Freedom, Ludwik

Born in the village of Groznatin, Austria-Hungary (now the Vysochina Territory in the Czech Republic ) into a peasant family. In 1915 he graduated from the Higher Agricultural School with a degree in agriculture. In the same year he was called up for military service and in June was sent to the Eastern Front as a soldier of the Austro-Hungarian army . Already in September of that year, he voluntarily surrendered to Russian captivity. He was held in a prisoner of war camp near Kiev, then released and served in the city fire department. In September 1916 in Kiev entered the Czechoslovak Legion , formed by the Russian authorities, commanded a platoon and company in it. He participated on the side of the Russian army in Zborovsky ( 1917 ) and in the Bakhmach battle ( 1918 ). During the Civil War, he participated in the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps and in battles against the Red Army in the region of Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg . He commanded a platoon, company and battalion of legionnaires. In 1920, after a Siberian campaign, he returned to Czechoslovakia .

During this period, he was awarded the Military Cross of the First World War, the Order of the Falcon, the Winner (Entente) medal, the Czechoslovak Revolutionary Medal with the Zbor and Siberia trims, two St. George Crosses of the III and IV degrees.

Since 1921 - an officer in the Czechoslovak army with the rank of captain. Until 1923 he served in the 3rd Infantry Regiment named after Jan ижižka in Kromeriz . In 1923 - 1931 he served in the 36th Infantry Regiment in Uzhgorod (he lived in the village of Onokovtsi), commander of a machine gun company and deputy battalion commander. In 1931 - 1934 he taught Hungarian at the Military Academy, and in 1934 he returned to Kromeriz . In September 1938 he became commander of an infantry battalion, held this position until March 1939 . After the occupation of the country by Germany in March 1939, he was dismissed from the army and became an active member of the local anti-fascist group, after the disclosure of which in July of that year he illegally fled from Czechoslovakia occupied by the Germans to Poland . There he entered the Czechoslovak military organization and proceeded to form a military unit from the same fugitives from Czechoslovakia.

After the defeat of Poland, he was interned by the Red Army . He was in several internment camps.

After the German attack on the USSR in 1941, he hardly obtained permission to create a Czechoslovak military unit in the USSR, after receiving such consent from the Soviet authorities in January 1942 he was appointed deputy commander of the 1st Czechoslovak separate infantry battalion in the city of Buzuluk . The battalion first entered battle in March 1943 in the area of ​​the Sokolovo village near Kharkov : during the Kharkov defensive operation, together with the Soviet units, it repelled the attacks of the advancing enemy. In battle, the battalion suffered significant losses, but showed high morale and fighting qualities. Freedom was awarded the Soviet Order. After this battle , the 1st Czechoslovak Separate Infantry Brigade was created on the basis of the battalion. Since June 1943, as part of the brigade, he participated in battles on the Voronezh Front , in particular, for the liberation of Kiev .

In 1944, the brigade was transformed into the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps . In September 1944, at the request of the Soviet command, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Kratokhvil was removed from command of the corps, and Ludwik Freedom was appointed commander. In October 1944, under his command, the corps forces, together with the Soviet units, took the fortified Dukelsky pass and entered Czechoslovakia , for the liberation of which further battles were fought until the end of the war.

Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev in his memoirs praises Freedom as a commander. At the same time, Konev notes that Freedom’s personal courage sometimes interfered with him, and instead of leading the unit’s battle, Freedom sometimes participated in the battle as an ordinary submachine gunner ^[6] .

In April 1945, he was appointed Minister of National Defense of Czechoslovakia as non-partisan, after which he resigned as commander of the corps.

He played an important role in the 1948 coup , which was carried out by C. Gottwald . Freedom declared to President E. Benes that the army under no circumstances “will go against the people.” After the coup in 1948 he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia , was elected to the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia.

