ANO leader promises money for dignified memorial after insulting Roma
Holocaust victims
A twenty-year-long futile drive to buyout a pig farm standing on the site
of the former Roma concentration camp in Lety, south Bohemia has received
fresh impetus from an unlikely quarter. ANO leader Andrej Babiš who last
week insulted the memory of the hundreds of Romanies who died there in
inhumane conditions or were sent to their death in Auschwitz, has pledged
to visit the site, bow to their memory and find the money needed to buyout
the farm and build a dignified memorial.
On a visit to a socially excluded locality with prevailing Roma inhabitants
in Varnsdorf, North Bohemia, ANO leader and Finance Minister Andrej Babiš
attempted to win support in the upcoming regional elections by addressing
one of his favourite topics – work. And, in the heat of debate, he did
the unthinkable –claiming that the Lety camp had not been a concentration
camp for Romanies, but a labour camp designed for those of them who did not
want to work. The statement caused an outcry across the political scene.
Although Lety was initially built as a work camp in 1942 it became a
concentration camp for Romanies; over 1300 people were interned there, over
300 died in inhumane conditions and 500 were transported to Auschwitz.
There were calls for Babiš to step down and the opposition demanded the
matter be debated at a session of the lower house. Prime Minister Sobotka
called on his partner in government to apologize and distance himself from
his unfortunate statement in Parliament as well as make a trip to Lety to
bow to the victims of the Holocaust. He also made it clear that the views
expressed were not those of the coalition government.
“If we started
debating Andrej Babiš’ dismissal from the cabinet we would turn this
into a coalition problem; which it is not. Neither the Social Democrats nor
the Christian Democrats have anything to do with the said statements.”
The finance minister hastily apologized for his words, saying he had not
meant to deny the Holocaust and had been quoted out of context. He lashed
back at the prime minister saying Sobotka was intentionally adding fuel to
the fire to damage him ahead of the regional elections and accused his
critics of hypocrisy, saying politicians had done nothing for twenty years
to solve the problem of the pig farm standing on the former site of the
Lety concentration camp.
“I have now discussed the problem with Culture
Minister Daniel Herman and promised to find the money needed to buyout the
farm and build a dignified memorial in its place.”
Babiš wrote on Twitter shortly after the storm broke. Whether this form of atonement will
be enough remains to be seen. Both Human Rights Minister Jiři Dienstbier
and members of the opposition say the matter is not closed. However, it
will be voters who will have the last say when they go to the polls in the
autumn regional and Senate elections. And so far nothing the controversial
ANO leader has said and done has affected his strong lead in popularity
ratings.
| 
On a visit to a socially excluded locality with prevailing Roma inhabitants
in Varnsdorf, North Bohemia, ANO leader and Finance Minister Andrej Babiš
attempted to win support in the upcoming regional elections by addressing
one of his favourite topics – work. And, in the heat of debate, he did
the unthinkable –claiming that the Lety camp had not been a concentration
camp for Romanies, but a labour camp designed for those of them who did not
want to work. The statement caused an outcry across the political scene.
Although Lety was initially built as a work camp in 1942 it became a
concentration camp for Romanies; over 1300 people were interned there, over
300 died in inhumane conditions and 500 were transported to Auschwitz.
There were calls for Babiš to step down and the opposition demanded the
matter be debated at a session of the lower house. Prime Minister Sobotka
called on his partner in government to apologize and distance himself from
his unfortunate statement in Parliament as well as make a trip to Lety to
bow to the victims of the Holocaust. He also made it clear that the views
expressed were not those of the coalition government.
Related articles
Also in section "News"
Most popular articles