Vilém Sok-Sieger (1902–1949)
Vilém Sok-Sieger was born in Beroun (Beroun District, Central Bohemian Region) on December 31, 1902. His father was a tradesman and his mother was the daughter of a miller. After completing studies at a secondary school in Prague, he went to study at the Military Academy, to become Artillery Lieutenant in 1924. He served at several artillery units of the Czechoslovak Army (among others as an air-artillery observer, Battery Commander and Technical Officer), and gradually reached the rank of Captain.
He got married in 1931 and had one son Vilém. During the German occupation he was a clerk at the Hydrological and Hydro-technological Institute in Prague. As of 1943 he worked at Prague’s anti-aircraft defence unit. At the time of the Protectorate he strove to assist families who fell victim to Nazi terror and he also maintained contacts with his former colleagues, but he did not participate in any major resistance activities. At the time of the May (1945) Uprising he was still engaged at the anti-aircraft defence unit, but he did not take part in the fighting.
When the war was over, he returned to the Czechoslovak Army to reach the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the automobile service. As of February 1946 he was assigned to the 7th Department of the Ministry of National Defence Headquarters. In July 1948 he changed his surname from the original „Sieger“ to „Sok“. Even though he joined the Communist Party in May 1948, it could not save him from post-February persecution which had the most tragic conseqeuences in his case. He was arrested in March 1949 and sentenced to death on charges of high treason and espionage in the spring of 1949, together with other high officers of the Czechoslovak Army (Action Norbert). He was executed at Prague’s Pankrác Prison on July 18, 1949, together with other convicts (M. Jebavý, B. Hubálek, K. Sabela, J. Gonic). He left behind him his wife and a fourteen-year-old son.