Castek, Slavojar

(also Jaroslav Častek). Born Dec. 24, 1894, in Plzeň, Bohemia; died Feb. 6, 1920, in Penza. Internationalist and participant in the Civil War in Soviet Russia. Member of the CPSU from July 1918.

Častek was the son of a minor Czech merchant. As a lieutenant in the reserves, he was called to fight in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. In January 1917 he was taken prisoner by the Russians. In March 1918 he joined the Red Army and became the commander of a combined international detachment in Penza, where he joined an organization of Social Democratic internationalists in April 1918. From May to July 1918, Častek fought in battles against the White Czechs near Penza and Syzran’. In September 1918, as a member of the International Regiment of the 1st Simbirsk Infantry Division, he took part in the liberation of Simbirsk, of which he became commandant.

In April 1919, Častek became chief and military commissar of the Directorate on the Formation of International Units of the Red Army. In July 1919 he took command of the International Regiment of the 1st Simbirsk Infantry Division. Častek died of typhus.