Archaeologists have excavated two anti-aircraft shelters from 1944 in the Vlněn area
The Brno Institute of Archaeological Monument Care and the Archaia Brno Association joined forces. “One cover has straight corridors and the other is winding. It is safer, but rare in the city, because a larger area is needed for its construction. There was also a knife exit from it, “ said Jiří Zubalík from the Institute of Archaeological Conservation of Brno, stating that the documentation for the construction does not exist.
The shelters have two entrances, at each entrance there was a staircase on one side and a ramp on the other side to support the stretcher. Both are also visible marking the entrances with Roman numerals. The public will be able to see the so-called Archaeological Summer.
Archaeologist Jiří Zubalík on the discovery of anti-aircraft shelters in the Vlněn area Zdeněk Matyáš
The people inside had to come as sardines, sitting close together on wooden planks. Inside, an estimated 150 people were saved from the bombs. The reasons for building new shelters were obvious. The turmoil of war was approaching Central Europe, the raids were escalating. In Brno, they paid for them with the lives of hundreds of people.
The American B-17 and B-24 bombers launched two air raids on Brno on August 25 and November 20, 1944. The second claimed 578 victims, including 16 judges and Supreme Court staff. Six thousand people were left homeless. 2,500 bombs descended on the city from the planes. After a series of Soviet bombings in Brno in April 1945, 274 people died in Brno.
Archaeologist Jiří Zubalík shows how the bombing was expected in the shelter.
Author: Zdeněk Matyáš