LIVE BROADCAST TODAY AT 13:00 CET: Commemorative ceremony for the Romani victims of Nazism at the Hodonín u Kunštátu Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Moravia

The ceremony is organized by the Association of Roma and Sinti in the Czech Republic in collaboration with the Brno Christian Aid Society. Their aim is to honor the memory of the Romani victims of Nazism and of the heroic uprising of the Roma and Sinti who were imprisoned in the Auschwitz II–Birkenau Concentration Camp that transpired 81 years ago on 16 May 1944.

The program will start at 13:00 CET with a ceremonial opening after which the guest speakers and organizers will give their remarks. The ceremony includes the laying of commemorative wreaths and religious worship.

Those attending the gathering can then visit the municipal cemetery in Černovice, where they will honor the memory of their forebears buried there individually. News server Romea.cz and the ROMEA TV social media profiles will be livestreaming the commemorative ceremony.

History of the Hodonín u Kunštátu camp and the creation of the memorial

The Hodonín u Kunštátu Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Moravia stands on the site of the former “Gypsy Camp”, which was established on 2 August 1942 as part of the Nazi persecution. It was the second such camp on the territory of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Zigeunerlager II, after the camp in Lety u Písku.

Zigeunerlager II began on the site of what had been a punitive labor camp and then a collection camp, and was used to imprison Romani people, Sinti people, and others labeled “asocial”. Over the course of several weeks, more than 1,000 persons were forced into the overcrowded facility including children, the elderly, and women.

The cruel, undignified conditions, violence from the guards, and a lack of opportunities to maintain personal hygiene, as well as a lack of food, led to a catastrophic death rate, especially among children. The biggest tragedy was an epidemic of typhoid fever in the winter of 1942–1943, during which the mass burial of victims was undertaken nearby in mass graves at a spot called Žalov.

At least 749 prisoners were deported from Hodonín to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau Extermination Camp, most of whom died there. After the war the place was forgotten and the facility was used for military and recreational purposes.

It was not until the 1970s that annual commemorative gatherings were held at the site of the former concentration camp, a tradition that was later revived by the Museum of Romani Culture. In 1997, a monument by Romani sculptor Eduard Oláh was erected at Žalov, and one year later a memorial plaque was installed at the cemetery in Černovice created by Božena Přikrylová.

Today the site is a National Cultural Heritage Monument and an important symbol of the commemoration of the Holocaust of the Roma and the effort to achieve historical justice. Currently the memorial is administered by the Museum of Romani Culture, which as of 2021 has produced commemorative, educational and expert events there and arranged for its accessibility by the public.