VYKMANOV I (C)
Vykmanov I was established on 1 March 1949 as one of the first camps in the region. Built for the Ministry of the Interior within the rapidly expanding system of forced labour in uranium mining, it received its first prisoners before construction had been completed. Their initial task was to finish the camp infrastructure and security installations. From 1949 onwards, prisoners were assigned to uranium mines throughout the Jáchymov area.
The camp functioned as the Central Camp. Prisoners were registered, medically examined and administratively processed here before being redistributed to other labour camps in the Jáchymov district and later also to camps in the Příbram and Horní Slavkov regions. Surviving camp registers constitute an important historical source documenting prisoner numbers and transfers.
The site included the headquarters of the Ostrov Prison Guard Corps. Although the official capacity was 519 prisoners, this number was often exceeded. In addition to working in uranium mines, prisoners were deployed in the construction of the nearby town of Ostrov, where large housing estates were built for civilian mine employees. They were involved in excavation, concrete work and infrastructure projects.
Commanders included SVS officers Vavřín and Nastoupil, followed by SNB officers Svoboda and Malina. A prison hospital was later established within the camp, serving not only Vykmanov but also other camps in the region. After a temporary transfer of the central function to Camp Bratrství, Vykmanov resumed this role until the end of uranium mining in the area. The site today forms the basis of Ostrov Prison.
VYKMANOV II (L)
Founded in February 1951 as a “camp within a camp” and closed on 26 May 1956, Vykmanov II consisted of only two barracks – one administrative and one accommodation building for approximately 150 prisoners. It primarily held clergy, members of religious orders and prisoners classified as escape risks or disciplinary problems. Clergy were officially labelled “incorrigible”. After the camp’s closure, many were transferred to facilities in the Příbram region.
The camp was directly connected to the ore-processing facility known as the Red Tower of Death, today a designated national cultural monument. This installation served as a central crushing and sorting plant for uranium ore transported from mines across Czechoslovakia. The ore was manually sorted and then dry-crushed to a granulate of approximately 5 mm, producing heavy clouds of radioactive dust inhaled by prisoners and dispersed into the surrounding environment.
Work was carried out without protective equipment. The camp had no showers, only basic washing troughs. Even contemporary medical assessments classified the working conditions as highly hazardous.
After crushing, the material was again sorted and packed by hand. High-grade pitchblende was compacted into wooden boxes weighing about 60 kilograms. Other ore was loaded into metal barrels of roughly 80 kilograms, while waste material was packed into jute sacks. Each week, a transport train of around forty wagons departed for the Soviet Union, each wagon carrying approximately thirty tonnes of material. Loading and domestic transport were supervised by an escort unit of the Ministry of the Interior’s Internal Guard.
Commanders included SVS Staff Sergeant Mixa and SNB Senior Sergeant Píbil. Due to the harsh regime, inadequate food and lack of protection, a hunger strike broke out at Christmas 1953. Participants were transferred to State Security interrogation centres in the Lužice spa building in Jáchymov, known as “Sing-Sing”, and to the former monastery in Mariánská. After interrogation and abuse, prisoners were sent to other camps or to high-security prisons such as Leopoldov, Prague-Ruzyně and Plzeň-Bory.
Conditions in the camp drew attention even from Soviet advisers. As a supposed protective measure against radiation exposure, a “special supplementary ration” was introduced, consisting of up to half a litre of heavily skimmed milk per person per day. This measure, however, could not prevent the long-term health consequences of prolonged exposure to radioactive dust.
