Talk:Anton Cermak

Untitled
No comment at all about his death? From the FDR article:

In Miami an unemployed bricklayer called Joseph Zangara fired five shots at Roosevelt, missing him but killing the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. Zangara, who was later executed, said he had shot at Roosevelt because "the capitalists killed my life." --Tony Hecht 01:18, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

"and Thompson's slur largely backfired. (Making a New Deal, p. 256)" WHAT page? Of which book? Any copyright infringement?

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A reader sent this to info-en@wikimedia.org: "In all of my readings, including newspaper clippings from 1933, online researches and books, I've found that Cermak was not riding in the car with FDR but sitting in the grandstand. When the car came to a stop for FDR to speak, FDR saw Cermak in the stands & motioned for him to come down, as he did." The Uninvited Co., Inc. 21:46, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

"The greatest political figure"
''Cermak used his last breath to call the President-elect a M***er F***er to his face. Given Cermak's rough and tumble street origins, this is totally plausible. It is also the reason that Anton Cermak is considered by many to be the greatest political figure the United States has produced since the Civil War.''

Wait... he's considered the greatest political figure since the Civil War because he cursed the U.S. president with his dying breath? Surely this is a case of poor wording. —LonelyPilgrim 22:57, 2 April 2006 (UTC)


 * A case of poor wording? No, I suspect it is a facetious dig at FDR, given the fairly clear ideological cant of the editor who added this. Removed. 67.39.188.207 21:16, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Unless there is some sort of documentation of of the "MF" reference, I think it should be deleted. And I will, unless someone has something else to say. Joegoodfriend 17 May 2006


 * No, it definitely needs to stay. I think it was written very well and it doesnt state it as af fact it just says allegedly. I didnt even write it.

Jerry Jones 17:14, 18 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I take your point, but I question the idea that this article should largely be about one author's uncorraborated story about historical figures calling each other dirty names. I'm can't find any other author discussing this incident in this way. I think the article needs a rewrite. Joegoodfriend 17 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Not sure why an apocryphal story, no matter how well or poorly written, belongs here. Shsilver 17:28, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I have made significant changes to this article including: 1. Factual accuracy and details of the assassination, especially on the unproven allegations that Roosevelt was not the intended target. 2. I have curtailed the "Len O'Connor" anecdote to a single paragraph. This strange, uncorraborated story, was also hopelessly POV. For instance, it contained the sentence, "With his tail between his legs, Cermak approached FDR and kissed the ring." Also, the story had been edited in ways that caused it to make no sense (not that it made sense in the first place). Joegoodfriend 06 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I've added references on Cermak as the intended target. --Turbothy (talk) 23:13, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Member, Medinah Country Club
Unsure how/where to include this. In Medinah CC's archives is a brochure tha features an ad from Cermak: "Counting the covers, the pamphlet is composed of twenty-four pages.... Many pages are multiple black and white block style local adverts...and there is a super "A.J. Cermak - Democratic Candidate - United States Senator From Illinois - Member Medinah Country Club" ad."--Robertkeller 21:39, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Contradicts other article
I think this article contradicts what is said in Giuseppe Zangara. According to that article Zangara fired six shots, Cermak was sitting next to FDR, and he hit five (not six) people. Compare:

" Zangara repeatedly said, and the Miami Police agreed with him that he never got off more than three rounds from his pistol.[citation needed] Furthermore, Zangara's pistol was manufactured to fire five rounds, yet police recovered seven bullets from the scene.[citation needed] Later, while Roosevelt waited in the halls of the Jackson Memorial Hospital where Cermak was being treated, he pointed out to his Secret Service detail, that not one of the six people shot was near him when they were hit.[citation needed] In fact, they were at least thirty feet away from him, but only two or three feet away from Cermak.[citation needed]"

and

"Zangara took a .32 caliber pistol, purchased at a local pawn shop, and joined the crowd. However, being only five feet tall, he was unable to see over other people and had to stand on a wobbly, folding, metal chair, peering over the hat of Lilian Cross, a doctor's wife, to get a clear aim at his target. After the first shot, Mrs. Cross and others grabbed his arm and he fired five more shots wildly. He missed the President-Elect. Five other people were hit including Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, who was sitting next to FDR."

