Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

us with nightsticks and we had to line up. Whether it was Trepka 14 or Brabec 15 and the other
guards. During that terrible process we had to take our clothes off and we got a sack in which
we found prison clothes and other things. The fun was, for example, I had pants up to my neck
and then they took it away from me and switched it with someone else. They put us in those
stripes and in a little while someone else took us away. By the way, right after we came there,
they took us upstairs into a room and took a picture of us. First they took our pictures in civilian
clothes and there I got my prison number. After that they took us downstairs and barbers
came and shaved us bald. During everything very funny stories were made up. I remember that
when they were giving us the stripes Zlatko Červený, who was a big joker, was asking, “Who
sewed your clothes, such a suit, they don’t even sell at Bárta’s shop.” That was the most popular
tailor on Na Příkopě street where the rich people had their clothes made. Of course he was hit
in a second and punished. Another funny thing was when they shaved our head. On my head
I had a big laceration and you could see a scar. So Zlatko didn’t forget to make another joke,
“Well your head is sewed up together nicely, everyone will like you,” and he was smacked. The
guards were smacking us here and there. So they took our pictures in civilian clothes, dressed
us up, and took our pictures in stripes. I have all these pictures and when I look at them I must
laugh. Then they put us into the dungeons where we were either in solitary cells or in pairs.
There real prison life started and we had to conform to everything. When a guard kicked your
door and he was demanding something, one had to do it.
What was your first experience with forced labor like?
Always every morning they threw a bag of dirty goose feathers into our cell. After that another
bag, we were in pairs. We had to strip the feathers, we had to learn to tear off the quill
from the little feather and put this into a special bag. The rate of output was very high and so
was the bad smell from the feathers they brought. We had to strip all the stuff they brought.
I don´t remember exactly, but at one time it was about 33 dkg (7.3 pounds) and then they increased
it on 60 dkg (13.2 pounds). A man from Bory described that in a book of memoirs.
If one didn´t do it, they didn´t get food. Work over there was really hard for people who
had never done it in their lives before, or whose fingers were numb and couldn´t. Some of us
were working and got so good at it that we were able to help a cellmate. When I saw I had
about 60 dkg done and they didn´t come to get it, although it was after supper and we had
a whole day for it, I quickly gave help to my cellmate. They always took it away and never
weighed it in front of you. So you didn´t really know whether you met the quota or not. You
didn´t have a clue whether you would get a quarter of bread or soup or just some peas and
barley or something that they served. One simply didn´t know and depended on the mercy
or disfavour of the guards, whether they admit it or not and whether they feed you or not.
Although it was a cruel time over there and we lived through hard days and months, there
came a day when they took us out of the dungeons and moved us from “B” block to another
department, I think it was “D”.
14 Mjr. Trepka – was the head of solitary confinement in Plzeň – Bory. He was known for his brutal practise and violence
towards prisoners
15 The guard Brabec was especially known for his brutality towards the prisoners.
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