*Vojna prison camp and Příbram’s uranium mining area (a walk everyone should do): 12 km to 15 km*

• On 23 November 1945, the recently restored Czechoslovak government signed a secret agreement with the Soviet Union, committing that practically all of the country’s uranium resources would be sent east. The Soviets urgently needed raw materials to catch up with the US bomb-making program. The Red Army immediately took over the uranium mining camps at Jáchymov and organized the transport of German Prisoners of War from across the eastern block to take over the digging of mine shafts.
• Within two years, new Czech uranium sources were being uncovered at Horní Slavkov and Príbram. Some five thousand German POWs were transported to Bohemia to construct work camps and begin digging for uranium ore. At least 12 new camps were established in the various mining areas, one of the largest being beneath Vojna hill on the outskirts of Příbram.
• Then, in February 1948, the Communist party took effective control of the country and an era of unprecedented repression began. Over the next forty years, over 200,000 Czechoslovak citizens were accused of crimes against the state and interned in labour and penal camps across the country. At least 30,000 of these ‘political prisoners’ were sent to the uranium mines, including numerous war heroes and outspoken clergy. Many died there.
• Vojna labour camp still stands, as a monument to one of the darkest periods in Czech history. Parts of the camp have been restored to the state as experienced by the prisoners in the most brutal years of the 1950’s. It is run by the Příbram mining museum and is open year round (but not at weekends in the winter). It is a ‘must see’ for anyone who wants to properly understand the recent history of the Czech lands.
• For those brave enough to pay a visit to the disturbing (but important) Vojna camp who are looking a walk in the area, the circular route shown in the map below is one suggestion for an educational tour. It includes some additional interesting historical sites, not directly connected with the camp. Just be warned, the former mining area is not particularly scenic, so visiting beautiful countryside is not a reason to undertake this trip. The walk passes three of the former uranium mining sites (the last mine closed down in 1991), but there is little to see apart from the mountain of extracted debris from the mining operations.
• From Vojna camp it is suggested to take the loop in anticlockwise direction, heading first through the “Alej svodody”, a memorial alley of 100 maple and linden trees which were planted by volunteers in 2021. Heading south the next possible site is an important Jewish cemetery, hidden just off the main trail in a forest near the village of Kamenná (map point 5). The tombstones date from the 17th century onwards.
• In 1568, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Bohemia, Maximillian II, issued a ban expelling Jewish residents from the royal mining towns of Bohemia. Příbram was an important silver mining town at the time and had a large Jewish community. However, the resilient Jewish families didn’t go far. Most moved to nearby villages, establishing thriving new communities in the surrounding countryside. The families stayed for centuries, as can be seen from the packed cemetery at Kamenná.
• Just a short way south, in a forest clearing next to Kamenná village, the trail passes another victim of the Communist takeover in 1948. The ‘new land reform’ Act, passed shortly after the coup, confiscated large agricultural and forestry estates and converted them into massive state farms. In many cases the historic manor houses and chateaux simply fell into disrepair. The Renaissance manor house at Kamenná is a classic example – it is simply a crumbling shell today. Research suggests there are at least two hundred similarly derelict former chateaux scattered around the Czech countryside. Many need urgent attention.
• Continuing on the trail, consider a visit to Stříbrný hill, which overlooks next village on the route – Lazsko. Close to the hilltop, a menhir (standing stone) marks the spot where, in 1957, archaeologists discovered a third century BC Iron Age burial ground. It was emergency archaeology as the site was being quarried for sandstone. The quarry is now filled with water and is used for swimming in summer (map point 8).
• The upland area around Příbram was not just a silver (and uranium) mining zone. Iron age tribes established farming settlements in the hills and panned for gold in the streams and rivers. This was likely one of the small settlements attributed to the famous gold-loving ‘Celtic’ Boii tribe, who gave their name to Bohemia. The menhir was erected in 2015 by Celtic enthusiasts celebrating the annual spring hilltop light festival (the ‘Keltský telegraf’).
• The final stop on the route is the striking battlefield monument at Slivice, where the last significant fighting between organized German forces and the Red Army occurred on the night of 11/12 May 1945 (some three days after the general armistice came into effect).
• On morning of 9 May 1945, Red Army tanks rolled into Prague. Most of the remaining German forces in the country were fleeing west to attempt to surrender to the US forces at the ‘demarcation line’ in south and west Bohemia. One of the largest groups was led by SS General Karl von Pückler-Burghauss who was heading south to surrender to the Americans at Písek.
• Unfortunately for the fleeing Germans, US forces stopped accepting the surrender of German soldiers at the demarcation line at 19.00 on 9 May 1945 – apparently in accordance with a US/Soviet agreement that the US would accept surrender of only those German forces ‘facing west’. Pückler’s forces were trapped. He ordered his rearguard (numbering some 7000 troops, with some of the last remaining tanks and artillery) to dig in near the village of Slivice. The remainder of Pückler’s forces were strung out along the road leading south to Písek.
• On 11 May, in an old mill near the village of Čimelice, Pückler was unsuccessfully negotiating passage with US and Red Army representatives. Some 20 km up the road, Red Army forces and a group of Czech partisans caught up with Pückler’s rearguard at Slivice. A futile and bloody firefight ensued – the last major battle on Czech soil. That night, Pückler signed the capitulation document in Čimelice and then killed himself. Most of his entourage followed suit. It has to be assumed that some of Pückler’s troops subsequently ended up in Bohemia’s uranium mines, possibly at Vojna.
• It is a curious footnote to the war, which leaves a number of questions unanswered. Recent accounts suggest American artillery supported the Red Army onslaught at Slivice, but this seems unlikely for various reasons. A number of aspects of the deaths in Čimelice are also unexplained. A 2010 article tries to shed some light on these remarkable events at the very end of World War II. Perhaps one day someone will write a definitive account of the liberation of the Czech lands in 1945 and the immediate aftermath. It may appear almost as dark a chapter as the preceding Nazi occupation.
• On that bright note, to finally conclude this (somewhat longer than usual) ‘walk write up’; it is a highly educational route in easy terrain, partly on roads and partly on wide footpaths. The visits to the Jewish cemetery and ‘Celtic’ burial sites (which are diversions from the main route) can be skipped if wanting to save time (and a couple of kilometers). The route is relatively flat with less than 200m of height to ascend/descend over its 15 km length. The best spot for refreshments is probably the Restaurace U Milína, which is attached to a roadside hotel – marked at map point 11.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• This is a route probably best followed using the mapy.com phone application, as it deviates several times from marked hiking trails – especially the diversions to the Jewish cemetery and the Celtic burial site
• It is probably best to drive to Vojna – there are bus connections to nearby villages, but they are at least a couple of kilometers away
• If starting at the Vojna camp, begin by following the YELLOW trail for 800m and at the Pod Vojnou junction turn left onto the BLUE trail
• Leave the BLUE trail in Kamenná village and follow the road until reaching the railway line at Milín, where the YELLOW trail is picked up again
• Stay on the YELLOW trail all the way back to the Vojna camp