On February 9, 2014, Lucie M. recommended to us an investigation related to Ďáblický háj in Prague. From the description that she sent us, we decided to contact the members of the Paranormal team living in Prague to go to the mentioned places and find out some details about them.

Inge participated in this research. During the day she walked, photographed and filmed the memorial at the former Kobyliska shooting range and the adjacent Ďáblický Grove. She spoke with an informed person, which she recorded with consent on a dictaphone and then sent everything electronically. From these results, the lead coordinator then determined the final location for the investigation.

The location was the many times mentioned memorial site at the Kobyliska shooting range; separated from the outside world and accessible from one side. We started to set a date. The plan was the end of February; depending on the weather. Unfortunately, the date of the investigation had to be postponed, not because of bad weather conditions, but because of the illness of the main coordinator of the group who was putting the research together. And so, according to the new plan, the site was to be investigated on 7 March 2014.

The technique of the Paranormal Team had to be tested, the members trained. New documents were created setting out the principles the team would adhere to in every situation. After the departure of Healer Aima on December 31, 2013, everything started anew. New people, equals new approaches. This time, each of the members involved in the investigation has an assigned function. The coordinator then has the task of linking these individual functions into a coherent investigation for which he or she is fully responsible.

In 2013, Andrew and Aima had to manage all these activities in two. Now, however, even with four to five people on one case, everything required new methods of working. This had the advantage of reducing the workload during the investigation to one person. The disadvantage, in turn, was that there was more work in the pre-preparatory phase of the research and more people at the scene under investigation equals harder analysis of the recorded material.

The equipment was ready. People got in touch and an investigation team was put together. It was composed as follows:

Ondřej Bezouška - coordinator and cameraman.
Veronika K. - Energy Research.
Inge C. - EVP research.
Honza Č. - EVP Research, Cameraman 2.

A guest was also invited to the investigation. This time it was Lucie M., who recommended the investigation at this point.

The paranormal team in the above mentioned composition met in Prague on the 7th of March, around 15:00. A short meeting followed, which was about the timetable. The weather was beautiful that day and we wanted to take full advantage of it to shoot the day's footage for the planned short documentary. So we set off with a minimum of equipment and the aim of inspecting the investigation site. Also to identify locations for possible communication and of course to detect any physical obstacles that would be difficult to see at night. Security is a priority. If that is assured, the investigation can proceed.

It takes us about ten minutes to get to the investigation site by public transport from Střížkov. We find ourselves at a passageway, beyond which is a grassy, hillside, commemoratively decorated palouk, separated from the city.

Despite the fact that this place gives the impression that we are out of town, just look higher up the surrounding hillside and it is immediately clear that this is indeed an illusion. This is a big city, as evidenced by the traffic on the nearby road, which is unmistakable. It is clear that evaluating the audio material captured on the dictaphone will be very difficult for the search for EVP (EVP/FEH - Electronic Voice Phenomenon, i.e. a voice that you cannot hear with your own ears, but you hear it just through electronic devices).

We spend a good two hours at the monument, going through the history, writing down the inscriptions. We're taking camera footage and getting a picture of what will make our research difficult at night.

The noise of the city is the biggest problem. On the other hand, the street lights won't reach here due to the surrounding hillsides and walls, and it is the enclosure of this area that will make us aware of each other, which will increase the safety of members and guest during the investigation.

After all, we are close to Prosek, from where reports of several women being raped and several groups of teenagers rioting have been circulating. Although the likelihood of encountering something similar is small, we prefer to take this danger into account. Random is stupid, as they say.

After exploring the plaques, statues, crosses and all other parts of the memorial, we return to Střížkov. The coordinator briefs the team on the planned course of the investigation, the method of research to achieve the set objectives and, most importantly, safety.

The investigation will be conducted in two parts. In the first, each researcher in pairs will conduct his or her own research. All of this research will be recorded, both audio and visual. This will provide us with sufficient material for analysis and will also ensure that we do not miss any objective evidence that would confirm possible paranormal phenomena.

By objective evidence we mean a recording or any recorded fact that independently of our subjective feelings confirms what we ourselves feel or see at a given moment.

It got dark outside and we got off the bus around 9:00. We are surrounded by the light of the city lights and together we stare at the passageway, which now appears as a black hole behind which a desolate darkness reigns.

