Echoes from the Jáchymov mines
Jáchymov, Brotherhood (Bratrství) Camp
Former communist penal labor camp · K Lanovce 1045, 362 51 Jáchymov, Czech Republic
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Human being – the first words I recalled

Available in: English | Česky

Bratrství was the second Jáchymov camp, after camp Vykmanov, where Jan Haluza had ended up. There he experienced a week of cruel interrogations without anything to eat or drink. The interrogators never succeeded in making him confess to espionage, but he did become infected with typhus. “When the escort guy was dragging me to the interrogation of the Jáchymov espionage, along a corridor in hotel Prague, I suddenly saw a water pipe there and because I was very thirsty, I immediately flung myself to it. He pulled out a gun and warned to shoot me, he told me to get away from the water pipe, that it was a typhus water pipe. He wanted to shoot me down but I already had a drink. When I got to the camp, the typhus started to take effect,” he recalled. Haluza was taken to hospital in Karlovy Vary where he was delirious for 22 days; he seemed to be dying. Despite the illness, he had chains a meter long on his legs; on one leg, they were securely attached, on the other leg, there was a lock which could be opened and the prisoner was then bound to his bed for the night. “Suddenly, after those twenty two days, I opened my eyes, I was looking around myself and for two or three days I was shouting out hu-, hu-, hu-. I had lost my memory and everyone thought I was crazy. But on the third day I shouted out the words ‘human being’. It was because I could see people around me, fellow prisoners, and the first words I truly recalled were human being, for I had human beings next to me," Haluza remembered.

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Jan Haluza

Jan Haluza

Jan Haluza was born on 12th July, 1914 in Šternov, today's Újezd u Brna. From his early youth, he was involved in sports and soon became an outstanding athlete. He won medals in the Catholic Olympics in Vienna and Ljubljana and he won many titles and achieved many records. He was a member of the Baťa Athletic club in Zlín, where he met Emil Zátopek, for whom he became a trainer for the first and only time. After the war he joined the political scene. He became a member of the Czechoslovak People's Party and the chairman of the regional commission of the People's Party youth organization in the Zlín area. In the regional commission he met with Jan Šrámek, František Hála and Adolf Procházka. After February 1948, he was offered membership by the Communist Party, which he refused. He was arrested, accused of plotting against the government and sentenced to six years in prison. Then he was accused of being a member of the group connected with Milada Horáková and he went through electricity torture in Uherské Hradiště. The interrogation in Uherské Hradiště finally did not bring any new information. Apart from several prisons, he passed through camps Vykmanov, Eliáš, and Mariánská. In the Bratrství camp, he was accused of espionage and was threatened with execution. During the interrogation he fell ill with typhus and after 22 days of hallucinations he lost his memory. After the release in 1954, he worked in inferior positions until he could return to his law practice. After the Revolution, he was honored with many decorations including the golden medal for an honest run in the race of life.

Jáchymov, Brotherhood (Bratrství) Camp

Available in: English | Česky

The Brotherhood Camp was originally a mine that belonged to Saxon nobles. The mine was renamed in 1945, honoring the Paris Commune. In 1950-1954, the camp was the center piece of the Jáchymov complex of labor camps and all the incoming inmates had to pass through this camp. Later the camp in Vykmanov became the center. Today, there's almost nothing left of the Brotherhood camp. Since 1974, the mine has served as a repository for radioactive waste.

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