Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

escapee could be seen well. In the corners and in the middle between the corners there were
guard towers with a height of six meters with lights and machine guns. The whole fencing system
was lit with strong lights. In case the electricity was cut off, there were special generators
that could produce electricity. Prisoners were housed in small wooden houses, which they could
not leave during the night. Some mines were placed right in the camp and to others, prisoners
had to walk and in these cases special corridors were built to the mine. In other cases prisoners
were tied together with steel cords into so called, “Human packages,” which were also known
as, “Russian Busses.”
The names of the camps were usually derived from the names of the mines where the prisoners
worked. The most infamous mines belonged to camps that were named by Communists
after the basic motto of the French Revolution, Equality (Rovnost) and Brotherhood (Brarství).
The third camp was named Concord (Svornost). To call it Freedom would have been to provocative.
In camp Equality the main commander was Paleček, originally named Albín Dvořák. He
was known especially for his cruel re-education of Jehovah Witnesses 25 . He was also beating
prisoners without any special reason. A couple of prisoners he repeatedly shot. They also say he
shot some prisoners while they were trying to, “escape.” According to the memories, Paleček
liked to go pick mushrooms with one of the prisoners who had to march 1.5 meters in front
of him. If Paleček thought the “Mukl” made a suspicious movement, he was shot. Another famous
labor camp was called Vojna, near Příbram. Today we can find there a memorial, revealing
what kind of conditions the prisoners lived and what a prison camp looked like.
A special camp was called “L” also known for its liquidating. It was a small camp practically
formed out of four buildings. In one building there was a headquarters and in the other there
was a kitchen and infirmary. Prisoners lived in the remaining two buildings. Prisoners classified
as incorrigible and most dangerous were sent here. Finally the most learned and intelligent
people in the state were gathered here, from bishops and priests, to officers, professors of
theology, and high school professors. In this camp there was also the “Tower of Death” where
the clean uranium ore was ground. Prisoners had to work here without any special protective
equipment and they were constantly exposed to the radioactivity as well as at work as in their
houses that were built close to this tower. 26
What was the arrival to the camps like? Were the prisoners taught how to work in the mines?
It was inconceivable. One of the political prisoners described his first working day this way,
“When I went down into the pit for the first time in my life I met there an official guard and
he told me I would be a breaker, that I would chip. In front of me they put hoses, drilling sticks,
and a drill. Up at the surface I already got a special carbit lamp, but I didn’t have a clue how it
worked. I also got a helper who was a math professor and he didn’t know how to hold a shovel.
Then we were told that we were supposed to make a progress of 30 centimeters a day per
person and that the progress was measured four times a month. The guards’ helper who was
25 Josef Čech speaks about Jehovah Witnesses in one of the interview, “I forgot to mention that in Rovnost (Equality)
there were Jehovah Witnesses. They came because they didn’t want to join the army or work in the mines to get the
uranium. These people were abused in ways you cannot imagine. They would let them stand in uniforms with hats in the
snow and frost until they would fall down. Then they were taken to the infirmary and that was repeated several times.
They didn’t break them so they transported them to other camps where they worked in laundries and other departments
that were not attached to the war or violence.“
26 For more information about the tower of death and the work conditions in the camp read the interviews with Hubert
Procházka and Zdeněk Kovařík.
Czechoslovak Political Prisoners 17