Czech resistance figure František Wiendl, who faced both Nazi and communist regimes, dies at 102
The Klatovy native survived six years in Jáchymov uranium mines and helped 28 people flee across the Šumava border before becoming a founding member of the Confederation of Political Prisoners after the Velvet Revolution.
František Wiendl, a dual-era resistance activist and honorary chairman of the Confederation of Political Prisoners, died on the night of 26 June 2026 at Prague’s Střešovice hospital, according to his son Jan. He was 102 years old.
- Born in Klatovy, Czechoslovakia.
- The Niva resistance group formed after merging Lidice and other cells; Wiendl is a member.
- Began helping people smuggle across the Šumava border after the communist takeover.
- Betrayed by a former partisan and captured by StB.
- Sentenced to 18 years in prison for high treason with 13 others.
- Conditionally released after 10 years of imprisonment.
- Rehabilitated after the Velvet Revolution; co-founded the Confederation of Political Prisoners.
- Died at age 102 in Prague.
Wartime resistance
Born on 31 December 1923 in Klatovy to a master carpenter and resistance veteran, Wiendl studied at the Plzeň construction technical school and later worked for the firm Virth a Mašková. During the war, his father first operated within the Úvod group until its breakup by the Gestapo, then founded the Lidice cell in Klatovy. In early 1945 Lidice and other groups were merged into Niva, where the young Wiendl was tasked with recruiting youth.
Father was in the Úvod group, which the Germans managed to break up. They arrested many people across the entire Protectorate. Father was lucky enough to escape arrest, so he later founded the Lidice group in Klatovy. That was merged with others at the beginning of 1945 into the Niva group, of which I was also a member. My task was to recruit young people. It was there that I met the people I would later work with after the war.
Smuggling people across the border
After the February 1948 communist takeover, Wiendl helped 28 people illegally cross the Czechoslovak border in the Šumava region, cooperating with the subsequently executed agent-chodec Alois Suttý. The operation ended in November 1949 when a former partisan betrayed the group, allowing Státní bezpečnost (StB) to set a trap. Wiendl was caught and, in 1950, sentenced for high treason alongside 13 other people to 18 years in prison.
Prison meant hope of life. I only feared the death penalty.
Imprisonment and rehabilitation
He spent six years at forced labour in the Jáchymov uranium mines, followed by four years in the Pankrác prison design unit, before being conditionally released in 1960. After the fall of the communist regime, both Wiendl and his father were rehabilitated. They founded the Confederation of Political Prisoners in Klatovy, and Wiendl later served as chairman of the local branch and eventually as honorary chairman. His recognition over the years included the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, III. degree, and awards from Memory of the Nation and the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.