In 1950, he was removed from the post of Minister of National Defense, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and Chairman of the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports. In September 1951, removed from all public posts and dismissed from the army. He returned to his hometown of Groznatin, worked in a local agricultural cooperative. In November 1952 he was arrested, but released a few days later. After the death of Gottwald, the persecution of Freedom and his relatives ceased. During a visit to Czechoslovakia in 1954, N.S. Khrushchev met with him, after which General Liberty was again returned to the army. In 1954 - 1959 he was the head of the K. Gotwald Military Academy in Borders , then was again dismissed from the army, but this time with honor. In 1960, he published his memoir "From Buzuluk to Prague."

Actively engaged in social activities. He was Deputy Chairman of the Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters of Czechoslovakia, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship, worked at the Institute of Military History, conducted active parliamentary and propaganda work. On March 30, 1968 he was elected President of Czechoslovakia and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Czechoslovakia instead of A. Novotny , who compromised himself , and supported the reforms of A. Dubcek .

After the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries opposed the so-called "workers and peasants' government" V. Bilyak and A. Indra , thanks to his efforts, life was saved for the leaders of the Communist Party, transported to Moscow . At the same time, his resistance to Soviet intervention was rather passive - Freedom knew perfectly well on whose side the strength was. He supported the policy of “ normalization ” of G. Gusak .

Since 1974, he did not actually perform the duties of the President, but refused to resign. In April 1975, a constitutional law was passed, according to which the Federal Assembly has the right to elect a new President if the former is not able to fulfill its duties. On this basis, G. Gusak was elected as the new President instead of L. Freedom.

• Liberty L. From Buzuluk to Prague = z buzuluku do prahy / Authorized translation from Czech. Translators Grachev S.I. and Petrov F.P. - Military Publishing House, 1963. - 408 p. - 15,000 copies.

Czechoslovakia

• Three times Hero of Czechoslovakia ( November 11, 1965 , April 30, 1970 , May 30, 1975 );
• the three Orders of Clement Gottwald , ( 1959 , April 30, 1970 , May 30, 1975 );
• Order of February 25, 1948, 1st degree ( 1949 );
• Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st degree ( December 20, 1945 );
• two orders of the Republic ( 1955 , ...);
• Order of the Red Banner ( 1961 );
• Order of Victory February ( 1972 );
• Order of the Red Star ( 1955 );
• Order of the Slovak National Uprising of the 1st degree ( 1945 );
• Czechoslovak revolutionary medal with the Zborov bar;
• Victory Medal (Czechoslovakia);
• Zborovsky commemorative medal ;
• Bakhmach commemorative medal ;
• pametni medaile cs. obce dobrovolecke z let 1918-19 (odznak);
• memorial sign of the Czechoslovak volunteer 1918-1919 (cross);
• commemorative medal of the 3rd Infantry Regiment named after Jan ижižška;
• commemorative medal of the 4th Rifle Regiment named after Prokop the Great;
• commemorative medal of the 5th Rifle Regiment named after Tomash Garrig Masarik;
• commemorative medal of the 6th Infantry Regiment;
• commemorative medal of the 9th Infantry Regiment named after Karel Gavlicek-Borovsky;
• commemorative medal of the 10th Rifle Regiment named after JS Koziny;
• commemorative medal of the 21st rifle regiment;
• commemorative medal of the 30th A. Jiraska Infantry Regiment;
• commemorative cross of the 1st cavalry regiment named after Jan ижižška;
• commemorative cross of the 2nd cavalry regiment of the Russian Legion;
• commemorative medal of the artillery Czechoslovak army in Russia;
• pametni medaile strojirenske samostatne roty dopravni vlakove dilny cs. vojska na Rusi;
• commemorative medal of the Czechoslovak voluntary corps in Italy 1918-1948;
• commemorative medal of Stefanek;
• three military crosses of 1939 (1943, 1944, 1945);
• medal “For courage before the enemy” ( 1945 );
• Medal of Merit, 1 degree;
• military commemorative medal with the bar "SSSR" ( 1945 );
• Dukel commemorative medal ;
• Sokolovskaya commemorative medal ;
• Cestny odznak polniho pilota letce cs. armady
• Cestny odznak Ceskoslovenskeho vojenskeho pilota;
• Odznak cs. partyzana;
• commemorative medal of the second national resistance ;
• Cestna medaile zaslouzileho bojovnika proti fasizmu I. stupne.

