World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseFerdinand Catlos was born in Austria-Hungary in 1895. He studied business in Kezmarku and Dolny Kubin in present-day Slovakia before attending a military academy in Prague in present-day Czech Republic. He saw action in Russia during WW1. After the formation of Czechoslovakia, he remained in the military, rising through the ranks in the 1920s and 1930s. He became the Minister of Defense of the German-sponsored Slovak Republic and was named the commanding officer of the four-division-strong Field Army Bernolák; in the latter role, he participated in the execution of the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. In 1944, as Soviet troops advanced, he secretly drafted a plan for the military to overthrow the German-sponsored state, and sent a delegation to Moscow, Russia on 23 Aug 1944 to that end; his proposals were ultimately rejected by the Soviets. Upon learning that the Germans were planning on arresting him, he joined the anti-German resistance on 2 Sep 1944, but he was detained by the Soviets in Kiev, Ukraine on 13 Sep and later transferred to Moscow. He remained imprisoned at the Butyrka prison in Moscow until 1947, and then was given another prison sentence by a court in Czechoslovakia. Upon release in 1948, he worked as a clerk in Turciansky Sväty Martin, Czechoslovakia (now Martin, Slovakia). He passed away in 1972.

Ferdinand Catlos Interactive Map

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Ferdinand Catlos Timeline