The Christmas of 1952

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In November 1952, Miroslav Hampl was arrested and transported to correctional labor camp Mariánská in the Jáchymov area. Upon his arrival, he was blindfolded and taken to the dungeons of the infamous Capuchin monastery, which was located within the premises of the camp. “The cell had four by five meters and there were ten or eleven of us. There was no space and we had to lie really close to one another,” he recalled. Miroslvat Hampl was twenty at that time, and he found it very difficult to go to the bathroom in front of the other prisoners, especially since the toilet consisted of a bucket placed in the corner of the cell. “At the beginning, I didn’t even eat, so that I wouldn’t have to use the toilet, because I was embarrassed and I found it really disturbing. Naturally, I grew weak and lost a lot of weight,” he remembered. Miroslav Hampl was interrogated over and over again, but he refused to confess: “It went on like this till Christmas. Over Christmas, they locked me up in a correctional unit, because I kept refusing to confess. They told me that I would stay there until I was overgrown with moss. The cell was so small that I could hardly fit in, and there was nothing but a tin pot that served as a toilet. No windows, nothing. I spent Christmas and New Years in there.”

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Miroslav Hampl

Miroslav Hampl was born on September 16th, 1932, in Křelov near Olomouc. He always wanted to travel, so in 1947 he went to study shoemaking at Bata's school, as it gave a prospect of working abroad. The communist coup in 1948 thwarted all plans for traveling, however. After finishing his studies, he was chosen for a one-year brigade in heavy industry. From the offers he received on locations to work, he decided to work in a mine in Jáchymov, where he worked as a collector. He met political prisoners there and attempted to help them by all means possible. He also helped the prisoner Bohuslav Pánek to escape. On November 27th, 1953, Miroslav Hampl was arrested. On September 22nd, 1953 he was sentenced to three years of prison for an association against the republic. The original charge was for treason and espionage but the sentence reflected his workers‘ origin. He was sent to Ležnice camp in Horní Slavkov. His friends in prison, whom he helped as a civil servant, helped him survive the unbearable working conditions. Thanks to their solidarity he began to fulfill the standards and his food rations increased. On September 28th, 1954, Miroslav Hampl was put on probation because of an amnesty. As a political prisoner he had serious trouble finding a job, however. In the end, he went to work for a district construction company where he stayed until his retirement. In 1987, his daughter Vladimíra, her child, and her boyfriend emigrated to West Germany. Currently, Miroslav Hampl lives in Šumperk.

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Marianska

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Marianska was formerly known as Mariasorg, a place of pilgrimage. The camp was opened on June 4th, 1949, and at first it was established for prisoners. There were also examination rooms placed underground of a former Capuchin monastery. The monastery was destroyed and a pilgrimage church was used as a practice shooting range, later as garages. The prisoners from Marianská worked in the shaft Eva where to they were transported by the so-called jailbird bus – up to a hundred and fifty men marching in five rows, wound by steel wire rope.

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The Christmas of 1952

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Miroslav Hampl

Marianska

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Failed Attempt at Escape

The Christmas of 1952

Two weeks of correction for any reason