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5: CASE STUDY 2: THE CZECH/AUSTRIAN BORDER between 1989 and 1991 had to respond immediately if there was an alarm, day or night. One of the things he remembers most clearly from his time as a border guard was the lack of sleep during his shifts and he often did not get to sleep much for the three days he was on duty (Marek, 2010, pers. comm. 4 th November). The relationship between the soldiers and the officers varied greatly from place to place but was always based on a superior-subordinate relationship. To demonstrate the character of one of his officers who was responsible for political schooling (propaganda) Marek explains how he and the other soldiers were told that they should be proud to be border guards as that meant they could kill a man without any risk of being prosecuted (Marek 2010, pers. comm. 6 th November). A previous officer at the Šafov border guard station, Tomas, however, stressed the importance to keep on a friendly foot with the soldiers as this would enable work to run more smoothly. Generally the border guards were conscript soldiers whilst the officers were military professionals (Tůma 2006: 12). There was some possibility of advancing to higher grade also for the soldiers but few border guards were interested in taking this opportunity. The majority of them just wanted to get their service out of the way so they could go back to their regular lives. The border guards could receive awards for good conduct either in the form of a present (a book, diploma, or a photo taken in front of battle flag or wrist watch) or as praise in front of the rest of the unit. The most sought after award was an extra day off but this was very unusual (Marek 2010, pers. comm. 4 th November). All border guard stations were closed in 1991 although border guarding had become much more scaled down and relaxed following the velvet revolution in 1989 (Marek 2010, pers. comm. 4 th November). A working day was now reduced to 8 hours per day and 10 if there was an alert. The soldiers were trained to remove the fences at training stations, such as at Jemnice, before they were set to work on removing the actual fences along the borders. Border police took over some of the former border guard stations after their closure, for example in Lukov, but their operations were severely reduced. Most border guard stations were left to decay and the 20 years since their closure have left them in a poor state. The exceptions are those buildings that have been taken over for other purposes. 143
AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN The material A changing landscape My guide David, an official guide at the Podyji National Park, knows the area like the back of his hand. He is now in his mid-30s and since the age of 11 he lived just within the second forbidden zone as his stepfather was a forest ranger managing the woodlands in what is now the Podyji National Park. He takes me to areas that would normally be closed to the public as the woodland is particular sensitive here and to places so well hidden I would never have found them on my own. We talk as we travel around in the park and I ask him about the former border guards but he tells me that he knows nothing about them. They lived separate lives and he only saw them when they came into Vranov nad Dyji to go to a bar on their days off. He shows me patrol paths, a small soldiers hut in what seems like the middle of nowhere, 19 th century monuments that have been restored after years of neglect or even vandalism during the Cold War period and border guard stations where soldiers worked, trained, ate, slept and spent their time off trying to entertain themselves until their two years of service was finished. For days we go around the park and although he claims not to know anything of the soldiers that once controlled this area he shows me their history through the traces they have left behind. It is only after a few days he tells me that he as a child with some of his friends visited the Hájenka border guard station a few times. For a young boy there was something exciting about soldiers and the border guards were bored and appreciated the visits from the local children. I ask him what it used to look like and what the soldiers were doing but he says that he does not remember. We walk around the border guard station and he stumbles across materials that are barely visible anymore, such as two cement blocks decorated with yellow dogs, the symbol of the border guard (Figure 60). Although the paint has peeled in places, the yellow colour of the dogs is still vibrant and show little evidence of having spent 20 years slowly disappearing into nature. The cement blocks, which were part of a larger display arrangement, are tilted so that the pictures could be better seen. Between the two cement blocks are several other cement blocks with holes in the middle to support poles of sorts. It is easy to imagine the two bright paintings of the dogs flanking a sign displaying either the name of the station itself or a socialistic slogan to reinforce the importance of the border guards themselves. Placed opposite the main entrance to the border guard 144
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An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain
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An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain
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Contents Acknowledgements 11 CHAPTE
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The end of a journey 212 Sammanfatt
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AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction Standing on
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1: INTRODUCTION carried out of the
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1: INTRODUCTION they may be… It i
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1: INTRODUCTION where the observer
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1: INTRODUCTION former Iron Curtain
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1: INTRODUCTION criticism from othe
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1: INTRODUCTION itioned somewhere i
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1: INTRODUCTION World War II dividi
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CHAPTER 2 A physical metaphor Concr
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR established
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR The changing
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR the events t
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR As time has
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR highly influ
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2: A PHYSICAL METAPHOR popular idea
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Figure 16: Postcard of the newly op
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402 Kojsko Hum 402 THE OSIM
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Figure 102: Fence and Watch Tower a
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Sammanfattning (Summary in Swedish)
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SAMMANFATTNING En fysisk metafor I
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SAMMANFATTNING komst och kunskapsf
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SAMMANFATTNING Fältstudier av läm
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SAMMANFATTNING som försöker ta si
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SAMMANFATTNING mets dilemma”. Han
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Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations
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33. Sofie Bedford, Islamic activism
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67. Anne Kaun, Civic Experiences an
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Stockholm Studies in Archaeology Se
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29. LINDGREN, Christina. 2004. Män
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The Iron Curtain was seen as the di
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