Stolperstein dedicated to Antonín František Slavík

The Stolperstein dedicated to Antonín František Slavík is a brass plaque set into the pavement on Tůmova Street in Brno, commemorating a radio engineer and resistance fighter killed by the Nazis during the Second World War. The stone, part of a series unveiled in the city in 2014, marks his last known address and recalls his fate during the occupation years.

Who was Antonín František Slavík?

Antonín František Slavík was born on 20 January 1893 in Karlín, then a suburb of Prague within Austria-Hungary. He trained as an engineer specializing in radiotelegraphy, a field still in its infancy in Central Europe in the early twentieth century. He took part in setting up one of the first radio broadcasting stations on Czech territory, built inside the Petřín Lookout Tower in Prague.

His career took him first to Bratislava, and from 1922 to Brno, where he joined the local branch of Radiojournal, Czechoslovakia's first radio broadcaster. From 1928 he spent more than a decade as director of the Brno station, helping it grow into one of the country's leading radio centers.

What was his role in the resistance?

After Germany occupied the Czech lands in March 1939 and established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Slavík did not remain passive. He joined the underground Politické ústředí and then, valued for his skills as an experienced radiotelegraphist, the resistance organization Obrana národa (Defence of the Nation), one of the most important Czech resistance networks opposing the occupation.

His clandestine work did not last long. On 14 December 1939, during a wave of arrests that broke up the first network of Obrana národa, Slavík was detained by the Gestapo.

What happened to him after his arrest?

Following his arrest, Slavík passed through several places of detention: he was held at Špilberk Castle in Brno, then at Kounicovy koleje — a former student dormitory converted by the Germans into a prison and execution site — and later transferred to the Alt-Moabit prison in Berlin.

On 9 June 1942 he was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on 27 October of the same year at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, where Slavík was executed by guillotine together with three other Czech resistance members. He was 49 years old.

Where exactly is the memorial stone located?

The Stolperstein for Antonín František Slavík lies on the pavement on Tůmova Street in Brno, in front of the building where he lived before his arrest. Made of brass to a design by German artist Gunter Demnig, the stone was laid on 17 September 2014 — the same day several similar memorial plaques were installed across the city, alongside a ceremony on October 28 Square honoring Nazi victims connected to Brno.

What is the Stolperstein project?

Stolpersteine (literally "stumbling stones") are an international memorial project initiated by Gunter Demnig: a small brass plaque bearing a victim's name and a brief account of their fate, set into the pavement outside their last known residence. The project honors not only Jewish victims of the Holocaust but also others persecuted by the Third Reich — including, as with Slavík, resistance members executed for underground activity. In Brno, such stones have been laid across several districts, forming a scattered but coherent network of memory woven into the city's everyday fabric.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Antonín František Slavík? A radio engineer and, for more than a decade, director of the Brno branch of Radiojournal, who from 1939 became a member of the underground resistance organization Obrana národa and was executed by the Germans in 1942.

Where exactly is the memorial stone located? On the pavement on Tůmova Street in Brno, in front of the building where Slavík lived before his arrest.

When was the Stolperstein unveiled? On 17 September 2014, as part of a wider effort to commemorate Nazi victims connected to Brno.

How did Antonín František Slavík die? He was executed by guillotine on 27 October 1942 at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, following a death sentence handed down on 9 June of that year.

Why was he arrested? For his role in the underground resistance organization Obrana národa, where his skills as an experienced radiotelegraphist made him valuable for underground communications; the Gestapo arrested him on 14 December 1939.