Od vládního vojska k italským partyzánům (2026)

This Czech-language book bears witness to Czech soldiers in Italy, resistance to Nazism and the strength of human character. The story of František Suchánek, a soldier in the Government Army, is based on authentic diaries written during the dramatic years of the Second World War. As a radio operator with the 4th Company of the 7th Battalion, he trained in Josefov and was sent with his unit to northern Italy in May 1944, where it operated around Alba. After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally joined the Italian partisans in September 1944. A number of his friends from the Government Army gradually joined the Zvoníček Group. Together with the Italian partisans, they took part in combat operations against German units until the end of the war. Zuzana Zámečníčková has shaped the author’s notes, which capture the everyday reality of military service, fear, courage, friendship, love and the difficult decisions brought by war, into a literary narrative. Karel Zámečníček’s expert editing adds extensive notes, period details, historical context and the later lives of some of the soldiers and partisans appearing in the story. The book concludes with an afterword by František’s son Vladimír Suchánek, following his father’s post-war life, studies, officer career, forced departure from the army, family and later rehabilitation.