Czechoslovakia (1920-1939)

• Order of the Falcon with swords (1919);
• Order of King Charles IV ;
• Order of Stefanek ;
• two military crosses of 1918 (1919, 1920);
• numerous medals of Czechoslovakia.

USSR

• Hero of the Soviet Union ( November 24, 1965 );
• two orders of Lenin ( April 26, 1943 , November 24, 1965 );
• Order of the October Revolution ( 1970 );
• Order of Suvorov 1st degree ( August 10, 1945 );
• Order of Suvorov 2nd degree ( December 21, 1943 );
• medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" ( 1945 );
• medal “For the Liberation of Prague” ( 1945 );
• International Lenin Prize "For the consolidation of peace between peoples" ( 1970 ).

Russia

• St. George's Crosses of the 3rd and 4th degree ( 1917 ).

Poland

• Order "For Military Valor" 1st degree ( 1947 );
• Order of the “Grunwald Cross” 1st degree ( 1948 );
• Order of the Renaissance of Poland , 1st degree ( 1969 );
• War cross ( 1944 );
• medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945" ;
• medal "For Odra, Nisu and the Baltic" ;
• Medal of Victory and Freedom .

Yugoslavia

• People's Hero of Yugoslavia ( 1946 );
• Order "For Merit to the People" of the 1st degree ( 1946 );
• Order of the Partisan Star of the 1st degree.

Hungary

• Order of the Banner ( 1971 );
• Order of Merit, 1st Degree, ( 1955 ).

France

• Great officer of the Legion of Honor ( 1945 );
• Military Cross 1939-1945 .

UK

• Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath ( 1945 ).

USA

• «Легион Почёта» степени командора ( 1946 ).

Финляндия

• Кавалер Большого Креста со звездой ордена Белой розы Финляндии ( 1969 ).

Иран

• Орден Пехлеви ( 1971 ).

Афганистан

• Орден Солнца ( 1970 ).

• Именем Свободы назван проспект в Харькове .
• Именем Свободы названа улица в Ужгороде .
• Почётный гражданин города Остравы .
• В селе Весёлое (Красногвардейский район, Белгородская область) есть улица Свободы.

Свобода принадлежал к числу людей, которым я верил и продолжал верить безоговорочно во все времена.

— Константин Симонов. «Глазами человека моего поколения. Размышления о И.В.Сталине». — М.:АПН, 1989.

Александр Галич , скептически отнёсшийся к роли Людвика Свободы в событиях 1968 года, написал в том же году такое стихотворение («О пользе ударений», 1968 г.) ^{[10] [11] [12]} :

• Залесский К. А. Кто был кто во Второй мировой войне. Союзники СССР. — 2004. — Т. 1. — С. 466-467. — ISBN 5-17-025106-8 .
• Окороков Александр. Секретные войны СССР. Самая полная энциклопедия. — Москва:«Яуза», «Эксмо», 2015. — ISBN 978-5-699-67679-8 . — С.725—726.

• Свобода, Людвик (рус.) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Společnost Ludvíka Svobody: jeho obhájci a zčásti příbuzní; stránky obsahují podrobný, i když zaujatý životopis .
• Galerie ministrů národní obrany .
• Československé vojenské jednotky v SSSR (1942—1945) .
• Životopis na stránkách prezidenta ČR , převzatý z publikace. KDO BYL KDO v našich dějinách ve 20. století .
• Ludwig Freedom and Ferenc Munnich. Meeting place can not be Changed. Station Kyn. August 7, 1918 .