Pérák, the Spring Man of Prague

Pérák, the Spring Man was an urban legend originating from the Czechoslovakian 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.

According to historians Callum McDonald and Jan Kaplan in their book Prague in the Shadow of the Swastika: a History of the German Occupation 1939-1945 (London, 1995), "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 perhaps 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:

A 14-minute 1946 Czechoslovakian animated cartoon Pérák a SS ("The Springer and the SS", also released in English-speaking markets as "Springman and the SS", "Jumping Jack and the SS" or "The Chimneysweep") was created by the renowned Czech animator Jiří Trnka and film-maker Jiří Brdečka. It portrayed the "Springer" as a heroic and mischievous black-clad chimney sweep, with a mask fashioned out of a sock. He was capable of performing fantastic leaps due to having couch springs attached to his shoes. He taunted the German army sentries and the Gestapo before escaping in a surrealistic, slapstick chase across the darkened city.

Trnka's postwar interpretation of Pérák as a quasi-superhero, defying the curfew and the authority of the German occupying forces, formed the basis for sporadic revivals of the character in Czech science fiction and comic book stories.

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