Two weeks of correction for any reason

Mariánská prison was the third stop for Boy Scout and resistance fighter Eduard Marek on his involuntary tour of Czech prisons. At the beginning of the 1950’s, chief Vašíček was one of the most feared local commanders: “He was originally a waiter who managed to become a chief under the new regime. You would only just have met him, and you would go straight into correction for two weeks,” Marek recalled. The correction was a concrete building without any beds, only concrete floors. There was no heating, so the prisoners were put there as punishment, especially in winter. They were dressed in linen clothes and only had a blanket for sleeping. At night it was necessary to keep moving to stay warm and avoid freezing to death. Eduard Marek was put into correction three times, once, it was because he had helped a friend who fainted. He recalled: “We picked him up and took him to the infirmary on stretchers. When I’d returned from my shift, I heard: ‘Convict 07844 Marek Eduard is to see the camp chief immediately.’ I wasn’t allowed to go inside, I had to wait. Then he called me in: ‘So you’re a merciful Samaritan! You took your friend to the sickroom.’ – ‘When a friend falls down, what else are you supposed to do with him?’ – ‘He was on a hunger strike, so you were supposed to let him be on strike.’ – ‘I don’t know anything about a hunger strike. We just did a normal thing.’ Then he accused me of saying something forbidden in the sickroom, and when I defended myself that I hadn’t said anything forbidden, Vašíček said: ‘But the others were talking there, and you were supposed to come and report what they’d been saying. You’ll go into correction.’ So I had to go there for two weeks.”