Sedlčany

za války částečně vysídlené město · Jateční 234, 264 01 Sedlčany, Česká republika

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The Displacement of Sedlčany Town

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“When we entered this year, none of the inhabitants of Sedlčany town had surely expected, what fate we were about to suffer this year. (…) No one had imagined that it would be possible to expropriate sixty thousand hectares of land and silently displace the inhabitants of the area without people in other parts of the country hardly noticing it. It is almost unbelievable.” That is how the chronicler Jan Pavelka described the surprise of the inhabitants of the then district town Sedlčany in 1943, when they gradually started to find out from public notices that their houses would be expropriated and given to German families. The inhabitants either had to move to a specially designated part of the town, or to leave the town for good and move out of the occupied area. The inhabitants were displaced because since August 1943 Sedlčany were situated in the area that was designated as a combat exercise area for the Waffen-SS and the soldiers were accommodated in the town. Among the people who had to move out of their own house was also the family of Vlasta Moravcová. After finishing the elementary school in 1944, Mrs. Moravcová could not enter apprenticeship but instead, she had to start serving German soldiers in the local canteen. People, who provided various services, and were thus useful to the German army, were allowed to remain in the area. However, their freedom of movement around the city and between the surrounding villages was limited. “When you go in the direction to Příbram, you pass a barrier crossing. A German soldier was always standing there and people without their ‘Ausweiss’ were simply not allowed to enter the area,” recalls Vlasta Moravcová. Yet, according to her, the coexistence with the Germans was peaceful. “They behaved properly. We ignored them and they ignored us as well.” Even the departure of the German soldiers in May 1945 was peaceful. While in the other parts of the country, the end of the war was accompanied by atrocities and revenge, the departure of the SS soldiers from Sedlčany was fast and conflict-free.

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Military Combat Exercise Areas in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

The extensive displacement operation that also included the town of Sedlčany was part of a bigger Nazi plan of Germanization of Bohemia and Moravia. The displacement operation was supposed to commence by creation of the so called “German Land Bridge” between Litoměřice and Prague. The next step was supposed to be the creation of German areas around Brno, Olomouc and Jihlava. The aim was to divide the Czech population into smaller parts that could later be absorbed by the German element. These Germanization plans were carried into effect by firstly enlarging the already existing military combat exercise areas in Milovice and Brdy. The second step, implemented in 1942, was a displacement operation of unprecedented extent – a total number of 65 villages and towns in the districts of Benešov, Neveklov and Sedlčany were gradually displaced, and the areas were designated as combat exercise areas for Waffen-SS. The same operation was also carried out in Moravia – there, a total number of 33 villages and towns were displaced in the districts of Boskovice, Prostějov and Vyškov from 1941 to 1945. The displacement operation was carried out by SS divisions, resettlement office, German resettlement office (Ansiedlungsgesellschaft) and Land Office for Bohemia and Moravia established in April 1942. The needed land was taken under the conditions set out in Act No. 63/1935 on expropriation for the purposes of state defence. However, the establishment of military combat exercise areas was in fact a mere pretext for seizing Czech land, gaining control of Czech agricultural sector and farmers, and thus for successful completion of the Germanization process. The military combat exercise area on the right bank of the Vltava River was to be connected to the areas in Příbram and Dobříš districts, but the events unfolding on the battle fields prevented the Nazis from full scale implementation of their plans.

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Sedlčany

Available in: English | Česky

Někdejší politický okres Sedlčany patřil mezi území, odkud se za války musela vystěhovat část obyvatel, protože tu byla zřízen výcvikový prostor vojsk SS (SS-Truppenübungsplatz Beneschau, od 1. září 1943 SS-Truppenübungsplatz Böhmen). Kromě Sedlčanska šlo také o Neveklovsko, Benešovsko a okolí Milovic. V letech 1943–1945 bylo v okrese Sedlčany vystěhováno 21 obcí i okresní město samotné. Právě Sedlčany byly vystěhováním postiženy nejvíce, neboť z nich k 1. srpnu 1943 muselo odejít přes 2000 obyvatel, jejichž nemovitý majetek včetně nábytku byl na základě vyhlášky protektorátního Pozemkového úřadu vyvlastněn. Okresní úřady byly přesunuty do nezabraných Votic a Sedlce. Sedlčany byly rozděleny na část civilní a část vojenskou. V první mohly zůstat jen osoby pracující pro německé vojsko, především dělníci a řemeslníci s rodinami. V kanceláři bývalého okresního úřadu sídlila pobočka velitelství SS. Obyvatelé Sedlčan museli nosit průkazy, bez nichž se nikdo ze záboru nedostal. V okolí města byla zřízena vojenská cvičiště a z velkostatků byly vytvořeny tzv. SS-Hofy, kam musela řada obyvatel záboru docházet na práci. Zákopy, cvičení a přebudování domů na ubytovací zařízení či muniční sklady poničily během dvou let trvání záboru zemědělskou půdu a zdevastovaly vzhled vesnic.

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The Displacement of Sedlčany Town

Military Combat Exercise…