were in Štiavnik that the decision was taken to rename the unit after Jan Žižka z Trocnova , the 15th century leader of the Hussite army whose fight for religious freedom and use of innovative military techniques , such as the wagon fort and the large scale use of firearm s , had made him a Czech national hero , claimed to be one of six commanders in history who never lost a battle . The border between Moravia , Silesia and Slovakia was guarded exclusively by ethnic Germans . After sending some scouts across , the unit ' s first experimental attempt to cross the border took place on 25 August 1944 near Velké Karlovice . A skirmish with German border guards ensued , with 20 Germans being wounded . After the arrival of German reinforcements , the unit was forced to pull back to Štiavnik . It was then decided that next time a smaller group should try to cross the border . On 28 August , 60 men under the command of D B Murzin crossed the border , while some 300 others remained in Slovakia , being daily joined by more anti - fascists . Things took a turn for the worse on 10 October 1944 , when a German army moved into Štiavnik . Fighting lasted for about three days with partisan losses estimated at 200 around Štiavnik and in skirmishes with border guards while attempting to cross into Moravia . Meanwhile , Murzin ' s group had established itself in the area of Trojačka hill ( near Hodslavice ) . With newcomers and those who successfully crossed the border following the Battle of Štiavnik , the unit was now 130 - 140 men and women strong . Establishing presence . By now the ethnic mix of the unit had changed , since most of the Slovak members of the original unit had never made it to Moravia : of those from the original air - drop into Sklabiňa , only two Slovaks got through . Murzin ' s group had originally sought to establish a permanent base in the area of Magurka mountain . There , the unit made contact with members of the Wolfram partisan group . The Wolfram partisans , like the Ušiak - Murzin unit , had been established under the authority of the London - based Czechoslovak Government in exile ; but whereas the Ušiak - Murzin unit had originated with exiles trained under Soviet auspices in Ukraine , the originating members of the Wolfram group had been trained in Britain and then arrived back behind German lines by means of an air - drop , initially in Italy , but now transferred to Moravia . After this the unit was forced to move because of the bombardment of their position by an allied airplane which had probably mistaken them for a German unit . The bombardment would have invited urgent investigation of the position by the occupying German forces , and the unit therefore fled , taking refuge in the Wolfram Group ' s base at Trojačka . On 22 October 1944 , however , it transpired that the unit ' s new position had been betrayed by a partisan who , unbeknown to his comrades , had joined the group only to avoid conviction on criminal charges . He led a group of 300 German soldiers to the base , then containing 80 partisans ( 30 of them unarmed ) . After a brief skirmish , the unit fled again , this time to ( ) Mountain . While German units set about destroying any buildings in this part of the Moravian - Silesian Beskids Mountains , the unit established a new , more permanent base , benefiting from the support of local Czech civilians , some of these being members of Obrana Národa resistance group . The local supporters provided the unit with both provisions and information . Two groups of partisans were sent further South - West , under the command of Ivan Petrovič Stěpanov and Viktor Ševcov - Grekovskij . They made contact with other groups already established in and around Vsetín , including the Pro vlast ( " Homeland " ) , group of the Štramberk Partisans , reconnaissance air drop unit Clay - Eve , Resistance Group ' Commandos ' from the Lipták Group and Josef Sousedík ' s organization from Vsetín . While being joined by other partisans , the groups were gathering clothing and provisions for the winter as well as undertaking raids on police stations ( sometimes in cooperation with locally based Czech policemen ) in order to secure firearms and ammunition . Attempts were also made to sabotage railways , but the partisans ' efforts in this respect were discovered and thwarted . By 31 October 1944 , the unit had grown again to over 200 men and women . These were divided into four sub - groups : one remained at the base while the other three operated more widely in the surrounding area . German countermeasures . Gestapo ruse . While German Nazi forces had some limited success in skirmishes with isolated small detachments , they were unable to find the unit ' s bases . The local Gestapo therefore attempted to lure the unit ' s leaders into a meeting with agents who presented themselves as leaders of Moravian - Silesian communist resistance groups . Ušiak was unaware that during the years of occupation most of the resistance members , including the communist ones , had been caught and executed : a few survivors now operated only in very isolated cells with no leadership . Ušiak therefore agreed to a meeting on 2 November 1944 , in a location not far from the base . Unbeknown to the Gestapo , however , anti - partisan army units were also deployed in the area and by chance turned up at the beginning of the meeting , thus spoiling the Gestapo plans . Both Ušiak and Murzin were wounded in the ensuing gunfight , and fled in different directions . The partisans left their base , leaving behind a small detachment who were killed by German units the next day . Ušiak found refuge with civilians in Čeladná , but was soon tracked down by the Germans . Ušiak spotted them approaching the house , and committed suicide . Meanwhile , Germans captured another partisan who then revealed names of civilians cooperating with the partisans . Höhere SS - und Polizeiführer " ( Senior SS and Police Leader ) " Karl Hermann Frank ordered summary executions of