In western Czechia, there is a grim reminder of how the Communists treated prisoners. This article explains what the Red Tower of Death is, and why it exists.

The mines

Jachymov is in a region of Bohemia that was rich in natural resources. In the 16th century, locals found silver here¹ and the city grew to be the 2nd largest city in Bohemia. The mine extended to a depth of 514 metres and there are 162 km of subterranean corridors¹. In 1898, Marie Curie discovered radioactive particles based on ore mined in the city^{1 2 3}. It became the world’s first mine for nuclear material.

In total, the region boasts more than 400 minerals, and 17 metal-bearing ores making it one of the richest geological sources on Earth¹.

Strategic location

The natural resources, especially radium and uranium, made this place interesting to everyone. Between 1946 and 2019, they extracted 112 195 tons of uranium. A further 135 000 tons are still in the ground today³.

I’ve written about Hitler’s annexation of the Sudetenland. With a resource-rich area, as well heavy industry, you can see what Hitler’s real motivation was.

The Soviets knew about this mine. They wanted it so much, they broke their agreement with the allies to occupy the country, to gain access to them⁴.

Prisoners were the perfect source of manpower to mine radioactive material. The Soviets built large camps to house prisoners here. At first, these were prisoners of war but soon included political prisoners. They called them ‘mukls’ or ‘men fit for elimination’ which gives you an idea of what they thought of them⁴.

The Red Tower

In the fifties, inmates working at the uranium-ore sorting building in camp ‘L’ called it the Red Tower of Death. It is a seven-storey red-brick building, which looks unremarkable from the outside. Prisoners would carry the ore to the top without any safety equipment or clothing. They often didn’t have breaks or even medical treatment⁴. As a side effect fo the filtering process, the place was full of radioactive dust. This blew all over the compound. Prisoners inhaled it and carried it on their clothes⁴ which they could only change once every 3 weeks.

Civilians in or around the camp also suffered critical doses of radiation poisoning. The colour of the building and the high death rate led to the name.

Conditions were so severe that the life expectancy in the city was 42. The high death rate was offset by the constant inflow of prisoners⁴.

Between 1948 and 1961, 60 000 prisoners died in these forced labour camps⁴.

Today, the town is a spa centre offering various treatments. The tower is open under certain conditions for sightseers.

References

1. Svornost mine; Palfi.cz; 2012-02-05[↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Madame Curie’s Passion; Smithsonian Magazine; 2011-10[↩]
3. The Czech “radioactive” dilemma; Radio Prague International; 2020-01-24[↩][↩]
4. Information from Museum of Communism; As witnessed by author; 2021[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.