In Valtice region led the smuggling sidewalk of resistance fighters from Brno and its surroundings, later to be designated as the Group Majerová et al. Among them there were brothers Věroslav a Cyril Slámové from Želešice, Miloš Procházka, Jaroslav Salajka, Božena a Věra Majerová, Drahomíra Strouhalová, Ludvík Svoboda and others.
The agent, who was hiding at Božena Majerová`s in the centre of Brno was called Tomáš Oliva; his real name was Jan Brejcha. After a dramatic shooting incident in Brno, he managed to escape to Austria. He collaborated with the British Intelligence Service.
One of the most important tasks of the resistance group was the transfer of the RAF pilot Ivo Tonder and later his wife Jiřina across the Iron Curtain to Austria. Tonder was transferred by Salajka; resistance fighters tried to get the wife to Austria several times and they finally succeeded during the ninth attempt, on 3 September 1950. The married couple eventually met at the Liverpool Station in London.
The Group Majerová et al. was eventually revealed, all of them got high prison sentence. One member of the group was a member of the Security and a communist - Leopold Doležal, who provided (thanks to his professional contacts) key information to his colleagues. He paid for it harshly; he was sentenced to death and executed. The agent Josef Kafka, whose real name Josef Kolísko, was killed in a shootout with members of the Security.
Mainly the Sláma brothers used the way across the border near Valtice. While Věroslav and his other relatives ended up in jail, Cyril Sláma became an agent of the British Intelligence Service. He was later moved to England and eventually died in 1988 in Zimbabwe, Africa.
Photo gallery
Jaroslav Salajka, Ivo Tonder, Božena Majerová, Cyril and Věroslav Slámovi
The Great Escape became a model for a film of identical name in the 60s, wherein shone actors like Steve McQueen, James Gardner, James Cobburn, Charles Bronson...
Tomáš Oliva, Farming house of family Strouhal
Walking route suggestion
- Valtice region
- Brno
- Želešice
- Modřice
