Camps: A Contested Trajectory between Czechoslovak Democracy and the Protectorate

• In Event: The Road to the Protectorate: Exploring Czechoslovakia’s Uncomfortable Pasts

Abstract

This paper examines a building typology introduced in the 1930s through World War II. Parallel to the Nazi use of camps in Germany, Czechoslovakia also has a peculiar history of building camps for various purposes and social groups. Through the lens of the camps, the paper identifies the architectural means introduced to discipline, monitor, and exploit its citizens, which stand in an apparent contradiction to the principles of humanity and democracy that supposedly shaped Czechoslovakia.

Author

• Vendula Hnídková, Inst of Art History CAS (Czech Republic)