Prague, March 16 (CTK) – Juraj Strauss, Czechoslovak Dunkerque veteran, died on Saturday, March 11, at the age of 100, Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky announced.
Strauss, born in Kosice, east Slovakia, on January 18, 1917, will be buried at the Brevnov Monastery in Prague on Tuesday, Jan Pejsek, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, told CTK.
Strauss was a medical orderly of the motorised battalion of the Czechoslovak independent defence brigade during World War Two fighting in France.
He took part in the Dunkerque operations where the Czechoslovak brigade was fighting German units.
After the war, Strauss was demobilised, completed his university studies and became a physician.
Later, he headed the virological department of the State Health Institute, Stropnicky said.
In 1975 and 1976, Strauss participated in the World Health Organisation (WHO) project within which children in Kenya were inoculated against measles.
In 1983, he was decorated with a state price for eradication of measles in Czechoslovakia.
Stropnicky wrote that he is glad he could personally congratulate Strauss on his 100th birthday in hospital in Kladno, central Bohemia.