suspected partisans along with those suspected of helping them . In order to increase the intimidation , the bodies of executed suspects were to be hanged in public for 48 hours . At the same time , the German officials prepared a coordinated anti - partisan operation , identified as " Operation Grouse " ( , ) . Operation Grouse . " Operation Grouse " started on 16 November 1944 under the command of Generalleutnant . Some 13 , 000 German army and occupation personnel took part , surrounding and raiding unit ' s area of operation . " Grouse " ended six days later , to be followed by a string of executions . The unit was now badly weakened , with its commander dead . It had lost its base , provisions and radio communication with allied forces ( vital to any possibility for arranging air - drops of ammunition and provisions ) . Sources nevertheless differ both as to the number of fighters captured and as to the overall effectiveness of the operation , with one authority pointing out that from the German perspective , having deployed massive numbers in the Operation , only 8 partisans had been killed , with between 13 and 40 suspected civilian supporters captured alive , at the cost of 6 Germans soldiers killed - in - action and 3 more wounded . The case has been made that unusually heavy winter snow made it easier for partisans to avoid discovery , and quickly tired out the German troops looking for them . One of the officers involved , SS Standartenführer Georg Attenberger , argued that the German tactical decision to zone the area geographically and comb the countryside and more built - up areas together , rather than starting with the towns and larger villages , where partisans might have been easier to locate quickly , allowed more time for the partisans to find secure hiding places . Nevertheless , in the aftermath of Operation Grouse , records indicate that the Germans concluded that the partisan movement had been totally destroyed . On the partisan side , many who escaped " Grouse " and systematic German follow - up raids into the mountains also came to see Operation Grouse as a German success , unit members now having no base and no effective communication links with other members and resistance groups . Moreover , the Nazis ' brutal terror against the civilian population led to the loss of many trusted and determined supporters , exacerbated by reluctance on the part of survivors to provide the food supplies and the intelligence on which the partisans ' activities depended . To make matters even worse , the fate of the unit ' s commanders remained unknown for a long time . During the battle on 2 November , Murzin was shot in leg , fell and rolled down a hill slope . After regaining consciousness , he managed to leave the scene and was found , badly injured , by a forester . Murzin then spent three weeks in the forest alone in a dugout barely large enough to hide himself , covered by branches and snow : two families , in turns , provided him with food and medicine . Partisans then took another two weeks to transport him to their new operational area , the Hostýn - Vsetín Mountains , moving slowly both because of Murzin ' s injuries and to avoid the ongoing searches of the area by German anti - partisan units . Meanwhile , the Wolfram unit moved further South , while many Slovaks and escaped POWs headed to Slovakia and Czechs moved closer to their hometowns , often setting up independent partisan units . Formation of the Brigade . Fortunately , Stěpanov ' s and Ševcov - Grekovskij ' s groups , which had been sent further away from the base , managed to establish themselves in the Hostýn - Vsetín Mountains which was outside the area blockaded by " Operation Grouse " . After being transported there , Murzin , still only 23 years old , assumed command . The unit was quickly restructured and its tactical approach transformed . It was divided into smaller groups which were spread over a wider area , and never stayed in one place for too long . The evolution of the unit into brigade was a gradual process that took place during the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945 . The initial brigade was joined not only by individuals , but also by other partisan units that had previously been operating independently . Sources regarding its composition and precise structure vary . According to Hrošová , by April 1945 the brigade consisted of 5 battalions . These were further divided into companies , platoons and squadrons . Most command positions were taken by Soviets ( mainly escaped POWs ) whose military experience was relatively extensive . By the end of the war the command structure was largely decentralized and the brigade was operating in a large area in eastern and central Moravia . Nevertheless , strict military discipline was maintained and orders transmitted using messengers . With brigade membership rising , it was decided to restrict the number of partisans accepted into the forest units . It was not possible to provision unlimited numbers in the forests , and moreover many new recruits were arriving unarmed . Preference was given to escaped POWs and to Czech resistance members whom the Germans were known to have identified for capture and were escaping arrest . Members denied entry to the brigade ' s forest units were instructed to start their own partisan units in the urban areas . Where members remained in the mountain regions , many continued with their family lives and day jobs , joining the partisans only for night raids . Apart from securing provisions , arming of new partisans posed another challenge . Most guns were taken from German security forces during raids . In February 1945 , a number of guns and a significant quantity of ammunition were obtained when a group of 11 Belgian members of Technische Nothilfe , entrusted with protection of an arms factory in Jablunkov , deserted and joined the Brigade , bringing with them a stockpile from their armory . On 11 January 1945 , Murzin was again wounded in a skirmish with German anti - partisan unit and was out of action till 3 February 1945 . Command of the unit was temporarily entrusted to Ivan Petrovič Stěpanov ( who would be killed - in - action on 10 April 1945 ) . According to Murzin ' s post - war report , the brigade consisted of 1 , 533 persons by the end of the war , of which 304 were killed - in - action and 208 wounded . Many nationalities were represented . On 5 May 1945 , the brigade included 927 Czechoslovaks , 257 Soviets ( mainly Russians , but also Ukrainians , Belorussians , Armenians , Azerbaijanians , Georgians , Kazakhs , Tadjiks ) and 48 of other nationalities , including German anti - fascists , an Austrian deserter , the Belgians , a Croat , Hungarians and Romanians . 