Location
Česko > Jihočeský kraj > okres Český Krumlov > Omlenice > Omlenice
Location Details: On the edge of the forest, north of Omlenice
Coordinates
48.730220, 14.438578
Type
Holocaust monument / memorial, Relief sculpture, representational
Location
Mass grave
Artist / Maker / Company
Franišek Kratochvíl (Realization)
Textual Content
Historical narrative, Quote, Sponsor / donor name(s), Dedication
Languages
Czech
Whom the Monument Commemorates
Death transports, Victims of Nazism, Jewish victims
Victims of the train transport No. 92420 from Auschwitz
Iconographical Subject
Chains, Human figure
Material
Grey marble, ceramics, artificial resin
Dimensions
Width: 110 cm
Height: 380 cm
Depth: 60 cm
Commissioned By
Municipal National Committee, Omlenice
Dates
The mass war grave with a monument is located on a slope at the edge of the forest, north of the village of Omlenice. The monument consists of rectangular prisms made of grey marble, standing on a stone platform. The lower central prism bears a relief made of artificial resin; the original bronze plates have been stolen. Originally, a five-pointed star rested on top of the monument. In the central part of the monument is a metal plaque with a relief of a kneeling prisoner with his arms outstretched and his handcuffs torn. On top of this part there is a massive crown cornice with a distinctive profile. A prismatic mass emerges from it, which is topped with a pyramid. The low positive relief depicts a figure of a chained prisoner; in the background are the train tracks. On either side of the monument stand columns carrying vessels for the eternal flame. The columns are stylized in the shape of artillery shells. The grave site is covered in grass.
(Inscription on the monument)
LIDÉ BDĚTE
PAMÁTCE OBĚTEM
TRANSPORTU SMRTI
25.–26. I. 1945.
(Inscription at the entrance)
NEZAPOMÍNEJTE HRŮZ A ÚTRAP, KTERÉ LIDSTVU ZPŮSOBIL NACISMUS
DNE 25. LEDNA 1945 PROJÍŽDĚL DO MAUTHAUSENU TRANSPORT POLITICKÝCH
VĚZŇŮ Z KONCENTRAČNÍHO TÁBORA V OSVĚTIMI V POLSKU. BLÍŽILA SE JIŽ
SVOBODA UJAŘMENÝCH NÁRODŮ A PORÁŽKA HITLEROVA NACISMU. TRANSPORT
NEBYL PŘIJAT A VRACEL SE DNE 26. LEDNA ZPĚT. NELIDSKOST PODMÍNEK,
ZA KTERÝCH BYLI VĚZNI PŘEVÁŽENI, NÁM DOVOLUJE HOVOŘIT O TRANSPORTU
JAKO O TRANSPORTU SMRTI. MNOHO PŘEVÁŽENÝCH BĚHEM CESTY SKUTEČNĚ
ZAHYNULO ZIMOU, HLADEM. VĚZNI V CHATRNÝCH OBLECÍCH BYLI NAMAČKÁNI
PO DESÍTKÁCH V OTEVŘENÝCH VAGONECH. ZUBOŽENÝ STAV VĚZŇŮ A BRUTALITA
PŘÍSLUŠNÍKŮ SS VYKONALY SVÉ. PODLE NEÚPLNÝCH INFORMACÍ ZAHYNULO JEN
V ÚSEKU MEZI KAPLICÍ A HORNÍM DVOŘIŠTĚM 117 VĚZŇŮ. OKAMŽITĚ PO SKONČENÍ
VÁLKY BYLY SEBRÁNY VŠECHNY ZPRÁVY O HROBECH OBĚTÍ A BĚHEM R. 1945-46
BYLI UMUČENÍ VĚZŇOVÉ EXHUMOVÁNI, IDENTIFIKOVÁNI PODLE VĚZEŇSKÝCH ČÍSEL
A DŮSTOJNĚ POHŘBENI DO TŘÍ SPOLEČNÝCH HROBŮ. VE SPOLEČNÉM HROBĚ
V OMLENICÍCH SPOČÍVAJÍ POZŮSTATKY 63 OBĚTÍ TRANSPORTU PŘEVÁŽNĚ
BELGICKÉ, HOLANDSKÉ, POLSKÉ A FRANCOUZSKÉ NÁRODNOSTI.