Vints (talk) 09:28, 16 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I deleted som of the text here. . Perhaps this: "Roosevelt added Zangara had not fired a single shot at him during the eight-minute window that was his speech.[citation needed] Roosevelt concluded that Zangara was 'a Chicago gangster' sent to kill Cermak and said as much for the rest of his life.[citation needed] " is true but there is no source for it. Vints (talk) 12:24, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

There's also a contradiction about the number of people killed; see for more. --Karl Fogel 19:31, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

pronunciation of his name
The first sentence seems unclear about how the name is to be pronounced. It says the orig. pron. is Chermack, but it is not clear whether this is the American pronunciation. The street named after him is pronounced Sirmack. I don't know if this is a change over time or represents the way the mayor's name was pronounced, but I'd appreciate a clarification. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.34.181 (talk) 11:50, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

Assassinated or not?
As it is only a theory (and does not seem well-supported) that Cermak was the intended target, and he did not strictly speaking die of his inflicted wounds, is it correct to say that he was assassinated? Frank Mottley (talk) 06:28, 24 December 2015 (UTC)

He was on the bad side of the mafia Firefighter99 (talk) 02:37, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Polish origin?
I'm sorry, but are you sure that Antonín Čermák is of Polish origin? I ask because I come from his hometown, I have read about him quite a bit, and this information from the English Wikipedia is shocking to me. Čermák is typically Czech surname. Moreover, letter "Č" is not part of polish alphabet, so this "Polish: Antonín Josef Čermák" is nonsense. If you can not prove that he really is origin of Pole, so please, correct it. Plavii (talk) 14:11, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Sorry for my bad English.

With respect,

Martin. Thank you


 * FWIW, this source sidesteps the issue by referring to his origins as "Bohemian". Regards, Samsara 19:23, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes, but "Bohemian" is even more narrow than "Czech" ("Chech" could be Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesia, and Silesia is the only one shared with Poland. Anyway, so far we have zero sources saying he is Polish.--Ymblanter (talk) 19:31, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Bohemian is geographic, not ethnic, and therefore doesn't have the stigma attached to it that I suspect fuels this dispute. Having only a Czech source that calls him Czech isn't the whole Monty imo. Samsara 19:36, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree, but we still have zero sources that he is Polish. The rant started, as far as I can see, when an IP showed up and claimed their grandmother knew someone from Cermak's family and knows he is Polish. This is not a source of an acceptable quality.--Ymblanter (talk) 19:42, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Correct. But saying he is Polish is not inconsistent with his family being from Bohemia. Bohemia at that time had many ethnicities living within its boundaries. Samsara 19:49, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * I am not aware of any significant Polish minority in Bohemia, and certainly not in the Kladno area. Anyway, we need to wait until/if the sources on Polish origin have been available.--Ymblanter (talk) 19:53, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * (ec) "Bohemian", in conclusion, is both more neutral AND more specific. And it's now multiply sourced (Kladno is verifiably in Bohemia). Samsara 19:55, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Well, we definitely must use your source in the article, whatever the ethnic origin of the guy is.--Ymblanter (talk) 19:58, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Bohemia as well as Moravia and Silesia is a historical territory of the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic live three nationalities. - Czechs (Bohemians), Moravians and Silesians. Important is that during the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (ie, at a time when was born Antonin Cermak) existed so-called imperial countries, among others, it was the Kingdom of Bohemia, Margraviate of Moravia and the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia. But Kladno has never in history been other than Czech (Bohemian) city. Plavii (talk) 22:29, 17 December 2016 (UTC)


 * Čermák was born in 1873, whose father was a miner who was also named Anthonín Čermák, who worked his whole life in the mines in Kladno. His mother's name was Marie Čermáková, née Hořejšová. The whole family emigrated in 1874. Čermák has not forgotten to his original homeland, and he was involved in the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Last he visited Czechoslovakia in 1932. He was always proud of his ancestry, he spoke fluent Czech, he was an active member of Sokol and other national organizations. A short extract from the sources below. Plavii (talk) 22:29, 17 December 2016 (UTC)


 * One of the leading Czech media site - (Cermak saved the life of Roosevelt and then died. Czech mayor came into US history.) http://zpravy.idnes.cz/cermak-pred-osmedesati-lety-zachranil-roosvelta-fu9-/zahranicni.aspx?c=A130215_125717_zahranicni_tp
 * Kladno history museum - (Biography) http://www.omk.cz/dyn/doc/Chicagsky_starosta and also (His grandson Anton Cermak Kerner visited Kladno) http://www.omk.cz/dyn/doc?id=75066

You say his name like cermak nothing like é Firefighter99 (talk) 02:39, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Im sorry but anton is not polish im not sure he what his orgin is but it isnt polish Firefighter99 (talk) 03:02, 23 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Why are you removing the Czech name from the infobox?--Ymblanter (talk) 08:07, 23 January 2017 (UTC)