The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Two small pieces of scrap metal (1 flat and one curved) and a signet ring made from a bolt.
These pieces of scrap metal, accompanied by an incomplete handmade signet ring, were used by Antonio Horcicka, a political internee in Dachau concentration camp.
Antonio Horcicka was born in Prague in 1914. As he came of age in the 1930s, he joined the Czechoslovak Army and witnessed the unopposed annexation of his country by German forces in 1938. He fled Czechoslovakia in 1940 with his pregnant wife, hoping to escape to the United States. The couple travelled through Austria to Yugoslavia, where they were befriended by a local official. When the couple divulged their plan to escape Europe, the official revealed himself to be a Gestapo agent. Antonio's wife returned to Prague, while Antonio was prosecuted, found guilty of voicing opposition to Hitler's regime and imprisoned at Dachau. He migrated to Australia in 1950.
Horcicka created jewellery out of materials he scrounged within the camp and used it to barter for food and other items – the metal for the rings he made came from the control panel of an American fighter that crashed near the camp.
Handmade penknife, 9.2cm long, with engraved silver case 'Vupsmoninku Na Dachau (unknown symbol) 20523 (T inside triangle)'. Handmade pocket knife made by Antonio Horcicka, a political internee in D
Eleven handmade jewellery items, including signet rings, crucifixes, a shamrock charm and a chain. Items are made from scrap metal. One ring has an engraved gold insert which was made from parts drawn
Silver Russian ruble (or rouble), 3.3cm diameter. Impressed edge. The obverse features Cyrillic script and a coat of arms. The reverse features two figures and a radiant sun above the inscription '192
Official documents and papers relating to the Second World War internment and post war life of Antonin Horcicka in Europe, 13 March 1940 - c. 1950. This file opens with papers relating to the internm
Letters relating to the Second World War internment of Antonin Horcicka at Dachau Concentration Camp, 19 October 1944 - 25 January 1974. This file includes ten handwritten letters by internees at Dac
Collection relating to the Czech Army Service and internment at Dachau concentration camp [Konzentrationslager (KZ) Dachau] of Antonin Horcicka. The collection consists of photographs, letters, postca