It was their own fault

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Josef Klesa became a prison guard in the Plzeň-Bory prison in 1946. In the period of 1949-1951, the chief of the prison was the dreaded sadist, Captain František Šafarčík. During his tenure, the beating and harassment of the political prisoners became daily routine. Josef Klesa didn’t get into contact with the political prisoners and he claims not to be aware of similar practices. He is still convinced that “when they behaved well, no one harmed them.” Like all the other prison guards, he was present to the execution of General Heliodor Píka in June, 1949. According to Klesa, the general was very composed and calmly smoked his last cigarette. Josef Klesa is convinced that the General is to be blamed for his death himself, as well as the people convicted in 1950 for the preparation of the Bory-prison uprising.

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The Bory uprising

A show-case trial that took place in the spring of 1950 in the Plzeň-Bory prison. Eleven members of the prison administration and eight political prisoners were charged with attempted mutiny and coup. Former deputy Stanislav Broj, General Major René Černý and the warden Čeněk Petelík were sentenced to death and executed on May 23, 1950. The others were given long sentences.

Plzeň, Bory

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The Bory prison is located on the southern outskirts of the city of Pilsen, near the Litice dam. The prison complex in Plzeň-Bory consists of a central building with radially protruding single wings. The resulting shape of the building is that of a regular octagon. In the 1950s, the Bory prison was renowned as one of the harshest prisons with primitive sanitation and living conditions. Up to five prisoners would be routinely placed in solitary confinement. A number of outstanding personalities were imprisoned here, such as Army General Heliodor Píka, who was executed in Bory on June 21, 1949. The so-called "Bory uprising", in which the former member of the Royal Air Force Josef Bryks participated, took place here. The participation in the uprising added an extra 20 years to his 10 years term that he had gotten in a trumped-up process in 1949. The rebellion was probably artificially staged. In later years, former Czech President Václav Havel was imprisoned here. The prison serves its purpose until today.