GERMANS, AMERICANS AND RUSSIANS

In spite of German propaganda on radio stations, in cinemas and newspapers, in 1945, many were aware of the defeats of the once invisible German army. The end of the war was already near. Another proof was the German refugees fleeing from the east before the Red Army. Many of them would be accommodated in the elementary school of J. A. Comenius or in private houses in the Blatná region.

A rebellion broke out in Blatná on 5 May and once the Americans had arrived, a real hunt began for informers and Vlajka members. The biggest uproar was caused by the arrest of Barák and Schleiss, who had been brought in chains. The crowd was about to lynch them, but at that moment the Americans intervened and helped deport them to the prison under the governor’s building.

On 6 May 1945, the Americans arrived in Blatná and a part of their army moved into the elementary school, the Sokol house and the houses of the Blatná residents. The following day, they caught a call from help from Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, but the demarcation line had been clearly established between the towns of Lnáře and Blatná. Therefore, the Americans only sent reconnaissance troops along the route via Starý Smolivec, Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, Březnice and Příbram to take German prisoners to collection camps in their occupation zone. To the great surprise for both Americans and Czechs, they discovered Russian-speaking units in German uniforms. There were the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) of General Vlasov, a part of which was encamped in the area of Hajany and Lnáře.

On 9 May, the German army and the ROA began to withdraw from Prague before the advancing Red Army. With regard to the fact that in Prague these two army units were on the opposite sides, there would be clashes involving heavy equipment on the retreat route in the area of Příbram and Březnice. Therefore, the Americans decided that the ROA would go along the route via Rožmitál to Lnáře and the Germans would go via Milín and Mirotice to Blatná. It was only on 10 May that the Red Army reconnaissance troops arrived in Blatná and a day later the main front would occupy the border of the demarcation line. The last conflict occurred on 12 May near Milín.

Although the ROA contributed greatly to the victory of the Prague Uprising, they were regarded by the Red Army as traitors and enemies. Therefore, on 12 May, the Americans eventually handed them over to the Russians. Generals Vlasov and Bunyachenko were arrested on a pond dyke near Lnáře. Many of the ROA soldiers were executed in the nearby surroundings of Lnáře and Tábor or taken to Siberia.