Local use permit proceeding delays opening of new memorial to the Holocaust victims of Roma and Sinti origin at Lety u Písku, Czech Republic

Delays in the use permit proceedings are the reason for the postponement. The Memorial is meant to commemorate the fates of more than 1,000 Roma and Sinti who were imprisoned in the concentration camp at Lety in 1942 and 1943.

Most of those prisoners were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp, where they were murdered. The Memorial is also meant to educate and inform the public about events which preceded the Second World War as well as wartime events and the impact of the Nazi genocide on the Romani community in the Czech lands.

“We apologize to the public and to all of the parties involved for changing the date of the planned opening of the Memorial. Our priority is to ensure the new Memorial will be completed optimally and safely, that it will be ready to provide recognition and respect not just for the victims of the Lety camp, but for all Holocaust victims of Roma and Sinti origin. The soonest the Memorial will open to the public will be April 2024,” the director of the Museum of Romani Culture, Jana Horváthová, said in a press release sent to news server Romea.cz. 

DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE CONSTRUCTION SITE

The previously-announced date for opening the new memorial is being postponed for procedural reasons related to the use permit proceedings. During the construction work, several new facts were learned about the construction site (e.g., discovery of the level of the bedrock and the groundwater, which is higher than anticipated, etc.); despite this, the construction work is proceeding in accordance with the contractual provisions, according to the museum.

“Currently the final work is underway, the proceedings for the contractor to hand the facility over to our museum have been opened, defects are now being eliminated and unfinished business completed. At the same time, work related to installing the indoor and outdoor exhibitions is also happening, consisting of the installation of the physical units (the elements of the exhibitions, the audiovisual technology, etc.), and of completing and testing the content of the exhibition. In order to offer the best possible content and visitor experience of the exhibition, it is necessary to dedicate maximum attention and care to this phase,” said the Investment Officer of the Museum of Romani Culture, Petr Večera, adding that it has also been necessary to coordinate the construction, for example, with the archaeological survey performed on part of the grounds of the future Memorial.

“When addressing the problems that arose at the construction site we proceeded in collaboration with the designers, who supervised, as well as with the investor’s technical supervision,” Večera said. “In the context of completing and handing over the construction site, the necessary steps are now underway (including meeting our legal obligations) for beginning the use permit proceedings. This postponement of the date on which the Memorial will open is caused by the fact that the course and the deadlines of the use permit proceedings cannot be directly influenced by the Museum, and for that reason it is not now possible to set an exact date for the possible opening of the Memorial to the public.”

Visitors to the Memorial will be able to view a permanent exhibition in its Visitors’ Center that will include authentic testimonies of eyewitnesses, historical documents and photographs. The area of the former camp is, as of November 2023, surrounded by a newly-planted forest that is replacing the industrial pig farm which used to occupy the site.

The mixed forest, which is part of the winning project designed jointly by Jan Sulzer and TERRA FLORIDA, will become a space for quiet reflection and for honoring the memories of the victims of what was called a “Gypsy Camp” at the time and was a de facto concentration camp.