Vaclav Jezek

Vaclav Jezek was a Czeckoslovak corporal during the second European war.

Jezek was a cab driver in his civilian life. In 1938, Jezek participated in the defense of Czechoslovakia against the German invasion. Jezek participated in the 30 day fight, but as Czechoslovakia's fate soon became clear, Jezek was one of several soldiers who crossed the border into neighboring Poland. He was detained there for some weeks before being transferred to Romania by train, and then to France by a Greek freighter. A Czechoslovak government-in-exile had been established in France.

Jezek was one of several displaced soldiers from eastern Europe who fought the Germans in France. Among them were various Jews. Before the war, Jezek, while not rabidly anti-Semetic, still had little use for the Jews. This atitude changed as he saw his Jewish comrades acquit themself bravely in the face of battle.

In early 1939, Jezek acquired an anti-tank rifle, which he quickly grew proficient in using.

As in Czechoslovakia, Jezek was one again part of a retreat as French forces fell back towards Paris. However, by April, 1939, the German offensive was halted.

Vaclav bacame proficient with his anti-tank rifle, using it as a sniper rifle to deadly effect. After a French officer told him the rifle would have to be taken away because of its obsoleteness, Vaclav (using Sergeant Benjamin Halevy as a go-between) argued how good a sniper he was, and procured two truckloads of ammunition for his rifle; enough to keep him going for months, if not years. Unlike a normal rifle, the shock of impact from one if the 14 millimetre bulets could kill, even if it hit a non-fatal area. This earned Jezek fame/notoriety on both sides of the line, the Germans dispatching a sniper to kill Vaclav. Helmut Fegelein, however, proved too cocky for his own good, as Jezek killed the first sniper sent for him. After continued sniping (once knocking an officer off of his motorcycle at half a kilometre(550 yards)), the Germans sent Oberfeldwebel Marcus Puttkamer, a brilliant sniper who nearly killed Vaclav on more than one occasion. However, Vaclav learned the sniper's trade very quickly, and Willi Dernen noted that even less was left of Puttkamer's head then that of Fegelein's.

By the winter of 1939, Jezek was at the front line, which had moved near the German supply dump at Laon. He noted the possibility of a successful Allied advance in the area with cynical optimism.