Ostrava, Hanke detention camp

An internment camp for Germans and persons suspected of treason and collaboration during WWII was established in the warehouse buildings of Hanke’s dispatch service in Ostrava-Přívoz in May 1945. The internment camp was under the command of Emil Martínek and Vladislav Kusz, both affiliated with the Communist party. Vladimír Sedlář – who also claimed allegiance to the Communist party – along with troops of the civil militia took care of a steady flow of prisoners to the camp. Women were tortured and raped here on a daily basis. Many people died and dozens of them were executed without a trial. According to historian Mečislav Borák, 231 people were executed, including five women, in the period since the establishment of the camp until June 13, 1945. On June 13, the camp commander Emil Martínek and his aide Vladislav Kusz were apprehended. A new commander was appointed and the mass murders finally came to a halt. Although some people who had been involved in the murders were arrested, they were released immediately after the takeover of power by the Communist Party in March 1948. Thus the crime went virtually unpunished.