SOVIETS EXPLOIT GERMAN PRISONERS IN CZECH URANIUM MINES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270723-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 723
• Publication Date: January 3, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270723-9
COUNTRY
SUBJECT,
HOW
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
LANGUAGE
71,
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIA.L~,~~+
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
CD NO.
NO. OF PAGES
REPORT NO.
TNII DOCU000T CONTAINS INFORMATION AI/lCTIDY THE NATIONAL DR1/111
OF TNI UNITSD 0TATI1 NITNIN 111. MIANIM1 ON 11PI0NA11 ACT SD
0. P. C.. $I AND $l. AS AN1NO00 IT. TRANSMISSION 0R TNt P1VILATION
UNIIN Mi NITIDCONTLAW. 1 29PR000CT110N Of TNIS 10RM 181IR0 rRON NITIII. 1. lRO
Stuttgarter Nachrichten, No 206, 1949.
SOVIETS EXPLOIT GERMAN PRISONERS
IN CZECH URANIUM MINES
The uranium-ore mining administration of the Jachymoveke Doly (Jachysov
Mines) in Czechoslovakia is located in the former Sudeten German tobacco fpctory
in Jachymov. The administration is under the control of Soviet engineers and
officers in civilian clothes. German prisoner-of-war engineers, watchmakers, and
fitters -- under Soviet supervision -- have developed instruments in the Jachymov-
eke Mines which locate the uranium. Air samples from the shafts are examined in
the laboratory in older to determine the uranium content of the air. Ore samples
are sent to the laboratory from every mine track leaving the smaller shafts. Every
day 400 men from Jacbynov go into the mines with instruments to search for uranium.
The technical personnel of the mine administration consists of Soviet and
Czech engineers. The technical apparatus, the number of employees, and the organ-
ization of the uranium mines have increased materially since 1947. The Soviets
are not satisfied with mining the known deposits in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains).
They search for the uranium throughout the country. Two new ore pits were opened
up near Pechibrau [Pribram?J0 in the-vicinity of Prague, in January 1949.
Continuously, day and night, 300 Tatra trucks, driven by Czech drivers, carry
the uranium ore across the East German border to the Soviet transport aircraft in
chemnits. Border-crossing points are closed off and patrolled over a wide area by
Czech soldiers and Soviets in civilian clothes.
The problem of replacing labor forces for the dangerous job of uranium mining
was solved by the Czechs in a'manner different from that employed by the Soviets in
the Eastern lane of Germany. German -prisoners of war work in most of the pits. A
punitive for German prisoners of war was erected near the ne' No 2 pit at
PachibranLPPribraa?J. Also, hundreds of Sudeten German vmen were compelled to
work in the ore-mining area. Czech prisoners work in other pits. Only in the
Breitenbach pit near Johanngeorgenstadt, near the Eastern border, are the workers
known to be Czech civilians. They are regularly employed and earn from 15,000 to
20,000 crowns a month. Miners who strike ore can raise their wages, through premium
payments, to 30,00G-60,000 crowns monthly.
- I CQNFI0F 1TIAL
CLASSIFICATION CONFXDENTIAL
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270723-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270723-9
50X1-HUM
Czech miners working underground are equipped with Cerryan, US, Czech, and
Soviet pneumatic dribs. Czech brigades use US broach.'-ng machines. Only German
prisoners of war and criminal prisoners work with pick and Nuovel.
The prisoner-of-war barracks are located in the i mediate vicinity of the
pits. In the Elian pit, near Jarhymav, 750 German prisoners of war are employed,
with 500 of them working underground. Also, 300 Sudeten German women are employed
there. They are supposed to 9ulfill the high production quotas with theib primi-
tive hand tools. They have neither dust masks nor work clothes. Their state of
health is very poor. Most of them suffer from silicoads. Since 1948 German
prisoners of vnr have received clothes every now and then, because their ragged
uniforms are falling apart. Rations are adequate. They are supposed to receive 2
cruwns uaily, wnich is a mere pittance in comparison with the wages of the Czech
civilian workers, but they are not paid as a rule. The Sudeten-German women work
under similar conditions at the shaking tales. Without protection they are ex-
posed to the dust, to the &zgerouus radiation of uraniame., and to the lust of the
Russians and Czechs in the camp.
Strict security measures are taken to prevent the workers from leaving t}ae
area. However, attempts are constantly being made to escape, and occasionally
they are successful.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00869A000600270723-9