Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

jerk. Only a few of these vindictive prisoners were as bad as this one. He was a German living in
Prague and he was a SS doctor and originally he was a pediatrician. As a pediatrician he served
the SS and then he was sentenced and he worked at our camp. There were big problems with
him because he didn’t take any of the injuries seriously and his favorite phrase was, “Oh my
grandma suffered from this as well.” Fortunately I didn’t have any big injuries that I couldn’t
take care of myself.
Were you aware of the risks in the conditions you worked? Were you taking measures to
protect yourself?
Of course I was aware of that. I studied physics for doctors with Professor Santholzer who was
one of the most well respected researchers from the Institute of Radiology. So he told us a lot
about radioactivity. How could I prevent myself? All I could do was tie a cloth over my nose and
mouth. I simply couldn’t do anything else.
How did Jáchymov prison affect your own health?
First of all, I had skin cancer. The most critical were the alpha rays from radon because we
worked in areas without ventilation. Sound ventilation was implemented in the beginning of
the 1960’s. In spite of the fact that the administration concerned with mining put these notices
out in the 1950’s, no one put this into practice. It took another 5-7 years before conditions
started to get better. It improved probably in the mid 1960’s because everything was dependent
on ventilation in the chutes. As for the work places where the material was processed and
where the material was ground there was a lot of radioactive dust, but those places closed in
the second half of the 1950’s, maybe 1956 or 1957. The iron ore started to be processed chemically
at that point. So because these things are not happening any more there’s no point in
studying the effects. Even though someone was studying the changes, they could only look at
the after effects and not the original health. These effects were counted up to be the result of
age and work, not necessarily where they worked and the effects of radioactivity. The Institute
of National Health began to examine the Jáchymov mines in 1959. Yet, the institute was attached
to the mines, it wasn’t an independent organization. Together with the cancer I also
have damaged joints. I am 15 centimeters shorter and I have an artificial hip joint. I should
get another artificial hip joint in the next half of year. My backbone is damaged as well, since
my spinal discs are disintegrating. My fourth vertebra pulls forward towards my stomach. So
actually I can’t really move that much so the vertebra won’t move further and I won’t pinch my
spinal cord. Then I would have to be in a wheel chair.
How did the guards behave and in what ways did they persecute you?
There were polite ones and worse ones, but there were fewer of the polite ones of course.
We had to go to brigades, which meant compulsory employment outside of work. During that
time we couldn’t go to the prison house and if they found you there that wasn’t good. There
were guards who never checked on us, especially if they knew the commander was not in the
camp. They were giving good reports to each other. When the commander was around they
were much more active.
Who were your prison mates? Did you know anyone who worked with you in the tower?
At the beginning there was my accomplice, Milan Netušil, but after half a year he was taken
to Příbram. He was getting relatively better over there. In our group you got contacts very
quickly. You either got contacts immediately or you didn’t get in touch at all. It depended on
who it was. Mainly there were political prisoners and there was also a group of fifty vindictive
Czechoslovak Political Prisoners 161