Demolition of pig farm on Romani genocide site in Czech Republic to take place in 2019, new memorial to open in 2023

Czech Television reports that the pig farm in Lety u Písku, Czech Republic is waiting to be demolished so that a new memorial can be developed there. The demolition should happen during the final months of 2019.

A visitor center exhibiting archaeological finds from the site of the WWII-era concentration camp for Romani people and a lecture hall for group tours and school visits should then be built at the site. “All that remains on the site is a slurry tank that will be dismantled during the demolition,” Kristina Kohoutová, press spokesperson for the Museum of Romani Culture, which is managing the site, told Czech Television.

The museum plans to announce an architectural competition for the memorial at the beginning of next year because the winning design must be chosen before demolition can begin. Some of the pig farm buildings may be included in the memorial design.

“Whether that idea will actually be used will depend on the specific design and on the architect,” Kohoutová said. Another component of the memorial should be a so-called interactive augmented reality system.

The new memorial is meant to open to the public in 2023. The Czech state released CZK 111 million [EUR 4.3 million] to the museum for the demolition of the farm in September.

The building of the memorial will be financed by Norway Grants with an assumed investment of EUR 15 million (almost CZK 40 million). Those funds should cover the new constructions and their operation until 2024, after which operational financing should be provided by the Czech Culture Ministry from the state’s own budget.