Jáchymov, The Way of the Cross to Freedom Back

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Jáchymov
The Way of the Cross to Freedom (Freedom Gate Monument and Memorial Stones)

The Stations of the Cross to Freedom Dedicated to Uranium Mine Prisoners arose on the initiative of the Confederation of Political Prisoners, was unveiled on 25 May 1996 by Jan Ruml, Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic, Mayor of Jáchymov and consecrated by Abbot B. V. Tajovský and Prior Hugo Pitel. Political prisoners meet here every year as part of the Jáchymov Hell.

The central sandstone sculpture, called the Gate of Freedom, depicts a relief of a lattice, a descending male figure and the inscription 1948-89 on the side facing the square, and a female figure on the opposite side. It is followed by a number of memorial stones with the names and symbols of former prison labor camps in the Jáchymov region: Barbora (thorns), Brotherhood (shackles), Eliáš (bars), L-Elko [Vykmanov II] (Judas bag), Mariánská (roses), Nikolaj (handcuffed hands), Rovnost (Christmas bell), Svornost (springs and tears), Vykmanov [I] (barbed wire), Hornoslavkovsku: Ležnice (flowers), Prokop (noose), Svatopluk (chain), 12 [XII] (candles ) and Příbram region: Bytíz (ball with a chain), Vojna (linden branch). The author of the memorial site is the sculptor Roman Podrázský. The memorial site is part of an educational trail called Jáchymov Hell [see Jáchymov. Historical educational trail Jáchymov Hell].