Minister pledges to abolish pig farm at site of former concentration camp
For years, numerous Czech governments promised but failed to abolish an
infamous pig farm in Lety, South Bohemia, built in the 1970s at the site of
a former concentration camp. More than 1,000 Romanies were interned there
during World War II and more than 300 died there. But until now, all
efforts to abolish the farm, in favour of a proper memorial, have come up
short. Now, the newly-named minister for human rights and ethnic
minorities, Michael Kocáb, has expressed his own commitment to see the
project through. But many have questioned whether he can succeed, where so
many others have failed.
A proper memorial in Lety, South Bohemia, to those who died there during
the war is something that human rights activists have pursued for years,
but to little effect: the pig farm built in Lety in the 1970s has remained
until now. The new minister for human rights and ethnic minorities Michael
Kocáb (a man who helped orchestrate the withdrawal of Russian troops from
Czechoslovakia after 1989) has pledged to do more. Although welcoming the
minister’s words, many remain representatives of Roma groups remain
sceptical. Earlier I spoke to Markus Pape of the Committee for the Redress
of the Romany Holocaust:
“I hope of course that the statement is meant seriously and that some
action will follow. But our experiences so far are unfortunately that
previous ministers promised they would do something about the problem which
has been evident for the last decade but none ever achieved any significant
results.”
More than 1,000 Romanies were interned at the Lety camp during World War
II; 327 died there from disease or abuse, while more than 500 were
transported to the death camp in Auschwitz. Every year, a ceremony is held
near the site in their memory, but until now no government has been able to
remove the offending farm. The cost of buying up the property, some have
estimated would be between 500 million to 1 billion crowns. But Markus Pape
argues that ultimately the problem lies not with the costs but with a lack
of understanding and deeper political will.
“If the prisoners in the camp had been of Czech ethnic origin, a pig
farm would never have been built there. Or even if it had, it would have
been moved a long time ago. The government should understand that the
German government is obliged to pay for a memorial but that the Czech
government – and the Czechs alone – are obliged to pay for the moving
of the farm.”
Michael Kocáb will have less than two years before the next general
election to put forward a viable action plan and deliver on his promise.
That’s not a huge amount of time, some observers argue, for him to
succeed.
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