A new memorial has been unveiled in the Czech Republic on the site of a former Nazi concentration camp for Roma. The opening of the memorial marked the culmination of decades of efforts and was made possible after the Czech government agreed to remove a pig farm that had been built on the site during the communist era.
The memorial is dedicated to the memory of the estimated 1,300 Czech Roma who were sent to the Lety concentration camp between August 1942 and August 1943. At least 335 people died at the camp, and most of the others were sent to the Auschwitz death camp.
The removal of the pig farm from the site had been demanded by Roma and human rights activists for many years. They argued that the presence of the farm was disrespectful to the memory of the victims and hindered efforts to establish a memorial at the site.
In 2018, the Czech government acquired the farm from a private owner for approximately $19 million. The pig farm was demolished in 2022, and work on the memorial began shortly thereafter.
The memorial includes a museum that houses the records of survivors’ memories, as well as details of the effort to remove the pig farm. The site also features a monument that was unveiled by then-President Vaclav Havel in 1995.
The opening of the memorial was attended by Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Petr Pavel. Fiala said that the memorial is a reminder of the horrors of the past and a warning against allowing such atrocities to happen again.
Pavel said that the memorial is a symbol of the Czech Republic’s commitment to human rights and its determination to never forget the victims of the Holocaust.
The Roma minority in the Czech Republic faces widespread prejudice and discrimination. The current Roma population in the country is estimated to be around 250,000, and only about 600 Roma living on occupied Czechoslovak territory in 1942 are estimated to have survived the war.