POMNÍK BYL ZBUDOVÁN PÉČÍ MNV, OBNOVEN V ROCE 1999 OÚ OMLENICE
The mass grave contains the remains of 63 martyred prisoners from the train evacuation transport No. 92420 from the Auschwitz concentration camp. The victims were mostly Jews from Belgium, Holland, Poland and France. This transport, which passed through Horní Dvořiště, Kaplice and Netřebice railway stations on 25 January 1945, was destined for the Mauthausen concentration camp. However, because the camp was overcrowded, the train was sent back the following day. During the journey, many prisoners died due to the harsh transportation conditions and the dead were thrown off the train, so the railroad was lined with dead bodies. Local municipalities were instructed by the police to bury the bodies found on their territory immediately, and right at the place where they were found. Therefore, several mass graves were created along the railroad. The bodies collected in the area between Horní Dvořiště – Kaplice-nádraží were buried in a mass grave in Kaplice railway station. On 16 January 1945, two Soviet soldiers from a hospital train (route via České Budějovice to Austria), who had died of war injuries, were buried at the Kaplice railway station, too. Shortly after the war (1945–1946), the remains of the martyred prisoners were exhumed (some of them were identified by their prison numbers) and buried in Omlenice, Horní Dvořiště and Netřebice. (See the database entries Monument to the victims of a death train, Horní Dvořiště and Monument to the victims of the death train, Netřebice.)
The victims buried in the mass grave in Omlenice had been retrieved from their original graves along the railroad: Velenov - 4 victims, Podolí – 5 victims, Suchdol – 19 victims, Trojany – 11 victims, Pšenice – 8 victims, Certlov (waterpond) - 11 victims, Bujanov - 5 victims. The chronicle of Kaplice states that in 1947: "On 1 April, the Municipal Council decided to donate an obelisk (former monument to the fallen in World War I from the town square) to the Municipality of Omlenice to be used as a monument to those who died in the death transport." However, the obelisk was eventually used for the monument in Netřebice. The reason for this change of destination is still not clear, either the places were confused in the chronicle or the original plan was abandoned. The monument, which was eventually unveiled in Omlenice on 15–16 July 1961 was designed by akademický sochař František Kratochvíl z Prahy.
Probably after 1989, the five-pointed star was removed from this monument as well as from the monument in Netřebice. In 1999, the monument was renovated at the expense of the Omlenice Municipality. In 2010, unknown vandals stole the memorial plaques from the monument. The first to disappear was a bronze plaque measuring 69 x 39 centimetres, and at the same time a ceramic vase placed on the monument was broken. The second bronze plaque measuring 64 x 44 centimetres was stolen three weeks later, according to a newspaper article dated 30 August 2010. The memorial plaques were replaced with a material made of artificial resin.
In 2021, the restoration of the monument and the surroundings of the mass grave of the victims was carried out in line with a design by Stanislav Muller. In particular, the work involved drainage of the monument and renovation of its surroundings. The restoration was carried out by the company Restaurátoři.
Every year a memorial ceremony is held at the site to mark the May celebrations of the end of World War II.
State District Archive Český Krumlov, Archiv of Velešín, (1564) 1588–1945 (1951), Municipal Chronicle, pp. 318–320, https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/418/169
National Heritage Institute, Territorial Department in České Budějovice, Restoration Plan in Omlenice, Stanislav Muller, Karel Holub, 2021.
Herbert Sailer, Kaplitz: Geschichte eines Städtchens im Böhmerwald – Kaplice: Dějiny městečka na Šumavě, Salzburg 1997.
https://www.omlenice.cz/hromadny-hrob https://pamatkovykatalog.cz/spolecny-hrob-transportu-smrti-673433 https://zapomnicky.pamatnik-terezin.cz/index.php/hroby/hroby/223-omlenice
https://www.vets.cz/vpm/mista/obec/7112-omlenice/
Cultural Heritage Monument reg. No. ÚSKP 15232/3-1362
https://www.pamatkovykatalog.cz/spolecny-hrob-transportu-smrti-673433
Petra Vladařová