Archaeologists in Prague Search for Remains of Political Prisoners

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC—According to a Radio Prague International report, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes estimates that several thousand people killed by the Nazi and Communist regimes were buried at Ďáblice Cemetery, which was founded in Prague in 1914. So far, members of the institute have uncovered detailed information about 120 of the victims who were buried in the cemetery. They are now working to recover the remains of three Czechoslovak soldiers—Vilém Sok, Miloslav Jebavý, and Karel Sabela—who fought against the Nazis during World War II and were later imprisoned for their resistance to the communist regime that took power after the war. The three men were executed by the Communists in 1949. Archaeologist Martin Čechura of the Prague City Museum said that the exhumation of part of one grave shaft in the cemetery revealed four or five coffins, with a third layer expected underneath them. DNA from the remains will be tested in an attempt to identify the soldiers. “In the case of Mr. Sabela, for example, we are in contact with his son, who was very young when his father was murdered, and who has hoped his whole life that this moment would come,” said government representative Jana Kotalíková. To read about a DNA study of the 1,000-year-old remains of a warrior whose identity was contested by Czechoslovakia's Nazi and Communist oppressors, go to "The Man in Prague Castle."