Museum of Romani Culture in the Czech Republic to hold commemorative ceremony marking 80 years since 1,000+ Roma were deported to Auschwitz from Brno, the youngest of whom was just seven days old
Maxmilián Kryštof was just seven days old when he became one of more than 1,000 Romani people who were forcibly transported from Brno to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp 80 years ago. Anna Míšková, an historian at the Brno-based Museum of Romani Culture, which is holding a commemorative ceremony to mark the transport of 7 March 1943, has informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK) of the ceremony to be held at the museum and of its historical context.
Míšková said this particular historical event should not be forgotten, especially today given the influx of people to the Czech Republic who are fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine. During WWII, the transport leaving Brno 80 years ago on 7 March numbered 1,038 people.
“The youngest, Maxmilián Kryštof, was just seven days old at the time of departure. When he was subjected to inventory, one of his little legs was tattooed with the designation Z-7462,” the historian informed ČTK.
“The oldest transportee was Marie Růžičková, who was 91 years old when she arrived,” Míšková said. She also related that there were many pregnant women on the transport, some of whom gave birth during the first days after arriving to Auschwitz.
Míšková believes these events must never be forgotten. “We must never forget that these were our fellow citizens, families who had lived in Moravia and Bohemia for centuries in many instances,” she related.
“They were young and they were old, children and pregnant women. They experienced unimaginable suffering just because they had been labeled as Roma,” she told ČTK.
The historian emphasized that it is necessary to take a look at how far our biases, hatred, indifference and xenophobia can go through the example of this historical event. “Especially today, during the influx of the people who are fleeing the war on Ukraine, we should remember these innocent victims and offer our aid and empathy [to others],” she said.
Those commemorating the dead are not just members of the older generation, but also of the younger one. “An example is the Baruvas gathering, which brings together Romani scholarship recipients who frequently grapple with the subject of the Holocaust during their meetings,” she noted, also mentioning the interesting event called “Dikh He Na Bistar / To See and Never Forget“, which is planned each August on the occasion of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day at Auschwitz, where more than 400 Romani men and women from 20 countries gather to pay their respects.
Commemorative Ceremony at the Museum of Romani Culture
The museum will mark 80 years since the transport to Auschwitz with a traditional commemorative ceremony including Mr. Štefan Ferenc reading from survivors’ recollections and brief speeches by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway, Victor Conrad Rønneberg; the Deputy Head of Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany, Petra Dachtler; the Czech Government Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs, Lucie Fuková; the chair of Brno’s Jewish Community, Jáchym Kanarek; and the Mayor of the Brno-Sever Municipal Department, Martin Maleček; the pianist Radek Bagár and vocalist Erika Nováková will provide musical accompaniment. In 1943, more than 1,000 Romani children, men and women from Brno and from other parts of Moravia were forcibly detained in the building of the now-defunct municipal slaughterhouse in Brno and subsequently sent by freight car to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp.
The vast majority of those transported were murdered there. The victims will be honored through a moment of silence and the laying of floral offerings at the bronze memorial plaque that was originally installed on the building of Brno slaughterhouse.
The plaque was removed and placed on long-term loan to the Museum of Romani Culture prior to the demolition of the slaughterhouse in 2003. “The fact that this very first transport of Roma and Sinti people to the extermination camp was sent exactly from Brno, where the Museum of Romani Culture has been headquartered for more than 30 years, is something we see as quite symbolic and we feel an obligation to regularly commemorate this tragic event,” Míšková said.
