The Archa 13 association wants to create an information center in Liberec according to a design by David Vávra

Liberec - The Archa 13 Association wants to create a European information center in Liberec that would map the fates of captured Czech and foreign soldiers during the First World War. There is currently no organization doing this, said Petr Pimek, a representative of the Liberec association, to ČTK.

According to him, the Czech Legionary Community supports the association in this endeavor. "We are preparing a joint memorandum. I expect that we will sign it with the municipality during the summer," he said.

According to Pimek, the Italians, Russians, and Austrians are also interested in cooperation and negotiations are ongoing with the French. "A platform should be created that would concentrate all those who deal with the fates of captured soldiers," said Pimek. "Simply put, if someone wants any information, they won't have to search in different places, but will turn to us," he added.

The database is expected to be created gradually. Pimek hopes that the public will help them in this. For example, there was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps on Czech territory in Liberec during the First World War, housing up to 55,000 Russian and Italian soldiers. However, not much is known about their fates in Liberec. "Until recently, we only had one photo from the camp. A few weeks ago, we received an email from Russia. A gentleman wrote to us that his great-grandfather was in the camp," said Pimek. The association obtained not only additional photos but also learned more about the fate of a captured Russian. He worked in a bakery, became close to a local woman, and had a child with her. Pimek assumes that many people could help enrich the database in this way.

According to Pimek, the captives left traces throughout the region. For example, he recently read in the chronicle of Svijany that during the fire extinguishing of a farm where a young girl burned to death, captured soldiers helped. They served at the Svijany yard, in what is now the brewery. Captives also participated in construction, allegedly due to them, there is now a Russian street in Liberec. "There are also many houses from the prisoner-of-war camp around the area that were sold off after the war. And their current owners have no idea where they came from," added Pimek.

The association plans to place the information center in the basement of the town hall, where there is an exhibition about the history of Liberec. Later, they intend to move it to the site of the former prisoner-of-war camp, where a memorial is to be established. The association wanted to start construction this year but will not manage to do so. They are still negotiating a long-term lease of the land on which the memorial is to stand with the city. The design was proposed by architect David Vávra and it is to be a combination of a museum with contemporary cultural and sports activities. The construction will begin with a circular chapel of reconciliation with four crosses, one on each cardinal point. The chapel is also to serve as a lookout tower. The memorial should also include a museum in the form of a replica of one of the houses where captives lived 100 years ago. Visitors would see inside what their daily life looked like. Counterbalancing this, another house is to depict the life of a soldier from the present. The concept also includes the construction of an amphitheater and space for sports and accommodation.