EN
The article analyzes rumours and contemporary legends of the Second World War on the territory of the Czech lands. Similar social functions as rumours and legends presented jokes and anecdotes; some of them even used identical motives. The most typical and the most interesting war-time rumours were dealing with urban phantoms. The most important of these urban phantoms was legendary Spring Man ('Perak'). It was the Czech paralle of the Victorian urban phantom Spring-heeled Jack from the 19th century in England. Some actualised anecdotes and character of Spring Man, which have been deeply rooted in Czech popular culture, have remained to these days.