Pomocný technický prapor

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Monument in Karviná in memory of the military camps for forced labor in the era of communist Czechoslovakia

Technical auxiliary battalions ( Czech Pomocné technické prapory [PTP] , Slovak Pomocné technické prápory or Vojenské tábory nucených prací [VTNP] , camp for military forced labor ) were units of the Czechoslovak People's Army , which in the years 1950 - 1954 for the internment and re-education served their people who were seen as "enemies of the regime" or were considered "disloyal". At its core, these were labor camps.

background

An important reason for their creation was the securing of cheap labor for selected branches of the economy, mainly for mining and the construction industry. They were also a tool of persecution and labor exploitation of politically inconvenient people and class enemies. This included intellectuals ("inteligence"), commoners ("buržoazní původ"), aristocrats ("šlechta") and members of the clergy. Actual guilt did not have to exist, as for example the case of the Catholic priest Štefan Klubert, who later became dean in Levoča , shows. Without being accused of anything in the joint trial with Bernard Jaško and Pavol Kalinaj, he was not acquitted, but interned in labor camps and then in the technical auxiliary battalions in Ilava and Trenčín . The functioning of the Technical Auxiliary Battalions was not legally covered by the applicable Czechoslovak laws and international law.

The forced laborers were also called "black barons" ("černí baroni") because of their clothing. Although they were formally assigned to the military, they carried no weapons. Instead, they had to do dangerous work in mines or factories. They received no appreciable compensation, were treated more like slaves, and their health was ruined. According to the Czech military, the “black barons” were actually paid, but in return they also had to pay for board and lodging.

About 60,000 citizens of Czechoslovakia were conscripted into the technical auxiliary battalions , of which "about 400" lost their lives. They worked in the coal mines ( Ostrava , Kladno and also in Slovakia ), in the construction industry (e.g. the Petřín settlement in Prague ), on military buildings (airports, barracks, apartment buildings and other objects, e.g. the military hospital in Prague- Střešovice), in military forests, quarries and in agriculture.

resolution

The last four of the more than 20 camps were closed in 1954. The facilities were also monitored by foreign intelligence agencies. For example, the CIA describes how the 57th Technical Auxiliary Battalion in Smečno was converted into a Technical Battalion in 1954 . This changed the situation of the previous compulsory members significantly: They received new clothes, were equipped with weapons as regular members of the army and from then on had two years of military service instead of an indefinite period. Those who had two or more years were released immediately.

Commemoration

Miloslav Švandrlík ensured lasting memories on a broad scale with his novel Černí baroni ("Black Barons"), published in 1969 , which was made into a film of the same name in 1992 and a series in 2004. However, both plants are based on the reality of the Technical Battalions (TP), not the Technical Auxiliary Battalions (PTP), which were much stricter. In addition, there are also occasional memorial plaques, for example in the town of Město Libavá , which was a military settlement on the Libavá military training area until the end of 2015 . There, on a square in the center of the village, a memorial commemorates the members of the technical auxiliary battalions.

literature

  • Kaplan, Karel: Tábory nucené práce v Československu v letech 1948–1954 (“Forced labor camp in Czechoslovakia in the years 1948–1954”). In: Sešity ÚSD AV ČR 3. Praha 1992, pp. 78–195, ISBN 80-85270-06-4 .
  • Bílek, Jiří: Pomocné technické prapory v letech 1950–1954 (“The technical auxiliary battalions in the years 1950–1954”), pp. 7–75.

Web links

Commons : Pomocné technické prapory  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Andrew Lawrence Roberts, From Good King Wenceslas to the Good Soldier Švejk: A Dictionary of Czech Popular Culture . Central European University Press, Budapest 2005, ISBN 978-963-7326-26-4 , pp. 22 ( full text / preview in Google book search).
  2. ↑ Dagmar Unverhau (Ed.): Lustration, opening of files, democratic upheaval in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary . LIT, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-8258-4515-X , p. 142 ( full text / preview in Google book search).
  3. ↑ Tomáš Jablonský, Dušan Kovác-Petrovský (ed.): Theory of the Religious and Art Education in Contemporary Research . EduCatt, Milan 2013, ISBN 978-88-6780-059-9 , pp. 99 f . ( Full text / preview in Google Book Search).
  4. ^ A b c Ministry of Defense & Armed Forces: Memorial plaque to honor members of former forced-labor camps unveiled - Ministry of Defense. In: army.cz. July 11, 2011, accessed January 5, 2018 .
  5. ↑ 1. Redesignation of Auxiliary Technical Battalions 2. 57th Technical Battalion in Smecno - CIA FOIA (foia.). In: cia.gov. December 21, 2016, accessed January 5, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Path finder: [CZ] Hard on the border IV: By bike from Olomouc to the Beskidenfuß. In: outdoorseiten.net. April 18, 2013, accessed January 5, 2018 .