Josef Bryks | |
|---|---|
 Josef Bryks in Czechoslovak Air Force uniform | |
| Born | 18 March 1916 Lašťany, Moravia |
| Died | 11 August 1957 (aged 41) Ostrov nad Ohří, Czechoslovakia |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Czechoslovakia United Kingdom Czechoslovakia |
| Service | Czechoslovak Army Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1935–48 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 5th Sqn, 2nd Aviation Regt 33rd Fighter Squadron |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Member of Order of the British Empire Order of the White Lion (posthumous) Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 × 2 |
| Relations | 1st wife: Marie, née Černá (1939–, divorced) 2nd wife: Gertrude, née Dellar |
Josef Bryks, MBE, (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjozɛv brɪks]; 18 March 1916– 11 August 1957) was a Czechoslovak cavalryman, fighter pilot, prisoner of war and political prisoner.
In 1940 he escaped the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. In 1941 he was shot down over German-occupied France.
Bryks was a prisoner of war for four years, in which time he escaped and was recaptured three times. After his third escape he served in the Polish Home Army in Warsaw, where he helped to get supplies to Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
After his third recapture Bryks was moved to Stalag Luft III where he helped in the Great Escape, and then to Oflag IV-C in Colditz Castle, where he remained until it was liberated by the US Army in 1945.
In 1945 Bryks returned to Czechoslovakia and his Czechoslovak Air Force career. However, after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état the Communists purged Bryks and many other officers who had served in Free Czechoslovak units under French or UK command.
In 1949 the Communists sentenced Bryks to 10 years in prison and stripped him of his rank and medals. In 1950 20 years' hard labour and a heavy fine were added to his original sentence. In 1952 he was moved to a prison where he was forced to work in a uranium mine. Bryks died of a heart attack in a prison hospital in 1957.
Bryks was posthumously rehabilitated after the 1989 Velvet Revolution ended the Communist dictatorship.