The poem “Poslední růže” (“The Last Rose”) from the collection Dům Strach (House of Fear) was written by Jan Zahradníček during his time in Pankrác Prison in the early 1950s. The manuscript of this poem was hidden by Václav Sisel , a guard and technical chief in the Pankrác Prison print shop. This manuscript finally became part of the Jan Zahradníček Collection at the Museum of Czech Literature in 1968. The poem depicts a real event: Václav Sisel, in accordance with Jan Zahradníčekʼs request, gave a rose from the prison garden to Antonín Ludvík Stříž, the canon of the Royal Collegiate Chapter of St. Peter and Paul at Vyšehrad. The rose, which grew and bloomed before prisonersʼ eyes, was then put on the main altar of the Vyšehrad cathedral.
