History and Establishment
The original German prisoner-of-war camp was established during the Second World War near the headframe of the Werner shaft and housed Soviet POWs forced to work in the mines. After the war, both the mine and the camp were renamed Rovnost. German prisoners of war transferred from camps in Szczecin were subsequently interned there, their number reaching approximately 3,500. This facility is referred to as Rovnost I. Because it stood on a spoil heap containing radioactive material, it was abolished after 1948 and relocated.
The new camp, Rovnost II, received the code designation P and was opened on 15 September 1949 with the arrival of 925 prisoners, 846 of whom worked directly in uranium extraction. It was one of the largest camps of the Jáchymov mines and functioned as a command camp. In 1951, 1,344 prisoners were registered there. The camp was intended mainly for inmates sentenced to more than ten years, especially under Act No. 231/1948 Coll. on the Protection of the People’s Democratic Republic and later under the Criminal Code No. 86/1950 Coll. The camp was connected to the mine by a barbed-wire corridor known among prisoners as the “Lane of Lost Hopes” or the “Lane of Communism”. It was closed on 1 June 1961.
Description of the Camp
The site consisted of nine prisoner barracks. One housed retribution prisoners and convicted Germans, another a special work brigade, while others included command sections, quarantine areas and workshops. The wooden barracks were poorly insulated, and inmates stuffed the gaps between boards with any available material. Heating was permitted only in exceptional cases. Drinking water had to be transported to the camp, and waste was discharged into a shaft. The main gate stood by the road leading to the Eliáš Valley; opposite it was a perimeter guardhouse that has survived to the present day.
Political prisoners were marked with a large red cross painted on their backs, thieves and fraudsters with a circle, and other groups with different coloured symbols. The similarity to the marking system used in Nazi concentration camps was evident. After the camp’s closure, the land was divided into plots and sold for the construction of recreational cottages.
Remains of the Camp
Among the preserved structures is the so-called Řetízkárna, which served as the prisoners’ changing room and was connected to the barbed-wire corridor leading to the mine. Although still standing, it has been left without systematic maintenance. The guardhouse at the main gate also survives and has been converted into a recreational building. The camp infirmary, which replaced the original sick bay located in one of the barracks, was later repurposed; today the site operates as a recreational facility known as Berghof. A peculiar feature was the so-called “Paleček’s Castle”, a brick model of a medieval castle built by prisoners in their spare time for the amusement of one of the camp commanders. Nearby stood a small fountain and ornamental flower beds, and even a small pool with goldfish was constructed within the camp grounds.
Guards and Their Conduct
The first camp commander was Staff Warrant Officer Dlouhý of the Prison Guard Corps. Sources and testimonies repeatedly identify František Paleček as camp commander. In some recollections, however, the name Albín Dvořák appears, likely reflecting either the use of a nickname at the time or later confusion of identities. The nickname “Paleček” reportedly referred to the commander’s short stature. Other members of the security forces, including several bearing the name Dvořák, are also mentioned.
Testimonies describe harsh treatment of prisoners, particularly political inmates and members of Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused, on religious grounds, to work in uranium mining. Documented cases include beatings, humiliation and shootings during escape attempts. Prisoners were placed in unheated punishment cells or bound in painful positions. After Stalin’s death in March 1953, twelve inmates were forced to stand in the snow for many hours as a symbolic guard of honour. Following an internal investigation, one of the commanders was transferred to another camp, Nikolaj, and continued serving within the security apparatus.
Fotogalerie: https://mipalfi.rajce.idnes.cz/Tabor_Rovnost/
