Amateur researchers in Brno-Židenice have recently made a remarkable discovery: a hidden underground factory from World War II, located near the former Brno Zbrojovka site and the Jewish cemetery. The factory’s existence had remained largely unknown until now. The site, constructed by the Nazis toward the end of the war, was intended to serve as a secret production facility. The discovery was reported by Czech Radio.
Though only part of the factory was built before the war ended, it remained concealed for decades. In collaboration with the Židenice Town Hall, the researchers are now working to make sections of the factory accessible to the public, though this is complicated by the fact that some of its corridors lie in the path of the planned city ring road tunnel.
The Nazis began construction of the underground complex in 1944, but due to the war’s end, only a portion of it was completed. Radovan Soudek, a passionate amateur historian and one of the researchers, explains that the factory’s corridors varied in size. On one side, the corridors were narrower, about 2.5 meters wide, and were likely intended for use as shelters. On the other side, the passages were larger—measuring 5 to 6 meters in diameter—designed to accommodate industrial machinery. Soudek and his colleagues have been exploring the underground system for over 16 years.
At first, the discovery was met with skepticism. Petr Kunc, the independent mayor of Židenice, recalls doubting the reports when the researchers initially mentioned the hidden factory in the Údolíček and Akátky areas. There were no official records in any archive to support their claims, but the amateur historians pressed on with their investigations.
To confirm the scale of the underground complex, the city district and the Brno municipality financed precise measurements of the corridors using advanced 3D laser scanning technology. The researchers also marked the entrances to the underground system, but some of these are quite deep—reaching depths of up to 17 metres. Soudek warned against attempting to enter these passages, as they are dangerous, though he and his team previously tried to explore them via a ventilation shaft.
The significance of the site has only grown, especially since part of the underground complex intersects with the area planned for the Outer City Ring Road Tunnel. The mayor of Židenice therefore asked Vlastimil Horák, from the company carrying out the reconnaissance research for the tunnel project, to direct one of the additional boreholes precisely to the place of the as yet unconfirmed corridor. Horák noted that the presence of these underground passages could potentially interfere with the tunnel’s construction. If the two projects collide, adjustments will need to be made, with the tunnel taking priority over the preservation of the factory.
Looking to the future, the Židenice town hall has plans to incorporate the underground site into a larger landscaping project after the tunnel’s construction is complete. This could include turning the entrance to the underground complex into a part of a new park, offering the public a chance to explore this historic site.
Soudek also hopes the underground complex will be preserved. He believes that given its depth and historical significance, there is no reason to destroy it, and it would be worthwhile to keep this piece of history intact. The ongoing exploration and research are shedding new light on the region’s wartime past, contributing to a deeper understanding of Brno’s role during World War II.
