Memorial event and opening of the memorial in Lety
The Romani Culture Museum will open its new branch – Lety near Písek. The Holocaust Memorial for Roma and Sinti in Bohemia – in May of this year. This will mark an important milestone in the history of Czech Roma and Sinti.
Longstanding intense efforts to dignify the memory of the victims of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust at the site of the former concentration camp in Lety are culminating. The Romani Culture Museum has leveled the large pig farm that was built on the site of suffering, and throughout 2023 and 2024, a new Memorial will be constructed in the area.
This will be a place of remembrance and understanding. Its purpose is to directly remind about the memory of the imprisoned at the site of suffering, to inform and educate about the events before and during World War II, as well as the impact of the Nazi genocide on Roma communities in the Czech lands.
Part of the Memorial includes a new memorial site and a Visitor Center with a permanent exhibition The Memory of the Place and the Place of Memory. This will bring the historical context and the pain of individuals closer to the visitors through authentic memories of witnesses and will also provide material testimony about Czech Roma and Sinti imprisoned in the camp.
Thanks to the outdoor permanent exhibition – Path of Memory – the Memorial will fulfill its educational function year-round.
The Holocaust Memorial for Roma and Sinti in Bohemia will be opened to the public for the first time on Sunday, May 12, 2024 – on the same day when a traditional commemorative act is held at the emergency burial site located in the immediate vicinity of the Memorial to honor the victims of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust. Visitors to the memorial act will thus be able to take guided tours of the Memorial complex, including both of its exhibitions.
Commemorative act to honor the memory of the victims of the Lety camp
When: May 12, 2024, from 12 PM
Where: KP Lety – near the emergency burial site of the former concentration camp designated primarily for Roma and Sinti
In May, the traditional honoring of the memory of the victims of the Protectorate's so-called Gypsy camp in Lety near Písek will take place. The gathering will be held on May 12 from 12 PM.
The site of the camp in Lety near Písek is connected to a long and troubled history. It is an authentic site where the Protectorate's so-called Gypsy camp operated from 1942 to 1943. It was one of two places (the other camp was in Hodonín near Kunštát) where entire families of Moravian and Czech Roma and Sinti were forcibly concentrated before being transported to the concentration and extermination camp in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The camp buildings themselves were leveled and burned down even in 1943 after the last mass transportation. During its existence (August 1942 – August 1943), approximately 1,300 men, women, and children passed through the Lety camp. It is certain that a total of 335 people died in Lety, most of whom were children.
The commemorative gathering is organized by the Romani Culture Museum together with the Committee for Compensation for the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic at the Cultural Heritage site of Lety, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the emergency burial site of the victims of the concentration camp.
Program:
12:00 – Start of the commemorative gathering
12:15 – Honoring the memory of the victims with floral tributes
13:00 – Word from the priest
13:45 – Speeches, musical performances
14:45 – Closing remarks
15:00 – Tour of the new area of the Holocaust Memorial for Roma and Sinti in Bohemia
15:45 – Departure to the parish cemetery in Mirovice, where the commemorative act will conclude with the laying of floral tributes at the statue of the Romani Mother
More information >
Longstanding intense efforts to dignify the memory of the victims of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust at the site of the former concentration camp in Lety are culminating. The Romani Culture Museum has leveled the large pig farm that was built on the site of suffering, and throughout 2023 and 2024, a new Memorial will be constructed in the area.
This will be a place of remembrance and understanding. Its purpose is to directly remind about the memory of the imprisoned at the site of suffering, to inform and educate about the events before and during World War II, as well as the impact of the Nazi genocide on Roma communities in the Czech lands.
Part of the Memorial includes a new memorial site and a Visitor Center with a permanent exhibition The Memory of the Place and the Place of Memory. This will bring the historical context and the pain of individuals closer to the visitors through authentic memories of witnesses and will also provide material testimony about Czech Roma and Sinti imprisoned in the camp.
Thanks to the outdoor permanent exhibition – Path of Memory – the Memorial will fulfill its educational function year-round.
The Holocaust Memorial for Roma and Sinti in Bohemia will be opened to the public for the first time on Sunday, May 12, 2024 – on the same day when a traditional commemorative act is held at the emergency burial site located in the immediate vicinity of the Memorial to honor the victims of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust. Visitors to the memorial act will thus be able to take guided tours of the Memorial complex, including both of its exhibitions.
Commemorative act to honor the memory of the victims of the Lety camp
When: May 12, 2024, from 12 PM
Where: KP Lety – near the emergency burial site of the former concentration camp designated primarily for Roma and Sinti
In May, the traditional honoring of the memory of the victims of the Protectorate's so-called Gypsy camp in Lety near Písek will take place. The gathering will be held on May 12 from 12 PM.
The site of the camp in Lety near Písek is connected to a long and troubled history. It is an authentic site where the Protectorate's so-called Gypsy camp operated from 1942 to 1943. It was one of two places (the other camp was in Hodonín near Kunštát) where entire families of Moravian and Czech Roma and Sinti were forcibly concentrated before being transported to the concentration and extermination camp in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The camp buildings themselves were leveled and burned down even in 1943 after the last mass transportation. During its existence (August 1942 – August 1943), approximately 1,300 men, women, and children passed through the Lety camp. It is certain that a total of 335 people died in Lety, most of whom were children.
The commemorative gathering is organized by the Romani Culture Museum together with the Committee for Compensation for the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic at the Cultural Heritage site of Lety, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the emergency burial site of the victims of the concentration camp.
Program:
12:00 – Start of the commemorative gathering
12:15 – Honoring the memory of the victims with floral tributes
13:00 – Word from the priest
13:45 – Speeches, musical performances
14:45 – Closing remarks
15:00 – Tour of the new area of the Holocaust Memorial for Roma and Sinti in Bohemia
15:45 – Departure to the parish cemetery in Mirovice, where the commemorative act will conclude with the laying of floral tributes at the statue of the Romani Mother
More information >
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