Two Czech elite troops use Nazi symbols at Afghan mission - press

Hynek Matonoha wore the symbol of the 9th SS panzer division Hohenstaufen, Jan Cermak of the SS Dirlewanger brigade, which was one of the most infamous SS combat units of World War Two, the paper writes.

Czech Defence Minister Martin Bartak and chief-of-staff Vlastimil Picek decorated both men on Friday after their return from the Afghan mission, MfD says.

Picek and Bartak may have not known about the commanders' helmets, MfD notes.

But Czech police serving in Afghanistan reported the case. They confirmed this to the paper, requesting anonymity because they believe that the Czech military wants to keep the case secret.

Petr Prochazka, the commander of the Czech contingent in Logar, Afghanistan, only ordered that the controversial covers of the helmets, as well as any photographs showing them, be burnt, MfD writes.

A few photos have nevertheless survived, the paper says.

Czech joint forces commander Hynek Blasko seemed outraged by the information about the Nazi symbols.

"I am too angry to tell you what I am going to do with it but such men have no place in the military," Blasko told the daily.

Cermak admitted that he had the Hohenstaufen symbol on his helmet. He said he used it simply because it consists of a sword and an "H", the first letter of his name Honza, which is the colloquial form of Jan.

"It was just a joke and I am very sorry about it," Cermak told MfD.

He said he was not aware it was a Nazi symbol.

Michal Mazel who specialises in extremism told the paper he did not believe such an excuse.

"He is a elite troop who graduated from university, no teenager. The SS symbols on their helmets show a totally perverse view of the world of NATO military's elite troops," Mazel said.

When asked why Matonoha used the symbol of SS Dirlewanger Cermak said he did not know.

The paper recalls that the brutal Dirlewanger brigade, among other, raped women and killed civilians suspected of links to partisans when suppressing the resistance movement in Slovakia in 1944.

Last week, MfD reported that professional Czech soldier Lukas Sedlacek was a member of a neo-Nazi group that planned terrorist attacks against power plants and abductions of "Jews in high posts" and the police.

The defence minister immediately ordered that Sedlacek be dismissed.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz