Radola Gajda

Radola Gajda (actually Rudolf Geidl, born February 14, 1892 in Kotor, † April 15, 1948 in Prague ) was a Czechoslovak officer who fought in the Czechoslovak Legion on the part of the White Army in the Russian Civil War against the Soviets.

As the youngest General of the Czechoslovak Legion, he reached still the biggest name recognition. He commanded parts of the unit when the acquisition of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1918, and even commanded an army of Kolchak in the campaign of 1919. Upon his return him but his popularity seemed to be a hindrance, because after a few years in the homeland he aroused again stir. He was charged in Czechoslovakia subversive activities and espionage for the Soviet Union, although he himself was a radical anti-communist.

Disappointed by the civil society, the highly decorated Major General turned to fascism. In 1925 he founded the National Fascist Society ( Národní Obec Fašistická ), which was modeled on the structure of the Party of Benito Mussolini in his homeland. He took a strong anti- German position with his movement. In 1926, he was demoted to soldier out and dishonorably discharged from the army.

During the occupation in World War II Gajda was arrested by the Gestapo on suspicion to conduct subversive activities. After the country's liberation by the Red Army, he was again imprisoned by the NKVD on 12 May 1945 and lost his eyesight during interrogation. In April 1947, the prosecutor asked for a life sentence at his trial for " promoting fascism and Nazism ." However, he only received a two-year prison sentence and was able to leave the jail a short time later. Penniless and forget he died a few months later.

His grave in the cemetery in Prague Olšanský was devastated in April 2007.