The Red Tower of Death Memorial of Political Prisoners in Ostrov

This thesis project explores the possibility of transforming a temporary memorial site into a permanent monument. The site in question is part of the complex that, in the 1950s, was used by the Jáchymov Mines to process uranium ore mined in the Jáchymov, Horní Slavkov, and Příbram regions prior to its transport to the Soviet Union. The dangerous work associated with the mining and processing of radioactive ore was largely carried out by forced laborers, including retributive, criminal, and especially political prisoners. The main building, a tower where the final crushing of rich uranium ore into granules took place, has been preserved along with the shipping hall and two other structures on the site. The tower was likely the most dangerous place to work in terms of radioactivity. The adjacent correctional labor camp, where prisoners working at the uranium ore processing site were interned, was nicknamed among the prisoners the extermination camp or the camp of black death. The aim of the project was to create a well-reasoned concept for a memorial that would respect the sites heritage value to the fullest extentnot only in terms of the preserved materialand that would demonstrate a way to build a modern memorial, including a cultural multifunctional hall, without significantly altering or compromising its authenticity. The thesis presents a proposal for one possible approach to building the Memorial to Forced Labor, a topic that has been discussed in the public sphere for roughly 20 years.