Red Tower of Death, Cultural monument tower in Dolní Žďár, Czech Republic

The Red Tower of Death is a seven-storey red-brick tower with a flat top and six rows of small windows, flanked by two lower brick wings. It is the only surviving part of the Vykmanov II uranium-ore sorting plant, where ore was crushed and packed for shipment to the USSR.

The seven-storey tower was built as the final processing point for uranium ore at the Vykmanov II forced labour camp, which operated from February 1951 to 26 May 1956. Prisoners pushed ore carts to the top floor and tipped the ore onto sieves; at ground level others packed the crushed ore into iron barrels sealed and sent by rail to the Soviet Union. The camp held mainly clergy and intellectuals, and the tower became a national cultural monument in 2008.

Prisoners gave the tower its name: "red" referred both to the brick colour and to the communist regime, and the many deaths in the radioactive dust made it the Red Tower of Death. Since 2022 an exhibition inside recalls camp life through period documents, photographs and witness testimony.

Access to the site is available through guided tours that must be arranged in advance with the local tourism office. Plan your visit ahead and contact the local tourism services to schedule a guided tour.

The site was part of a Soviet labor camp system in the region where thousands of people were forced to work under extreme conditions. The exact conditions and number of victims remain part of ongoing archaeological and historical research at the location.