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Many Jews in Czechoslovak Division Fighting by Side of Russian Troops

April 15, 1943
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Many Czech Jews are in the ranks of the Czechoslovakian division now fighting on the Russian front against the Nazis, it is disclosed by reports appearing in the press throughout Russia.

Two Jewish youths from Prague, who fled the Heinlein terror before the outbreak of the Russian-German war, are particularly lauded today for outstanding courage during a tank battle in which the Czechoslovak units repulsed an attack by 40 Nazi tanks, destroying many of them. The two are Corporal Gutman and Private Weiner.

The company to which Gutman and Weiner were attached was defending a small hill, armed with machineguns, automatic rifles and hand grenades, the report states. Heavy Nazi fire succeeded in killing many of the defenders of the hill and several of the officers. When it appeared as if the Czechs would be forced to retreat, Gutman and several other soldiers, including Weiner, decided to crawl toward the tanks and hurl “Molotov cocktails.” The flaming explosive bottles disabled the leading German machines and compelled the others to retreat.

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