The Wartime Experiences of a Cleveland Czechoslovak Legionnaire: The World War I Diary of Ladislav Krizek

By Stephen J. Sebesta

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664139992

Stephen J. Sebesta

Stephen J. Sebesta was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in the predominantly Czech Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. He graduated from Cathedral Latin High School, obtained a B.S.C.E at Ohio University, an M.S.C.E in engineering and an M.S from the Medical School at Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. from The Union Institute. Dr. Sebesta, a registered professional engineer, has served as President of Stephen J. Sebesta and Associates, Inc., Consulting Environmental Health Engineers since 1980. He has taught on the faculties of Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University and has served on a Board of Advisors for the Russ College of Engineering at Ohio University. Dr. Sebesta presently serves as President of the Cleveland Chapter of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) and Vice President of Sokol Greater Cleveland at Bohemian National Hall. Patricia Ann Krizek DeVoe, RN, who currently serves as Director of the Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation, lives in North Bethesda, MD: Donald Thomas Krizek, Ph.D., retired from the USDA Climate Stress Laboratory, lives in Laurel, MD: and Eugene Lad Krizek, President of the Board of Directors for the Christian Relief Services Charities, lives in Alexandria, VA.

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Copyright © 2020 by Stephen J. Sebesta.

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Rev. date: 10/30/2020

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CONTENTS

LIST OF APPENDICES

LIST OF FIGURES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

I REPORTING FOR DUTY

II BASIC TRAINING AT COGNAC

III DEPLOYMENT AT DARNEY

IV THE FRONT LINES

V TESIN OCCUPATION

VI CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY

VII HOMEWARD BOUND

VIII POST WAR LEGIONNAIRES

EPILOGUE

REFERENCES

LIST OF APPENDICES

A CHRONOLOGY

B BIOGRAPHY

C ROSTER OF THE CLEVELAND CZECHOSLOVAK LEGIONNAIRES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Ladislav Krizek

Figure 2. Czechoslovak Legionnaire Recruiting Poster

Figure 3. Czechoslovak Legionnaire Volunteersat Probulov Hall, November 1917

Figure 4. Barracks of the 21st Regiment

Figure 5. 21st Regiment Officers

Figure 6. 21st Regiment Volunteers from America

Figure 7. 21st Regiment Soccer Team

Figure 8. General Janin Reviewing 21st Regiment in Cognac

Figure 9. Lad Krizek During Signal Corps Training in Cognac

Figure 10. Signal Training Notebook Page

Figure 11. Legionnaires Embarking at Cognac 1918

Figure 12. Presentation of Regimental Colors to 21st Regiment

Figure 13. Lt. Kleinberg with 21st Regiment Flag

Figure 14. Review of 21st Regiment at Darneybefore Leaving for Front

Figure 15. Sokol Exhibition in Massevaux July 14, 1918

Figure 16. Position of Bombers in Saps nearMichelbach in Alsace

Figure 17. Czechoslovak Soldiers Eating Lunch

Figure 18. 21st Regiment Band Playingfor Commander at Seintheim

Figure 19. Trench in Kreuzwald in Alsace

Figure 20. Czechoslovak Graves in Michelbach

Figure 21. 21st Regiment Break on Train to Champagne

Figure 22. Czechoslovak Soldiers in Reserve atRte 44 North of Reims

Figure 23. Headquarters 21st Regiment Hermonville

Figure 24. Czechoslovak Troops Crossing Bridgeat Vesles before Battle at Vouziers

