We started off the day going to a Czech labor camp. The camp was far off from the town basically in the middle of nowhere in cold mountains. No one knew the camp was there, and if a prisoner tried to escape they wouldn't get very far. Unlike Nazi concentration camps, this camp was created AFTER World War 2 by the communists who took control over Czechoslovakia. These camps were way under the radar and most people didn't even know they existed outside of Czechoslovakia. While many people were rejoicing (and thinking) the enslavement was over, a whole new breed of people were being imprisoned. When the communists took over, they changed the culture of the country. People weren't allowed to read anything that wasn't from a Russian author, couldn't listen to English music, speak English, couldn't travel outside of the country for the most part, couldn't keep their land, and had many more limitations. If someone wanted to travel out of the country, they had to request a trip from their job, the government, and request funds from the government to travel. Most trips were denied. If they weren't denied completely, the government might only give funds to part of the family, so a family of 4, only the mom and one child would be given the funds. In this way, communists controlled every aspect of the citizens lives. If anyone so as much read a book in English, they would be taken away to work for the labor camp. Many of the most intelligent people were taken away just so they couldn't start a revolution.
The Russians were exploiting Czechoslovakia for free labor and free uranium for nuclear research. Russia claimed it would pay the Czechs for the uranium, but never did. Although the camps weren't as severe as many Nazi concentration camps, the prisoners worked 10-14 hours every day in the mines with little to no training and little protection. Many people were injured in the mines and wouldn't receive medical attention. Compared to Nazi concentration camps, these prisoners had more "rights" such as being called by name. Its interesting because the communists claim these camps to be "re-education camps" yet the entrance to the camp says "Praci Ke svobode" which means "Work for freedom." Our guide told us that this same phrase is at the entrance to the Nazi camps. I learned so much just from the beginning of the day and there is even more to tell.
In the afternoon we went into the city and saw Holy Mountain, a monastery and chapel. It was AMAZING. It also was 300 steps to the top... which a few of us ended up doing twice. Quite the workout let me tell you. The top was absolutely worth all of the steps. There are over 1000 paintings of miracles from the Bible depicted here. We were there for a couple hours and learned about many of the paintings and details. Pictures do not do it justice. Our guide was phenomenal and luckily she will be my guide for Auschwitz and Krakow this weekend.
On Sunday, I had a trip to the city Kutna Hora with Panrimo. We saw the famous bone church which was comprised of over 40,000 human remains. When the Black Plague hit Europe, there were many bodies that there were not space for. A blind monk took the remains and made art out of all the remains. It was interesting.. didn't take too many pictures there. After that we saw the Barnabus church which was beautiful.
Lastly, today I went on an hour ride train ride to Kriklovat castle and explored the town with some friends. We did a puzzle game in the dungeon which was a ton of fun. I am getting to learn a lot about the Czech republic! This weekend I will be expanding out to Poland!
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