​Today, with the participation of the representants of Usti region, the city of Litvínov, together with survivors and other invited guests a monument was unveiled in front of Chempark Záluží, commemorating the thousands of victims who died there in the war during the construction of a chemical plant. The author of the monument, which was financially supported by Unipetrol and Česká rafinérská, is Markéta Oplištilová, a student at the Faculty of Art and Design of the UJEP. The monument is located in front of the main gate of Chempark Záluží to enable access for a wide public.

“The chemical plant in Záluží was constructed under extremely inhumane conditions, corresponding to the hard period of the 1940’s. We believe that the newly erected monument will become a worthy place of commemoration of those who did not survive to experience the end of the war,” said Marek Świtajewski, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Unipetrol.

“Let this monument remind future generations the horrors of the Nazi cruelty and inhumanity that affected those of all nationalities who were forcibly deported to this place from all over Europe,” stated Miloslav Hrabák, who is one of survivors.

The construction of the chemical plant commenced in 1938, shortly after Czechoslovakia had been annexed by the Nazi German troops. Already at that time, the inhumane conditions during the construction period caused the death of thousands of forced labourers. Following the commissioning of the plant and the commencement of the production of synthetic fuels in 1942, by 1944 it had become the target of Allied bombing. More hundreds of people fell victim to this bombing. This day of the unveiling of the monument is also the day of the 70th anniversary of the production of the first litre of “peace” gasoline in Záluží. “The monument commemorates the bravery of those Czechs who strived for the restoration of the plant’s operation after the war. Already, just a few weeks after the end of the war, on the 3rd June 1945, the factory produced the first Czechoslovak ‘peace’ gasoline,” stated Marek Świtajewski, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Unipetrol.

In the competition that Unipetrol organised in cooperation with the University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně it was the proposal of Markéta Oplištilová, a student at the Faculty of Art and Design of the UJEP, that won: “I was inspired by the riveting technology that was utilised during the construction of the plant. The sculpture is a square cut-out of a conceptual larger surface - a segment that depicts the affected area of Litvínov - Záluží. There are plates rising upwards that interrupt the shape of the surface, thereby evoking an explosion and depicting the turbulent events that took place at this location during the World War II.”

The monument comprises an informational sign that recalls the basic historical context of the construction of the chemical plant in Záluží: In 1938, since it fell in the cadastral areas of Záluží, Kopisty and Růžodol, this territory was also torn away from Czechoslovakia based on the Munich Agreement. The construction of a chemical plant for the production of synthetic fuels from coal was initiated there on the 5th May 1939. The first litres of gasoline were produced on the 12th December 1942.

Tens of thousands of civilians, prisoners and also prisoners of war of 32 nationalities from all over Europe worked on the construction of the plant, including Czechs, of whom more than five thousand were there permanently until the war ended. The first air raid by the Allies took place on the 12th May 1944. Due to the combination of the severe inhumane conditions and the bombing thousands of people died there. Only some of these were ever identified. Let us honour their memory!