The Historical Educational Trail “Jáchymov Hell”
The Svornost Camp - code name “K”
You are on the historical educational trail „Jáchymov Hell“, which leads little known, beautiful sites containing unforgettable history. The trail was created by the mining association “Barbora” in Jáchymov with the support of the Confederation of Political Prisoners and the Club of Czech Tourists.
Act 247/48 Coll. of forced labour camps
The situation of the labour camps in surroundings of Jáchymov (1952)
On 4 December 1949 took over the state prison administration the prison camp at the Svornost Mine. It was a camp for German prisoners of war. The number of prisoners there is unknown. The camp was formed by wooden barracks, separate kitchen, small storage, boiler room with washroom and a small barrack with a common room and the stage. POWs left the camp on 3 December 1949 in the morning. A group of 50 inmates cleaned up the camp and barracks capable of habitation were disinfected. Then there were placed 405 prisoners. The other two houses have yet to be adapted. The total capacity of the camp was 600 prisoners. Between 1951 and 1952, there were more than 700 people (3 May 1951: 750 prisoners, 1 September 1951: 720 prisoners), to the decrease of number came only in 1953. The Svornost camp was situated above mine in the upper end of Jáchymov. To him led over two hundred and sixty steps like in Mauthausen. The camp was liquidated 29th October 1954.
The camp site today
From the former camp Svornost, the trail leads upstream the Jáchymov Creek. Passes around the facilities of the Jáchymov water sources, which is in itself an interesting document of technical skills of our ancestors. Below the path, one of the few preserved old galleries mouth lies nearby a turn of the road from Jáchymov to Boží Dar – the mouth of the Leithund adit.
