Pérák, the Spring Man, was an urban legend originating from the Czechoslovak city of Prague

Pérák, the Spring Man, was an urban legend originating from the Czechoslovak city of Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War II. In the decades following the war, Pérák has also been portrayed as a Czech superhero.

HISTORY
According to historians Callum McDonald and Jan Kaplan in their book Prague in the Shadow of the Swastika: a History of the German Occupation 1939 to 1945, "the Springer" was said to leap out from shadowy alleys and startle passers-by. Oral tradition suggests that some of Pérák's leaps were of an extraordinary magnitude, including the act of jumping over train carriages, similar to England's Spring-heeled Jack.

A contemporary and possibly associated rumour concerned a "Razor Blade Man" who was said to slash at victims with razors attached to his fingers.

Researcher Mike Dash quotes George Zenaty, a noted authority on the policing of Prague during the war years, that:

…in 1940 to 1942, none of our police precincts in Prague informed us in their daily reports of the existence of a 'Spring Man'. This does not mean that such rumours might not have circulated; however, it would have been impossible to include [them] in the reports without tangible proof.

In 2015, a social activist claiming the identity of Pérák fronted a guerilla media campaign to commemorate the former site of the Lety concentration camp.

The 2017 book Mýtus o pérákovi. Městská legenda mezi folklorem a populární kulturou by Czech folklorist Petr Janeček offers a comprehensive survey of the Perak phenomenon, tracing a history from the figure of Spring Heeled Jack in England during the early 19th century through to Czech folklore before, during and after World War II, and then into popular culture via a succession of speculative fiction novels, comic book treatments and other works of fiction.

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9r%C3%A1k,_the_Spring_Man_of_Prague

TAGS: Pérák the Spring Man of Prague, Superheroes, Fictional Czech people, Czech folklore, Urban legends

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