Otakar Jaros

Jaroš, Otakar

 

Born Aug. 1, 1912, in Louny; died Mar. 8, 1943, in Sokolovo. Czechoslovak officer (posthumously promoted to captain). The first foreign soldier to be named Hero of the Soviet Union (Apr. 17, 1943, posthumously).

In 1937, Jaroš graduated from a higher military school in Hranice, North Moravia. After the Czech lands were occupied by the forces of fascist Germany, he emigrated in 1939 to Poland and later to the Soviet Union. In February 1942 he joined the 1st Separate Czechoslovak Battalion, formed in Buzuluk. He died heroically in the defense of the Soviet village of Sokolovo.