Eduard Oláh, sculptor and stonemason who designed memorial to the Romani victims of Hodonín concentration camp, has passed away

After a brief illness the sculptor and stonemason Eduard Oláh - Izrael Ben Eded has passed away at the age of 63. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, 7 February 2018, for the immediate family, which informed news server Romea.cz of his passing.

Mr Oláh first came to public awareness at the end of the 1990s when he won the commission to design the memorial to the Romani victims of the WWII-era concentration camp at Hodonín u Kunštátu. In 1997 his sculpture of a cross with a crown of thorns was unveiled by the Museum of Romani Culture at the Žalov burial site and an annual tradition of commemorative ceremonies honoring the memories of those interred there began.

Mr Oláh was born in 1955 in Zvolen, Czechoslovakia, but soon moved with his entire family to Roztoky u Prahy and then to Česká Třebova. The city of Prague became fateful for him primarily because his love of stone was born there.

"He began to work there in construction for Metrostav. After work he liked to visit a little pub where the stonemasons gathered," Karolína Ryvolová wrote in 1997 for the journal Romano džaniben.

"One day he wandered over to the Troja Chateau and saw the masters at work. They took him in and during the restoration of the Church of St. Jacob they taught him how to divide blocks of stone using wedges and how to make ribbing and pillars from them to repair stonework."

Mr Oláh at one point shared a studio with members of the Tvrdohlaví ("Stubborn Ones") artists' group in Prague. Eventually he returned to Česká Třebova, where he had his own sculpture studio.

Our sincere condolences go to his family and loved ones.