Bohuslav Fischer

Bohuslav Fischer was born on December 19, 1924 at Jestřebí near Zábřeh in Moravia. He had probably joined the anti-Nazi resistance movement after the German occupation of the Czech lands in March 1939. Although no more detailed information about his activities could be established, it is possible that, just like many other people from far and wide, Fischer also began to work for the extensive North Moravian organization called the National Association of Czechoslovak Patriots. In early 1944, this underground movement was exposed. What followed was gradual uncovering of the entire underground network through which the Gestapo most probably soon got to Bohuslav Fischer as well. After his arrest, he spent some time in the Mírov Prison before being transported to the prison in the Small Fortress Terezín on May 27, 1944. He lived to see the liberation of Terezín in 1945. During his imprisonment, Bohuslav Fischer was able to make several artifacts that he donated to the collection of the Terezín Memorial in 1992. These include: a handkerchief (PT 12256) with embroidered with branches, texts and dedication to his mother, a leather purse (PT 12257) with sewn initials B. F., and – last but not least – chess figures in a cardboard box (PT 12258). In a letter Bohuslav Fischer wrote that he had carved the figures out of spruce wood which he cut off from pallets in cell No. 39. With the help of another inmate, he had the figures painted and varnished in the painting workshop. He made as many as six sets of chess figures and gave the remaining ones as souvenirs to fellow prisoners. In 2022, the Terezín Memorial acquired a second set of chess figures, owned by former prisoner Josef Gregor.

Josef Gregor

Josef Gregor was born on February 11, 1921 at Bludov near Šumperk. From his childhood he lived in the nearby Hrabenov where he allegedly joined the anti-Nazi resistance movement in the early 1940s. In August 1942, he was part of the extensive North Moravian group of the National Association of Czechoslovak Patriots. More detailed information about his role in this underground movement could not be found. At the beginning of 1944, the organization was exposed and a large-scale wave of arrests was launched. During one of the crackdowns the Gestapo also detained Josef Gregor on May 10, 1944. After questioning and imprisonment in the Šumperk Gestapo office, he was transported to the Police Prison in Terezín’s Small Fortress on May 17, 1944. He was initially assigned to the Fourth Courtyard where he most probably met Bohuslav Fischer who gave him the chess figures in a cardboard box (PT 14866). Josef Gregor was then moved to the Workshop Courtyard, being employed in the locksmith workshop and also in the construction of a well. He was imprisoned in the Small Fortress until the end of the war.