Biskupcova 4 — the first Prague refuge and Zelenka’s network
Story period: December 1941–October 1942
Location: Biskupcova 1837/4, Žižkov
After arriving from the Plzeň region, Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík found their first Prague refuge with the Růt family at Biskupcova 1837/4. Later, another apartment in the same building—the home of teacher Jan Zelenka-Hajský—became a centre for Sokol assistance: finding more shelters, maintaining contacts and obtaining supplies. Both households suffered in the Nazi repression that followed.
The first Prague address: the Růt family
late December 1941–early January 1942
A contact in Plzeň led the pair to the apartment of postal employee Václav Růta.
Plzeň police inspector Václav Král sought a safe Prague contact for the parachutists. He approached former colleague Jan Bejbl, who knew Václav Růta from Bratislava. After Czechoslovakia’s breakup, the Růts had moved to Biskupcova Street in Prague. Václav worked for the railway postal service at the main station.
A postwar investigative reconstruction places Kubiš and Gabčík’s arrival at the Růts’ on 31 December and their departure on 5 January. VHÚ cautions that January’s exact sequence cannot be securely reconstructed. The Růts provided the first documented Prague lodging, while Zelenka organized further help through Sokol contacts.
In the same building: the Zelenka family
January–May 1942
Zelenka organized support; whether the pair also slept in his apartment is disputed.
Teacher Jan Zelenka-Hajský lived in a separate apartment in the same building with his wife Františka and son Jan Milíč. They had settled in Žižkov before the war after losing their home in the annexed borderlands. Zelenka drew on prewar Sokol connections and helped organize the radical Říjen resistance group.
His work meant finding people who could provide accommodation, information or supplies. When a shared refuge was needed after the attack, he asked Orthodox chaplain Vladimír Petřek for help on 28 May. He and other supporters then supplied the men in the church with everyday necessities.
The raids reach both households
17 June–24 October 1942
The network’s exposure struck the Zelenkas and later the Růts.
During the raid on 17 June, Jan Zelenka-Hajský poisoned himself. His son Jan Milíč took his own life elsewhere that day. The Nazis murdered Františka Zelenková in Mauthausen.
The Gestapo arrested the Růts on 19 June. The sources do not securely establish who revealed their assistance to investigators. Václav, Marie and Jiří Růta were later murdered in Mauthausen. These two apartments recall both the beginnings of the Prague support network and the price paid when it was exposed.
The historical address Biskupcova 1837/4 identifies the building shared by the Růt and Zelenka families, not their separate apartments. Sources also disagree about whether the two men slept at the Zelenkas’. Atentát and an article by the Military History Institute (VHÚ) say they did; an ÚSTR study documents stays with the Růts but none with the Zelenkas. The precise sequence of the first January contacts remains uncertain.
Explore further
- Jan Zelenka-Hajský
lived in the other apartment and organized assistance
- The Král apartment
a contact from Plzeň through Bejbl led to the Růts
- The Moravec apartment
another Žižkov base in the network
- The church in Resslova Street
Zelenka helped arrange the refuge
Sources
- Atentát: Operace Anthropoid 1941–1942 · 60