Czech Republic: Families on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava prepare to leave

The last families living in the sole occupied building in the ghetto on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava, number 8, are preparing to move out. They have given up on their year-long fight to preserve the locality.

Tomorrow, 6 July, the families intend to definitively leave the neighborhood and start a new life in apartments in the Slezská Ostrava quarter. Even though Přednádraží is completely devastated and most of the gutted buildings there are now ruins, some are leaving with heavy hearts.  

Helena Macková (age 40) lived on Přednádraží Street for 22 years, as did her partner Miloslav Kaleja (age 35). Today she packed her family’s things into plastic bags and nostalgically recalled the days when Přednádraží Street was a good place to live.

"I feel so weird because I’m leaving what I love the most. I’m afraid to move somewhere where we don’t know the people. I’m not afraid they won’t accept me, but it will take time to get settled, to get everything together," Macková told the Czech News Agency.

She is tired after the year-long fight for her home. "I have lived through the very worst there was here. The worst was the uncertainty. I always hoped something would work out, and nothing ever came of it. Every day, every month, non-stop annoyances and troubles," Macková said.

Today she places a large part of the blame for the situation on the owner of her building, Oldřich Roztočil. "I had an open-ended lease, he should have taken care of my family. Even the town turned against us," Macková pointed out.

She has been living on Přednádraží Street with her partner and four children between 16 and 22 years of age. "I want a new life, but the memories will always be here," Macková said with tears in her eyes.

She is also afraid for her children. Will they get used to a new place and find friends?

Miloslav Kaleja is also not taking the move lightly. "When the railroad owned it, it was a good place to live. There was a butcher, a pub and a store here," he recalls.

Kaleja considers their new housing to be a temporary solution. "The new housing isn’t much better for us, it will also definitely be called a ghetto, many Romani people live there and also people who are disorderly. If we make it through the winter we will look for something else. We want to live in a better location," he said.

The family is moving into a two-room apartment. Kaleja says they will pay CZK 9 300 monthly for rent, electricity and water. "We estimate that we will have between CZK 6 000 and CZK 7 000 left over per month for the whole family to live on," he said. 

Activist Kumar Vishwanathan, who has long worked with the families, told journalists yesterday that the last six families will leave tomorrow, about 22 people in all. "This is very sad, but on the other hand, these people were very brave and strong. They defended a certain set of values about what a home is. Romani people are no longer itinerant. Just like the other nations of Europe, they have put down roots and are part of this society, and we must realize that. These people have ties to their homes and it is hard for them to leave them. Even today, when the power has been shut off and the sewer lines don’t work, they are sad to leave,"  Vishwanathan said.

The media has followed the problems in the locality since last summer, when about 200 people were living there. Most people have long since moved away, but the last remaining families took up residence in building number 8.

Recently there was new hope for the families when the owner signed new leases with them for the property. However, he did not manage to convince the Building Works Authority to list that building as a residential property. 

Changing the designation of the building would have made it possible for residents to draw housing benefits, but the plan did not succeed. The landlord subsequently called on the residents to move out.