Projekt Paměť - Vracíme lidskou důstojnost
- Podrobnosti
- Aktualizováno: 22. 3. 2026 21:25
- Zveřejněno: 22. 3. 2026 19:21
- Napsal Jiří Honza
Kdo byli muži z chotovinského hřbitova?
Karel van Coevorden (vězeň č. 172662)
Friedrich Noteles (vězeň č. 175260)
Salomon Scharf (vězeň č. A-18941)
Příběh těchto tří mužů je připomínkou, že historie nemusí být jen v učebnicích, ale vyprávějí ji konkrétní lidské životy, které shodou okolností vyhasly v naší těsné blízkosti. Tím, že jsme k číslům 172662, 175260 a A-18941 přiřadili jména Karel, Friedrich a Salomon, jsme splatili dluh minulosti.
„Vrátit jméno mrtvému znamená vrátit mu jeho důstojnost.“
Tento výzkum vznikl v rámci školního projektu Paměť zaměřeného na regionální historii a holocaust. Díky možnostem AI, jejím schopnostem zobrazovat nereálný svět (ilustrační kresba) a digitalizaci části archivů jsme mohli po osmnácti letech náš projekt ukončit. Podklady byly čerpány z archivu Arolsen Archives, památníku Yad Vashem a dobových svědectví členů Českého svazu protifašistických bojovníků a očitého svědka události pana Petra Pekárka.
Péče o hroby

Project Memory — Restoring Human Dignity
On January 13, 1945, at 3:40 PM, a death train passed through Chotoviny station. The temperature that day plummeted to twenty degrees below zero. From open coal wagons, where hundreds of prisoners from Auschwitz were huddled in the freezing cold, three lifeless bodies were cast onto the tracks. Local citizens buried these men with honor in the Chotoviny cemetery. For eighty long years, we were never certain who slept this eternal sleep among our own loved ones. We did not know who loved them, who mourned them, who missed them, or who — until now — could not find the place of their final rest.
Our school project, with the help of AI, has broken the silence of the numbers. Thanks to archival research and collaboration with historical databases, we can today, for the first time since the end of the war, return a human face to these three individuals with certainty.
Who were the men of the Chotoviny cemetery?
Through the registration numbers on their prison uniforms, these specific fates were identified:
- Karel van Coevorden (Prisoner No. 172662)
A young Dutchman who was only 22 years old at the time of his death near Chotoviny. Hailing from Amsterdam, he was a beloved son whose mother kept a touching diary of his childhood, which is preserved in an Amsterdam museum to this day. He survived a year in Auschwitz, but his body could no longer endure the cruel transport through South Bohemia. - Friedrich Noteles (Prisoner No. 175260)
A native of Vienna who fled to the Netherlands to escape the Nazis. He was 44 years old. Along with Karel, he was deported from the Westerbork transit camp in February 1944. Before the war, he was a man in his prime who hoped to find a new home in the safety of the Netherlands. The January frost in an open wagon on the line between Tábor and Prague proved fatal for him. - Salomon Scharf (Prisoner No. A-18941)
His identity was only revealed today, eighteen years after the start of our Project Memory. A thirty-one-year-old locksmith from Dębica, Poland. His number, beginning with the letter "A," tells the story of a man brought to Auschwitz in August 1944. His wife, Fryda, waited for him in vain. Only a few months of the war remained when his life ended at the 92nd kilometer of the railway track within our village limits.
The story of these three men serves as a reminder that history is not just found in textbooks; it is told through specific human lives that, by chance, were extinguished in our immediate vicinity. By assigning the names Karel, Friedrich, and Salomon to numbers 172662, 175260, and A-18941, we have repaid a debt to the past.
"To return a name to the dead is to return their dignity."
About the Project
This research was created as part of the school project Memory, focusing on regional history and the Holocaust. Thanks to the possibilities of AI and the digitization of archives, we were able to conclude our project after eighteen years. Sources were drawn from the Arolsen Archives, the Yad Vashem memorial, historical testimonies from members of the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters, and eyewitness accounts from Mr. Petr Pekárek.
Care for the Graves
Following partial adjustments in previous years to facilitate maintenance, the municipality of Chotoviny ensured a general renovation of this memorial site in 2025. This created a dignified final resting place for the victims of the death transport and a permanent reminder, carved in stone, of the atrocities of National Socialism. It must be emphasized that all wars — including those happening today — bring with them similar horrors and injustices. Memory loss and human indifference contribute significantly to them. Therefore, we do not forget, and we refuse to be indifferent to human suffering.

