local fascists to overthrow the government by means of a military coup. The mutiny was immediately suppressed. Gajda was arrested the next day and charged with inciting the coup. Initially he was absolved of wrongdoing but after political pressure the verdict was revised. Gajda was sentenced to six months in prison and the forfeiture of his military pension. The NOF was somewhat successful in the 1935 elections and Gajda obtained a seat in parliament, which he was to hold until 1939. At this time, the NOF had a strong anti-German orientation, supported a military buildup and favored war with Nazi Germany over the Sudetenland. (After the Munich Agreement Gajda, as a gesture of defiance, returned all French and British honors and medals.) In 1939 he was rehabilitated and restored to the rank of General. He also became active in the newly established Party of National Unity (). During March 1939, the Czechoslovakian political scene was in state of turmoil. Several coups were attempted, one in anticipation of making Gajda the new head of state. These amateurish coups ended in fiasco and several days later the remaining Czech lands were occupied by Nazi Germany. Gajda was marginalized during the occupation and abandoned politics. He occasionally assisted the Czech resistance by helping army officers to flee into Poland and by hiding the resistance activities of his son. He was investigated by the Gestapo but avoided imprisonment. When World War II ended Gajda was imprisoned by the NKVD (12 May 1945) and interrogated under harsh conditions (he lost his eyesight while jailed). Last years In April 1947 he was brought to trial for "propagation of Fascism and Nazism", for which the prosecutor requested a life sentence. Gajda's guilt was far from clear and the resulting sentence of two years allowed him to leave prison shortly thereafter. Penniless and forgotten, he died several months later. See also Gajda Affair Footnotes References The Czech Fascist Movement: 1922-1942 by David Kelly (Columbia University Press, 1995, ) Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 edited by Philip Rees (1991, ) "Radola Gajda of Czechoslovakia" by Joseph F. Zacek in East Central European War Leaders: Civilian and Military edited by Bela K. Kiraly (Columbia University Press, 1988, ) "The Would-Be Führer: General Radola Gajda of Czechoslovakia" by David Kelly in Issue 12.3 of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies Antonín Klimek and Petr Hofman: "Generál Radola Gajda,