Czechs on D-Day
Hundreds of Czechs fought on the side of the Allies at
Normandy, but some Czechoslovak citizens fought for
the Germans. In "Saving Private Ryan," which is
enjoying a revival as the 60th anniversary of D-Day
approaches, a soldier in a German uniform pleads in
Czech, "Don't shoot. I'm Czech. I didn't kill anyone." The
Americans storming Omaha Beach don't understand
him and shoot him anyway. Steven Spielberg's film is
known for its realism, and some people say he
intentionally put stuntman Martin Hub into this role to
show that some Czechs were forced to fight for the
Germans. Tęden suggested that Hub's character was a
Sudeten German trying to save his own life by acting
like a Czech. Others say that Spielberg did an injustice
to all Czechs by giving the false impression that Czech
soldiers in general were German collaborators who
deserved to be shot. invasion Czechoslovakia
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