Irena ��áš��Ǳ�á (1904 Prague – 1942 Berlin) - née Preissigová - Czech journalist and resistance fighter, also known as "Inka ��áš��Ǳ�á". Photo from a fake Protectorate general citizen's card registered in the name of Vlasta Nováková.

As the second of three daughters of painter Vojtěch Preissig, Irena ��áš��Ǳ�á was born on February 7, 1904, in Prague, Bohemia. She and her family lived in Boston, during the First World War. Their home became an important place for politicians and statesmen fighting for Czechoslovak independence to meet.

��áš��Ǳ�á herself was a resistance member actively fighting against German occupation. Alongside that, she was a Czechoslovak journalist. After the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, ��áš��Ǳ�á and her sisters returned to Prague in 1921 where they went to study with their Aunt. Here she met her cousin Eduard ��áš��, whom she fell in love with and married at the age of 21. Her father was angry with her decision and did not support their marriage in any way, and therefore, cut off contact with ��áš��Ǳ�á for four years.

During this time, the couple had a home in the ��ř��Ǳ� area of Prague. These years of marriage were not happy as her husband, Eda, did not want a strong woman but rather one to control. Arguing day by day, her husband started to come home later and later giving him time to spend with a certain widow. To top things off, ��áš��Ǳ�á had a miscarriage followed by a difficult procedure which led to her inability to have more children. The marriage had fallen apart.

��áš��Ǳ�á’s father returned to Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s where he ultimately decided it was time to reconnect with his daughter. With their political views matching one another's, their bond was strengthened once again. They both joined the anti-Nazi resistance while ��áš��Ǳ�á volunteered as a nurse in the Red Cross and treated refugees from the occupied Czechoslovak border.

The German troops marched into the rest of former Czechoslovakia in 1939, when ��áš��Ǳ�á and her father had started collaborating on publishing the largest illegal magazine “V boj” with Josef Š�첹��岹. ��áš��Ǳ�á rewrote the texts on a typewriter and distributed her copies while her father, who was a member of the editorial board, painted the covers and did translations. With every issue made, a copy was sent as provocation to the Gestapo. After the summer of 1939, where the State Secretary KH Frank received several copies directly, the Gestapo started going after resistance fighters on orders from the highest ranks. When most of the leading publishers were arrested, ��áš��Ǳ�á and her father escaped and moved production to her apartment.

Plaque honoring ��áš��Ǳ�á while in Czechoslovakia

The Gestapo was still after her. Receiving a warning from an anonymous person saying, “The Gestapo has requested your papers. You must not stay at home any longer, you are in danger of arrest. A friend from the police.” ��áš��Ǳ�á decided to go underground. She slept in the winter garden below her father’s studio, dyed her hair, wore glasses, and only went out with false documents. Unfortunately, the Gestapo were already on her tail, and they arrested her on September 21, 1940, alongside her father and many other collaborators.

��áš��Ǳ�á endured three days of interrogation by the Gestapo, but she did not break. She took all the blame for herself, only giving out names of those who were imprisoned or already dead. In doing so she saved the lives of many others, but as the head of a resistance organization, she was sentenced to death and executed on August 26, 1942. Due to her honorable actions, in 1946, ��áš��Ǳ�á received the Czechoslovak War Cross in memorial, and a Medal for Bravery in 1998.

Written by: Lucy Vanecko

Sources:

“Irena Bernaskova.” Prabook.Com, . Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.

http://www.publix.cz, PubliX software -. “Portal of Prague 2.” The Borough of Prague 2: Irena ��áš��Ǳ�á, . Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.

Monika Kuncová “Inka ��áš��Ǳ�á: Zasnoubena Se Smrtí.” Novinky, Novinky, 31 Oct. 2021,

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