"Hitler - Gentleman" article found - but was not written by Peroutka and was critical of Nazism, contrary to president's claim

An article called "Hitler - Gentleman", referred to by President Milǒs Zeman in a speech in January 2015, has been found, ending speculation about its existence ever since. But the article in question, published on February 24,1937, appeared not in Přítomnost, as Mr Zeman claimed, but in Rudé Právo. Novinky.cz and other sources report that most significantly, it was not written by legendary Czech journalist Ferdinand Peroutka and was not favorable but critical of Hitler and Nazism.

According to available information, the article in the newspaper was reaction to a story published a day earlier in the agrarian right-wing daily Venkov, which had quoted Czech legionnaires describing Hitler as an "affable fellow" and someone they did not think wanted to start a war in Europe. The article, which featured no byline, was labelled an unprecedented provocation by Rudé Právo.

The president's claim that the 'Gentleman' article was written by Ferdinand Peroutka led to a lawsuit from the journalist's granddaughter; a court recently ordered the head of state to apologize, but the Office of the President filed an appellate complaint in response.

The 'Hitler-Gentleman' article was reportedly uncovered by historian Jan Galandauer while conducting other research. The president's spokesman, Jiří Ovčáček, reacted with a tweet on Saturday morning, saying he considered the find "an interesting clue".

Author: Jan Velinger