Petr Zenkl
| Petr Zenkl | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Mayor of Prague | |
|
In office 1937–1939 |
|
| Preceded by | Karel Baxa |
| Succeeded by | Otakar Klapka |
|
In office 1945–1946 |
|
| Preceded by | Václav Vacek |
| Succeeded by | Václav Vacek |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 June 1884 Tábor, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 2 November 1975 (aged 91) Raleigh, North Carolina, United States |
| Resting place | Vyšehrad Cemetery |
| Political party | Czechoslovak National Socialist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Pavla |
| Alma mater | Charles University |
| Occupation | Politician |
Petr Zenkl, PhD. (13 June 1884 – 2 November 1975) was an influential Czech politician, government minister, Mayor of Prague, chairman of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (1945-1948), deputy Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (1946-1948) and the chairman of exile Council of Free Czechoslovakia (1949-1974).
Petr Zenkl was born as the eighth son of a small businessman, originally a tailor, in the South Bohemian town of Tábor. All of the children helped their father in his business and strived to earn money. The father was Czech patriot, thus the children joined the Sokol movement. Zenkl studied at the gymnasium (grammar school) in Tábor and later graduated from the Philosophy Faculty of the Charles University in Prague and in 1907 gained a doctorate. During his studies in Tábor he met a daughter of his history teacher, 16-year-old Pavla, and married her six years later in 1909.
From 1911 Zenkl was active in local politics in Prague, more precisely in Karlín, which was until 1921 an independent town before its incorporation to Prague. In 1911 he became a member of the Karlín town council, and in 1919 became a mayor of Karlín. He lost his position when Karlín was incorporated into Prague in 1921-1922. As a member of the Prague city council, Zenkl was installed in 1937 to the position of Prague's mayor, replacing his successful predecessor, dr. Karel Baxa.
Shortly after the Nazi German occupation of Prague (March 1939) Zenkl was arrested and jailed in the Pankrác Prison. From there he was transported to the Dachau concentration camp and, after three weeks, to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was liberated together with other inmates by the army of U.S. General George S. Patton. Zenkl is mentioned in Edward R Murrow's report of Buchenwald on 11 April 1945, when a man turned to him in a barracks and said "You remember me, I am Peter Zenkl, onetime mayor of Prague". The two had indeed met before, but given such harsh treatment as Zenkl had endured, he was unrecognizable. With American military help, he was able to fly through Frankfurt am Main and Paris to London, where he learned that his place as Mayor of Prague had been taken by the communist Václav Vacek. He was also informed that he had been elected chairman of his Czechoslovak National Socialist Party by the Revolutionary Committee of the party.
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