File:Josef Svaton 1896 1944.gif

English: Lieutenant Colonel Josef Svatoň (1896-1944) was a member of the Czechoslovak legions in Russia during the First World War. After returning to Czechoslovakia, he became a professional soldier (officer) in the First Republic Czechoslovak Army. After the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia and the establishment of the Protectorate, he became involved in anti-German activities within the military underground resistance organisation Obrana národa (Defence of the Nation). He was the commander of the resistance organization "Rada tří" (R3), which was founded in 1942 and headed by General Vojtěch Luža and JUDr. Josef Grňa. The R3 operated mainly in the area of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands (it fell within the Chrudim region). After the death of Vojtěch Luža (2 October 1944, Hřiště near Přibyslav), Josef Svatoň was appointed by Grňa to the position of military commander of R3. Svatoň, however, transferred the command of R3 (his power) to the military collective committee consisting of Karel Steiner (Karel Steiner-Veselý), Lieutenant Colonel Josef Robotka and Captain Eduard Soška (1913-1944). After narrowly escaping arrest in 1944, Josef Svatoň went underground (he used the code name "Doubek" in the resistance). He died (together with his adjutant Captain Eduard Soska) in a shootout with the Gestapo on 1 November 1944 in Pasky near Proseč. After his death, the illegal group, which had been operating around him mainly in the Nové Město region since 1940, was renamed the "General Svatoň" group. Lieutenant Colonel Josef Svatoň was promoted to the rank of general in memoriam after the Second World War.