- 130 Plzeňská Street (now 221 Plzeňská Street)
Camp Motol
After World War II, a question arose in Czechoslovakia about how to deal with the Germans, those suspected or accused of crimes against the republic, and others. One of the measures implemented for Germans and individuals suspected or accused of crimes against the Czechoslovak Republic was the establishment of provisional internment camps and the restoration of similar facilities from wartime. (Camp Rupa Modřany, Camp Hostivař, Camp Hagibor, Strahov stadium)
The premises of the military POW camp in Motol, located at 130 Plzeňská Street (currently no. 221), were among the largest and were officially registered as the Motol Internment Camp on 1 June 1945. The compound held up to 5,000 individuals, while the number of internees ranged from 1,600 to 4,700. The majority of these individuals were members of the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, and other Nazi armed forces, along with their families.
The first major wave of captured soldiers was sent there from the closed Wehrmacht point in Zborovská Street in Smíchov, as well as from the largest internment camp for Germans at Strahov Stadium. The ‘repatriation’ transports of individuals destined for displacement primarily occurred there from 1947 until the end of 1948, when the camp was scheduled to close, along with others. Nonetheless, it continued to operate to a lesser extent until 1951.
View of the Rupa Modřany Enterprise.
Units of SS prisoners en route to the Camp Motol in May 1945, immediately following the conclusion of the Prague Uprising. Prague City Archive.
