The silver medal from the series National Heroes of the Czech Mint pays tribute to the First Republic officers Josef Balabán, Josef Mašín and Václav Morávek, who after the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia became key figures in the anti-Nazi resistance. Their successful intelligence and sabotage activities were a thorn in the side of Gestapo, which began to call them the Three Kings.

There were several reasons why the trio of men managed to act directly under the nose of Nazis. They were not ordinary soldiers who would carry out orders without hesitation - they were creative, came up with unconventional solutions and complemented each other in character. Healthy insolence gave them courage and provoked the German leaders. For example, the Three Kings supplied an illegal resistance magazine directly to the Gestapo headquarters - so that the secret police would not have to laboriously search for it and persecute the Czech people. Morávek and his two companions bet a thousand crowns that he would have a cigarette burned in public by the Gestapo commander, who was commissioned to capture them. Not only did he win the bet, but he also boasted about it to his pursuer in a letter ... In addition to gathering a variety of information of a military, political and economic nature, the Three Kings carried out sabotage operations. For example, they took part in the bombings in Berlin, and the assassination of Heinrich Himmler did not succeed just because his train was delayed. The trio did well even after the Nazis infiltrated and broke down the structures of the resistance organization Defense of the Nation. However, Balabán was the first of the Three Kings caught by Gestapo and Mašín was arrested later. Both defended themselves and were injured in the shootout, both were tortured and eventually executed. Lonely Morávek continued to fight against the Nazis, but he was wounded in an attempt to free his fellow resistance fighter and preferred suicide to being caught.

"The torn area of the reverse side reflects the situation in the protectorate during the Nazi occupation. A badge made of Czechoslovak officer's cap with state symbols and crossed swords is inserted into the diagonally striped belt between the words DEFENSE OF THE NATION. Horizontally across the surface, there is a plastically indistinct inscription THREE KINGS, which recalls the secret resistance activities. The three protruding segments with the points of the swords, taken from the badge of the officer's cap, symbolize the halos of the Three Kings, ” explains the academic sculptor Jiří Dostál. "The central composition of the three portraits on the obverse side expresses the cooperation of the resistance group. The officers lean their backs on each other - the position with their faces apart symbolizes their vigilance and independence in resistance activities. In the backround of each portrait, there is a compact text JOSEF BALABÁN EXECUTED ON 3 OCTOBER 1941, VÁCLAV MORÁVEK SHOT ON 21 MARCH 1942, JOSEF MAŠÍN EXECUTED ON 30 JUNE 1942,“ the author of medal adds.

The medal is set in a spectacular packaging - a book that contains a treatise written by historian PhDr. Petr Koura, Ph.D. Remember that you can store the complete collection of National Heroes in a practical collector's box.