After a while we are joined by Lucie M., with whom we are still filming the interview, and we set off along the route that once transported convicts to the execution grounds by car. We leave the light behind us and find ourselves in the dark surroundings of a place of remembrance. Here, the Nazis violently ended the lives of nearly 540 people in their retaliation for the death of the acting Reich Protector SS-Obergruppenführerund Reinhard Heydrich.

The first station where Honza and Inge try to establish communication with the other side is the statue on the palouk. During the walk to this place most of us (except Honza) feel depressed. Our breathing is heavy, our hearts are beating fast. We have encountered this phenomenon in the past at the Jewish cemetery in České Budějovice. This temporary state is definitely a manifestation of fear, but not a manifestation of haunting. It would be if we had some evidence to back it up. Objectively, however, we must rather lean towards the variant that it is a reaction of the body to a change, when from a lighted, quite safe environment we find ourselves in a completely different environment, to which the organism and therefore the psyche have not yet got used to.

The distressed feelings subside after about five to ten minutes, when the accumulated adrenaline in the body that triggered this state decreases.

Inge attempts to communicate with the K2 recorder and ghostmeter. Honza records everything on the camera. The devices are silent. Inge feels someone or something touching her several times during this time. Again, however, these are sensations that we cannot substantiate and no one else but Inge is registering them.

Veronika K., who is interested in electromagnetic field changes, is in charge of one of the three EMF meters that indicate electromagnetic field changes. We know from daylight that electricity does not conduct here, and if it does, it is so well isolated that our instruments cannot detect it. In order not to confuse these instruments ourselves, we switch off our mobile phones before investigating.

Ondrej and Verča are just finishing a short Nazi session at the monument with the names. Ondřej starts to set up his tripod for another shot when Verča decides to go to the corner of the memorial where the formerly famous stable still stands.

In the stables, most of the convicts were on death row. They were enclosed in the premises with their own fear and despair, as they already knew what awaited them. Apart from the roar of car engines, they could hear the gunshots that ended the lives of their fellow prisoners. Then the door opened and at that moment they already knew that the bullet in the firing squad's gun was the one meant for them.

It was at this point that the diodes on Veronica's meter lit up. She later recalls this event as follows, "I did not notice any change in my emotional state during the moment the ghostmeter reacted. Nor did I feel any alien presence near my person. I was just surprised that the machine reacted in that way at that moment and in that place."  

Unfortunately, the recording equipment was not running at this brief moment. Upon verbal request and any further effort, the device no longer lights up. For this reason, we cannot even assess whether this phenomenon was a manifestation from natural or paranormal causes.

The night progresses and the investigation comes to a close. Inge, Honza and Lucie are still recording the names of the fallen on the dictaphone. This part of the research is interrupted for a while by the policemen on patrol. After a short conversation they leave and let us continue our research.

In the meantime, Ondřej and Veronika move to the cross by the nearby hillside, where they also use a second recorder to try to record possible EVPs.

Emotionally, however, we do not notice any changes in emotional state. We have enough material to evaluate, so we decide to stop the research. Frozen, we walk through the underpass and find ourselves on the other side of the slope.

We say goodbye to Lucia M., who has been a great help in this case. Afterwards we take the night bus back to Střížkov.

The next day, we start analyzing the records. The first to be evaluated are the photographs. Nothing paranormal or more detailed research has turned up. Next, we turn our attention to the video footage. Nothing paranormal can be seen or heard on them either. And the last analysis of the material we've collected is on the dictaphone recordings.

During the day, we've found that the area we're investigating is heavily impacted by the city's traffic. This was confirmed on the tape recordings. The most audible traffic is on the nearby main road. At several points during the analysis we hear interesting phenomena, but the "pollution" of the recordings by the city traffic is so strong that we cannot in good conscience publish anything we have captured on them as a recording of a possible paranormal phenomenon. For this reason, we must conclude that we have no possible EVP from the Kobyliska shooting range.

The result of the investigation: the Kobyliska shooting range in Prague is a place where the past, rather than ghosts, haunts a place where nearly 540 lives were lost. That fact alone can evoke an oppressive feeling in the brave. However, as far as the paranormal is concerned, we have not been able to objectively record any supernatural phenomena during our investigation. This is not to say that they cannot take place here, but from the results of our research we conclude that the Kobyliska shooting range is a quiet place for paranormal activity. Rather than searching for paranormal experiences, come here to pay your respects to those who fell in a time of lawlessness and light at least one candle for them.

Verdict: 

A peaceful place

Video of the investigation

• in Czech, without English subtitles