After many years in the works, Bendinger and Iltis premiere their ?amazing Czech Legion’ doc May 1

A documentary about a little known but heroic WWII legion, produced by former adman Bruce Bendinger and PR guru John Iltis, will premiere May 1 at the Chicago History Museum.

“We call it ?the most amazing story you never heard,’ said Bendinger of their film, “Accidental Army: The Amazing True Story of the Czechoslovak Legion.”

Through the 50-minute doc, noted Bendinger, “We are actually helping a country recover its history. This story was virtually erased from the history books by 50 years of Soviet rule.”

Their documentary tells the obscure story of how the country of Czechoslovakia came into being. In the middle of World War I, 40,000 Czech and Slovak POWs switched sides to become an Allied Army, The Czechoslovak Legion and got caught up in the Russian Revolution.

The average Czech and Slovak isn’t aware of the story, he said. “It’s like someone stole our revolutionary war from us. It’s a crime?their history was stolen. We’re trying to make it right.”

Former state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, a prominent member of the Chicagoland Czech community, and Marek Skolil, Counsel General of the Czech Republic will be among those introducing the movie.

Bendinger began working on the story for eight years, and spent the last three years working on the doc’s production.