František Vohryzek

He was born František Wohryzek in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Jewish-Czech parents. After graduating from high school, he changed the spelling of his surname to Vohryzek and began studying law at Charles University in Praha, where he started fencing. He won the Czechoslovakian academic championship in épée shortly before graduating in 1930 and medaled in the Czech national championships starting in 1934. Vohryzek was selected for the 1936 Olympics where he fenced in three events. At the 1938 World Championships he was on the bronze medal winning foil team.

After Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and annexed the Sudentenland on 15 March 1939 and his being Jewish, Vohryzek decided for health reasons to accept a scholarship to study law at Sorbonne University and moved to Paris on 30 March 1939. On 16 September 1939 he joined the French Army and took part in the battles of the Marne, Seine, and Loire before being evacuated to England on 12 June 1940 where he transferred to the Czech Army-in-exile and served on its legal staff.

On 1 January 1944, Vohryzek was transferred to the Russian front and participated in the Carpathian offensive. He was finally discharged on 16 December 1944 with the rank of captain.

When the war ended, Vohryzek learned that his parents had been killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He returned to Praha where he got a job in the chemical industry and resumed training at the SK Riegel fencing club. When the political trials began, he decided to defect, crossed the border illegally into Austria on 13 September 1952, and applied for asylum in Canada. He settled in Montréal, changing his name to Frank Vernon, and died there on 27 January 1997.