Beran was the leader of the
Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants. President
Emil Hácha appointed Beran as
prime minister on 30 November 1938, and he formed his cabinet on 1 December. Beran dismissed his entire cabinet, except for two members, on 9 March 1939. On 14 December 1938, Beran stated that he would "
solve the Jewish problem". He proposed creating
labor camps for
Romani people and other groups on 6 February 1939, and the first labor camps were approved by his cabinet on 2 March. The country was
occupied by Nazi Germany, which created the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Alois Eliáš succeeded Beran as prime minister on 28 April. Beran was arrested in May 1941 by the Germans and spent years in various concentration camps. While he was in custody of the Gestapo in Prague, he had to answer several written questions submitted to him by
K. H. Frank, Hitler's
Staatsminister of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. ==Death and legacy==