Martin Dzúr
| Martin Dzúr | |
|---|---|
Dzúr in 1969
|
|
| Minister of Defense | |
|
In office April 1968 – 11 January 1985 |
|
| President | Ludvík Svoboda |
| Prime Minister | Lubomir Strougal |
| Preceded by | Bohumír Lomský |
| Succeeded by | Milán Václavík |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 July 1919 Plostin, Liptovský Mikuláš District |
| Died | 15 January 1985 (aged 65) Prague |
| Nationality | Slovak |
| Political party | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
| Alma mater | General Staff Academy |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Czechoslovakia |
| Years of service | 1940s-1980s |
| Rank | Army General |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Martin Dzúr (12 July 1919 – 15 January 1985) was a Slovak military officer and a communist politician, who served as defense minister from 1968 to 1985.
Dzúr was born in Plostin, Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia, on 12 July 1919. His parents were peasants. From 1937 to 1939 he studied woodworking. In the late 1940s he graduated from a military school, a higher academic course and the General Staff Academy, Kliment Voroshilov, in Moscow.
Dzúr joined the Slovak army for military draft service in 1941. However, he left the Slovak army and defected to the Soviet Union in January 1943. He joined both Soviet forces and the then-illegal Czechoslovak Communist Party in 1943. Then he began to serve in the 119th brigade of the Red Army. Following World War II he became a captain in the Soviet-assisted Czechoslovak independent brigade in 1946.
In 1959, he was made deputy defense minister. He was appointed defense minister under President Ludvík Svoboda in April 1968, replacing Bohumír Lomský in the post. Four months after Dzúr's appointment the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, Dzúr was arrested in his office by two Soviet military officers.Ivan Yershov, Soviet chief of staff during the invasion, stated in 1989 that Dzúr initially refused to take orders from the Soviets, arguing that only Alexander Dubček, leader of the Czechoslovak communist party, could give orders to him. However, Andrei Grechko, the former commander of the Warsaw Pact, told Dzúr on telephone that "if a single Czechoslovak soldier fired so much as one shot, he would personally hang Dzur from the first tree." Dzúr was allowed only to call Dubček to inform the invasion. On 28 September 1968 Dzúr increased the number of Czech military areas accessible to Soviet troops.
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