129/8 Trhanovské Square, Praha 10

Camp Hostivař

After World War II, a question arose in Czechoslovakia about how to deal with the Germans suspected or accused of crimes against the republic. These individuals were typically gathered in large numbers, often in waves. All segments of domestic resistance and exile representation concurred on the necessity of displacing these individuals.

Unlike other camps in Greater Prague (Camp Rupa Modřany, Camp Motol), there is no specific information about the one in Hostivař. However, it is evident that most of the internees were transferred from the oldest school in Hostivař, located in today’s Trhanovské Square, to the Host Film Studios after several months.

Quote from the school chronicle:
On Saturday, 5 May, and Sunday, 6 May, the main building was converted into an internment camp. Soon, the classrooms on the first floor swarmed with German soldiers, who were forced to surrender to our courageous revolutionary guards, typically young boys aged 17 to 25, mostly students from our school. The headmaster’s office was transformed into the office of the head of the internment camp, and the adjacent building became the gathering place for detained civilians (Germans, traitors, helpers). The guards had to pay special attention to classroom no. 6, where German officers were interned (seven men). At critical moments, when a German turbine aeroplane circled above the building, they waited for the opportunity to stand in front of their soldiers and incite a mutiny. Fortunately, the situation swung in our favour day by day, which the Germans eventually sensed and subdued. Classroom no. 7 held about 180 Austrian teenagers. Despite a stern warning to all to surrender their weapons, a loaded gun was discovered on one of them during a check the next morning; the punishment was too lenient – a harsh reprimand. Since the teachers’ room became quickly overcrowded with civilians and the classrooms were no longer sufficient for the influx of soldiers, the internment camp was relocated to the ‘Host’ Film Studios after several days.

The primary school in Trhanovské Square (formerly Komenský Square during the interwar period and Winterfeldplatz under the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) in Hostivař, 1930. The Prague 5 Municipal Archive, unknown photographer.

Camp Hostivař

The primary school in Trhanovské Square (formerly Komenský Square during the interwar period and Winterfeldplatz under the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) in Hostivař, 1930. The Prague 5 Municipal Archive, unknown photographer.

View of the rear part of the school located at the present-day Trhanovské Square in Hostivař; no date, c. 1930s–1940s. Prague City Archives.