Figure 25. Czechoslovak Troops Relaxing

Figure 26. On Route to Orfeuil October 15, 1918

Figure 27. 21st Regiment before Battle at Vouziers

Figure 28. Captain Blaha and Officers of 21st Regiment before Battle at Vouziers

Figure 29. Movement of 21st Regiment during Battle near Vouziers

Figure 30. Terron sue Aisne-Rue Du Mouline after Bombing

Figure 31. River Aisne in Area of 21st RegimentAttack near Vouziers

Figure 32. Major Husak in Woods at Hauvineafter Battle of Terron

Figure 33. Czechoslovak LegionnairesWaiting for Mail at Vouziers

Figure 34. Czechoslovak Cemetery at Chestres at Vouziers

Figure 35. Shaving in Camp at Hauvine

Figure 36. Masaryk Visit to Darney

Figure 37. Going Home

Figure 38. Return of French Legions to Prague

Figure 39. 21st Regiment in Battle near Tešin 1919

Figure 40. Father Zlamal

Figure 41. Krizek Discharge Papers

Figure 42. Cleveland Legionnaire Post in Civilian Clothing

Figure 43. Legionnaire Contribution Receipt

Figure 44. Crown Hill Cemetery Legionnaires Plaque

Figure 45. Ann Tilisky (Age 97) (daughter ofLegionnaire John Krajny)

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Ladislav Krizek

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The concept of this book started with the arrival of a package from Patricia Krizek DeVoe, Lad Krizek’s daughter, which contained the translated WWI diary of her father including photographs, newspaper articles and other historical material. She read that I was presenting a paper on the History of the Czech Community in Cleveland, Ohio at the SVU World Congress being held at the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice in 2006 and wanted to make me aware of the important role that her father played in that history.

After some correspondence, my wife and I had the opportunity to meet with Patricia along with her two brothers, Eugene Krizek and Donald Krizek, in Washington D.C. We talked about their father and reviewed a wealth of historical resource material that they generously provided. I am sincerely grateful for their warm hospitality and generosity, particularly in sharing their pride and love for a unique Czech-American. They informed me that many of their father’s original documents had been sent to the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) at the University of Minnesota.

My wife Pat and I visited the IHRC and, through the kind assistance of Acting Director Dr. Haven Hawley, were able to obtain more information about the many roles of Ladislav Krizek through a review of the Krizek Papers. Included were his roles as a leader in the Czech Cleveland Community, as a member of the Czechoslovak Legionnaires in the French army during WWI, in assisting Fr. Zlamal during his lecture tour throughout Czechoslovakia and his role and longtime dedication to the causes of U.S. citizenship and assistance to the disabled and other veterans of the Czechoslovak Legionnaires. In addition, there were many letters, photos, clippings, postcards and other graphics that we were able to copy.

I am grateful to Mary Ogle, an Ursuline College Graduate Student in the Historic Preservation program who worked with me as an intern for this project and has provided critical manuscript reviews, research assistance, thoughtful suggestions and invaluable word processing support. Christopher Jammal prepared the map showing the movement of the 21st Regiment.

Thank you to all my children: Elizabeth Ann, Mary Therese, Mary Jo, Eileen Marie, Patricia Lynn, Kathleen Susan and Stephen Jr. for their love, support, and assistance through the long family journey and the many projects leading up to and including this book. I am especially grateful to my daughter Patricia Sebesta Jammal for her patience in reviewing the manuscript for accuracy and to my daughter Elizabeth Ann Piper as well as Patricia for their insightful suggestions.

Finally, I want to extend my most heartfelt love and gratitude to my wife Pat and acknowledge that this book would never have been written if it were not for the constant support, encouragement and assistance that she has provided through our lifelong family journey. She has kept me motivated through the entire research and writing process and has used her teaching skills to assist me in more ways than can be described, even during times when the work in our busy engineering practice has distracted me from the task. I dedicate this book to her.

INTRODUCTION

In 1914, after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Slavic Serbia and her Allies of Russia, France and the British Empire. The Czech lands were under the rule of Austria-Hungary, who began drafting men from Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia to fight under the Austro-Hungarian flag, although neither the soldiers nor the Czech public exhibited enthusiasm over the war.¹

It was reported that some Czech units on the way to the Russian front carried a banner with the verse Cerveny satecku, kolem se toc, pudeme na Rusa, nevime proc(Red colored handkerchief, wave through the sky, we fight the Russians, though we don’t know why).¹ When the Serbian Army was driven to the Adriatic Sea, these Slav deserters fled to Italy and Russia². The Slav soldiers who were sent to fight on the Serbian front made every effort to desert or surrender to the Serbians and then turned their guns on their historic enemies.⁴

At the onset of WWI, Professor Tomas Masaryk, a Moravian professor at Czech University in Prague, was named chairman of the newly