Sudetendeutsches Freikorps
Encyclopedia
Sudetendeutsches Freikorps was a paramilitary fifth-columnist organization formed of Czechoslovak ethnic German
s , with pro-Nazi sympathies. They operated in Czechoslovakia
from 1938 to 1939. It was part of Hitler's successful effort to occupy Czechoslovakia and annex
the region known as Sudetenland
into the Third Reich.
Members of Freikorps were trained and hosted in Nazi Germany but operated across the border in Czechoslovakia attacking the infrastructure
, administrative, police and military buildings and personnel, as well as the pro-government and antifascist civilians. They committed assassinations, robberies and bombing attacks. According to sources they have murdered more than 100 and kidnapped (and deliver to Germany) more than 2000 Czechoslovak personnel or political opponents.
They halted their operations after the Nazis took control of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
s , with pro-Nazi sympathies. They operated in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
from 1938 to 1939. It was part of Hitler's successful effort to occupy Czechoslovakia and annex
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
the region known as Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
into the Third Reich.
Members of Freikorps were trained and hosted in Nazi Germany but operated across the border in Czechoslovakia attacking the infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, administrative, police and military buildings and personnel, as well as the pro-government and antifascist civilians. They committed assassinations, robberies and bombing attacks. According to sources they have murdered more than 100 and kidnapped (and deliver to Germany) more than 2000 Czechoslovak personnel or political opponents.
They halted their operations after the Nazis took control of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.