SURGITE CAPUT SCHOLARSHIP
"Surgite Caput/ Head Up" - the general Václav Ždímal
The current phase of the project focuses on the personality of General Václav Ždímal (1890-1942) - a participant in the first and second Czechoslovak resistance, who gave his life for the freedom of Czechoslovakia in the fight against Nazism. He was executed on 2 September 1942 in Berlin's Plötzensee Prison. After February 1948 he was systematically erased from the official memory of the nation - because of his participation in the Czechoslovak Legions during the struggle against the Bolsheviks in Russia (1916-1920). For this reason, his family continued to face persecution by the communist regime until 1989, even after his death.
It took more than three decades before the democratic Czech state began to take notice not only of his fate, but also of the fate of other officers, soldiers and civilians who were condemned and executed in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, outside the territory of today's Czech Republic. A major impetus was the research led by German historian Johannes Tuchel and his team, which - with the support of the German side - has been researching Czechoslovak victims of Nazi justice in Berlin, especially in the Plötzensee prison. This research contributes not only to the expansion of knowledge, but also to changing the attitude of the Czech state and its institutions towards these forgotten chapters of our history.
In the academic year 2024/25, a bachelor's thesis dedicated to the personality of General Ždímal was created on the initiative of the FF Endowment Fund and in cooperation with historians from Palacký University in Olomouc. Its outputs will serve as a basis for extended research.
In the medium term, the Surgite Caput project aims - in cooperation with historians from Czech and German institutions - to map in detail the fates of all six generals who were executed in Berlin's Plötzensee prison during the Second World War.
Furthermore, in cooperation with the Czech Embassy in Berlin, the NF FF will attempt to establish a regular September memorial ceremony at the site of the former execution ground in Berlin, which will commemorate all Czechoslovak victims of Nazi justice every year.
In connection with this historical research, a web platform is being created in cooperation with the Final Final Studio, on which the results of the research and the findings will be presented to the general professional and lay public - online.