Richard Bienert (September 5, 1881 – February 2, 1949) 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, ...

high-ranking police officer and politician. He served as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

of the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

from January 19 to May 5, 1945. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was sentenced to prison for collaboration with

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

Career

Born in Prague, Bienert came from a family of magistrates clerks from that city and after he finished law studies at

Prague University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , underg ...

he also entered the state service. Some of his ancestors were of German-Bohemian ethnic descent and had assimilated into Czech society. From 1906 he worked as a police official for

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

in Prague and in January 1918 he even became a clerk in the Presidium of the Police in Prague. During

World War I 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 ...

Bienert cooperated closely with the Czech resistance movement and after the proclamation of Czechoslovak independence in October 1918 he was rewarded with an appointment to the position of Prague Police Director. Later in the 1930s he also became the Provincial President in the Land of Bohemia. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, he was briefly arrested by the Germans but soon released in exchange for a pledge of loyalty. In 1942, after prime minister Eliáš got arrested by

Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inc ...

, Bienert was appointed to minister of interior under the new prime minister

Jaroslav Krejčí Jaroslav Krejčí (27 June 1892, Konice, Margraviate of Moravia – 18 May 1956) was a Czech lawyer and Nazi collaborator. He served as the prime minister of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from 28 September 1941 to 19 January 1945. Aft ...

. In 1945 Bienert replaced Krejčí in this position and at the same time also served as the substitute for seriously ill president Hácha. In an agreement with state secretary Frank, Bienert tried to broadcast the statement on the dissolution of the Protectorate (which should be replaced by Czech puppet state still controlled by Germans) on 5 May 1945. However the same morning the Prague uprising broke out and Bienert was captured by insurgents in the broadcasting room of City Hall. After the end of

, Bienert was tried for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and collaboration with the Nazis, but because of many

mitigating circumstances In criminal law, a mitigating factor, also known as an extenuating circumstance, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sente ...

he was sentenced to only three years in prison. Due to poor health, he was released prematurely in 1947, and died in Prague two years later.

External links

Biography
* 1881 births 1949 deaths Politicians from Prague People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Prime Ministers of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Czech people of German descent Czech anti-communists Czech collaborators with Nazi Germany Czech fascists Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia National Partnership politicians {{CzechRepublic-politician-stub