Printed 30.01.2023 08:24 01-08-2017 Daniela Lazarova
Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman has announced an important
breakthrough in the government’s efforts to secure the buy-out of an
offensive pig farm in Lety, South Bohemia located on the site of a former
concentration camp where hundreds of Roma died in inhumane conditions in
WWII. The company that owns the farm has now agreed to sell it to the
state, opening the way for a dignified memorial to the victims to be built
on the grounds.
“I want to thank our partners in these negotiations for their positive approach and willingness to reach agreement. After the majority of shareholders approved the sale, I see no more hurdles on the road to seeing this matter settled. Once a contract has been signed we will be able to release details of the agreement and anyone interested will be able to see for themselves that this is a fair deal in every way.”
According to the Czech Culture Ministry the property should in future be administered by the Museum of Roma Culture. Its spokeswoman Kristina Kohoutová welcomed the news that after years of futile efforts it would finally be possible to move ahead with plans to build a dignified memorial to the Romanies who suffered and died in the Lety camp.
Some 1,300 Czech Romanies passed through the Lety camp during WWII; over 300 of them died there, while another 500 were deported to Auschwitz. The need to create a dignified memorial at the site was raised soon after the fall of communism and president Vaclav Havel was one of the strongest advocates for the pig farm’s removal. In 2010 a memorial to Roma victims of the Holocaust –a stone depicting a broken heart - was unveiled close-by, but the stench from the near-by pig farm was a constant reminder of a shameful problem unresolved. Copyright © Radio Praha, 1996 - 2003 |