Political Prisoners

About

1984 meets reality: the horrors of the past examined and explained in this riveting cultural immersion trip.


Basic Info

Date: Fri, Oct 18 – Sat, Oct 19

Organizer: RA Ema

Difficulty: difficult (strenuous hike)

Limit: 14

Notes:  The trip is mandatory for prof. Thorne’s Collective Identity Class


Tentative Itinerary

Friday

tour of a former mining shaft
5 mi hike around and to the Svornost, Nikolaj, and Rovnost labor camps

Saturday

Jáchymov Museum tour 
lunch at Karlovy Vary


Description

Set in a mining district in the Czech Republic, this tour into the heart-wrenching history of cruelty and oppression is specifically designed to tell forgotten stories and preserve the truth.

Simply put, this trip offers a unique insight into the lives of Czech(oslovak) political prisoners in labor camps used by both the Nazi and later communist regimes during the 20th century – the lives which nowadays tend to be forgotten or ignored, as do most of the atrocities committed by the totalitarian regimes mentioned. We will be expertly guided by NYU Prague’s very own Tomáš Bouška who, among many other things, runs an NGO „dedicated to documenting and preserving the history of political prisoners in socialist Czechoslovakia.” For more info, visit: http://www.politicalprisoners.eu/

We will visit a former uranium mine, formerly used for forced labor, and hike to three former labor camps. Here the current beauty of the surrounding area (see the pictures) will somehow calm us as we hear about the past of the places we are in. This will be followed by a hotel check-in and a nice dinner covered by NYU. The next day, we will check out of the hotel, and then visit the Jáchymov museum.

This trip is definitely the one NOT to miss, especially if you are interested in history, political science, or human rights.


Links

http://www.politicalprisoners.eu/nyu_study_trip_spring2017.html


Pictures