Czech Romany Holocaust sites to be reconstructed - minister

Two commemorative sites connected with the Romany Holocaust in the Czech Republic should be arranged, Dzamila Stehlikova, minister for human rights and minorities, said in a written statement released to CTK after a meeting of Stehlikova’s working group today.

Stehlikova said she would submit a plan for the arrangement of the commemorative sites – Lety, south Bohemia, and Hodonin u Kunstatu, south Moravia.

The plan includes the reconstruction of access roads, and building a parking lot and a public convenience in both places.

In both Lety and Hodonin, Nazi Romany internment camps used to be during World War Two.

The Czech Roma Culture Museum is to work out a project of an international documentation and educational centre of Romany Holocaust to be established in Hodonin.

Stehlikova said South Bohemian Romanies need not be alarmed by the adjournment of the planned work at the Lety memorial. The work is to start next year after problems with land owned by municipalities and in private hands are resolved (more here…).

However, the main problem in Lety is a pig farm on the spot of the former camp. The European Parliament repeatedly called on the Czech government to move the farm, but the government argues it lacks the necessary finances to buy the farm.

Stehlikova would like to establish a new foundation fund that would gather money for a comprehensive solution to the commemorative sites, particularly the definitive removal of the pig farm. According to the plan, the state would annually contribute three million crowns to the fund until 2025.