Jaroslav Handlíř (20 November 1888 – 21 September 1942) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

who was a leader in both Czechoslovak and international

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

and later joined the Social Democratic Party of Czechoslovakia.

Biography

Early years

Born in 1888 in Bohemia, Handlíř was drafted into the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was captured on the Eastern Front and became a

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

following the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

of 1917 and helped found a Czechoslovak communist group in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

.Branko Lazitch with Milorad M. Drachkovitch, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition''. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1986; pp. 167-168.

Political career

Handlíř represented the Czechoslovak communists at the founding congress of the Comintern in March 1919 and participated in political and militant activities in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Participating in a strike in December 1920, he was arrested, tried, and convicted to a short prison term in March 1921. Following his release he helped found and then represented the newly formed

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

at the Third Congress of the Comintern in June and July 1921, where he was elected to the secretariat. He served in multiple organs of the national party and also headed the

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

workers'

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

. By the mid-1920s Handlíř was dissatisfied with the direction of the Czechoslovak party and at its third congress in 1925 criticized the leadership and supported the party's right-wing. Along with Břetislav Hůla and Miloš Vaněk he addressed the Executive Committee of the Communist International and further promoted a right-wing viewpoint in 1926. While remaining a party member, he no longer held any leadership role and was expelled in 1929, following which he joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

Death and legacy

Jaroslav Handlíř was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

and sent to

Auschwitz Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

and died in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handlir, Jaroslav 1888 births 1942 deaths Czechoslovak military personnel of World War I Czechoslovak communists Czech Social Democratic Party politicians Czechoslovak Comintern people Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Czechoslovak prisoners of war World War I prisoners of war held by Russia