1 , 126 members of the Brigade were decorated for partisan operations by the Czechoslovak government . That was more decorations than were awarded to members of any other Czechoslovak partisan brigade ( by way of comparison , 203 partisans of the Jan Kozina Brigade and 155 partisans of the Mistr Jan Hus Brigade were decorated ) . The Brigade was demobilized on 26 May 1945 , having been deployed in the days immediately after the war as a security force , involved primarily in searching for German soldiers hiding in the Moravian mountain forests . Guerrilla warfare . The extent of brigade operations was constrained by availability of armaments . Following " Operation Grouse " , members of the brigade found themselves separated from each other . More importantly they had lost most of their ammunition and explosives . Therefore , December 1944 was more about consolidation and acquiring more arms , with fighting operations gradually increasing from January . Direct encounters with larger German units were avoided where possible , and the brigade ' s operations concentrated on demolition of railways , bridges , telecommunications and factory power - lines . The German occupation forces reacted by redeploying to the area a Waffen SS platoon , the 31st Special Operations Group , along with their 20th SS Police Regiment . Having previous experience with fighting partisans in Yugoslavia , these reinforcements intensified the German hunt for partisans , and introduced a new level of savagery . German counter - intelligence also employed a fake " " partisan unit " " consisting of 16 Vlasov army soldiers led by an ethnic German with perfect knowledge of Czech . These came into the brigade ' s area claiming to be a partisan unit that had to leave its place of operation some 150 km to the west . They were , however , uncovered , and failed to infiltrate the brigade . Nevertheless , German units continued their pursuit , conducting summary executions of civilians suspected of supporting the partisans . Killings included the gruesome beating to death of pregnant women as well as burning suspects alive . The brigade ' s most important operations relied on use of improvised explosive devices . Most of the explosives were either seized from the German forces or from civilian applications . For example , originally intended for a quarry was acquired in January 1945 . The explosives experts were mostly Czech civilians who joined the brigade , such as electro - technician Karel Bartoněk and Antonín Kopřiva . During the early months of 1945 , many retreating German and Hungarian units passed through or were stationed in the brigade ' s operational area . This led to the acquisition of a large number of guns from raids on German soldiers , while demoralized Hungarian soldiers would often trade their weapons for food or drink . By March 1945 the brigade was conducting guerrilla - style raids on daily basis . One of its most celebrated operations was the capture of Generalleutnant Dietrich von Müller , the commanding officer of Germany ' s 16th Panzer Division on 19 April 1945 . When the front - line reached brigade ' s operational area on 26 April 1945 , partisans took part in the front - line operations , for instance in the Battle of Korytná . Many then joined the army units in their campaigning further west , being used mostly as armed intelligence personnel . They were then re - deployed back to the brigade , before its demobilization on 26 May 1945 . Intelligence . Apart from disruption of the German rear , the brigade ' s other strategic objective was the gathering of intelligence . Effectiveness of intelligence support to the allied war effort was much reduced early on , with the loss of radio communication on 12 November 1944 . By the end of December the brigade ' s staff were back in contact with the Soviet Army , using the radio of the Luč intelligence unit which had recently been parachuted to the area . The communications disruption also necessitated a period of confidence rebuilding , since during the weeks of radio silence the allied commanders had believed the unit lost . It wasn ' t until 2 March 1945 that the brigade could restore regular contact with the Soviet Army . By then , there was a very strong rivalry as regarded intelligence - gathering , between the brigade and the intelligence group of the 1st Ukrainian Front ' s staff . Detailed intelligence gathering focused on the positions , armaments and strength of German units , the locations of armories and warehouses , the position of fortifications , status reports concerning airfields , movements and transportation of German units . Information was also provided on ethnic Germans , Czech traitors and confidants , as well as on the fighting operations of the brigade itself and on its civilian supporters . Much important intelligence came from Czech policemen , some of whom were even actively fighting and assisting with diversions , alongside of partisans . However , the brigade ' s most valuable intelligence source was the commander of the German barracks in Holešov , Major Josef Hübner . Hübner used his personal driver , an anti - fascist called Hans Kocher , to pass top priority information on matters including planned raids and the uncovering of resistance members .