Czech Museum of Romani Culture and ROMEA to hold public discussion on the future form of Romani genocide memorial
The Museum of Romani Culture, s.p.o., and ROMEA o.p.s. are holding a public discussion next week on the future possible form and role of the Lety u Písku memorial called “Restoring Dignity to the Remembrance Site at Lety u Písku”. The debate follows on from a meeting held by the Lety Platform working group initiated by the Institute of the Terezín Initiative and the Museum of Romani Culture and will endeavor to further develop dialogue among victims’ relatives, historians, the relevant institutions and members of the public who are interested in Lety u Písku as a remembrance site and symbol in the Czech Republic of the recognition of the Holocaust of the Roma.
The discussion will be held on Friday, 2 March 2018 at 13:00 at the Scout Institute on the Old Town Square in Prague. The panel discussion will feature Zdeněk Daniel (a certified architect and relative of the victims) and Mr Jan Hauer, a relative of the victims who works with the Institute of the Terezín Initiative.
The Museum of Romani Culture will be represented by its director, the historian Jana Horváthová, and Ms Veronika Patočková of the organizations RomaTrial and Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) in Germany will also attend. The direct participants in the debate in the hall, in addition to the Lety Platform working group, will primarily be relatives of those who were so painfully interned in the camps at Hodonín u Kunštátu and Lety u Písku.
“We want to facilitate public participation in the debate on the future form of the Lety memorial because we perceive the importance of hearing the voices of the victims’ relatives, of experts, and all who are interested in this subject. We do not want to decide about the form of such an important location on our own,” said Horváthová.
“The entire discussion will be broadcast live online by Romea.cz. The video recording will then be accessible to the public. The Museum and ROMEA will also hold other round tables – the April round table will review the subject with residents of localities near the memorial (Písek and its environs), the May round table will be dedicated to the historical perspective on the so-called ‘Gypsy Camp’ at Lety, and the August round table will focus on education about the Holocaust of the Roma,” said Eva Zdařilová of ROMEA o.p.s.
A discussion about the future form of the Lety memorial as well as information about it can be found on a new website dedicated to the Lety memorial as well as on the website of the Museum of Romani culture as follows:
Lety Memorial http://letypamatnik.cz
Museum of Romani Culture – Lety Memorial http://www.rommuz.cz/pamatniky/lety-u-pisku/
Facebook Page – Lety Memorial https://www.facebook.com/PamatnikLety/
All of the articles that have been published by news server Romea.cz about Lety in Czech and English can be found in a special thematic section on news server Romea.cz at http://www.romea.cz/cz/stitek/lety-u-pisku-2
