Lety u Písku. Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Bohemia
The Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Bohemia will open to the public for the first time on Sunday 12 May 2024, the same day as the traditional commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti at the emergency burial site in the immediate vicinity of the Memorial . Visitors to the commemoration will be able to take tours of the Memorial's grounds, including both of its exhibitions.
The project "Lety u Písku. Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Bohemia" follows on decades of efforts by survivors, activists, and representatives of public and political life to honor the memory of the victims of the so-called Gypsy camp with dignity. You can read more about its history during and after the war in the History section.
The pre-defined project, KU-PDP01-001, is implemented between 2022 and 2024 and aims to build a new memorial to the Holocaust of Roma and Sinti in Lety, a memorial of international importance. It will link the existing Lety Cultural Monument with the site of the former camp. A large-scale pig farm was built on the site in the 1970s. Its purchase and demolition are an integral step towards the realisation of the memorial project.
The construction of a new memorial to the Roma and Sinti Holocaust in Lety will represent the revitalisation of a cultural monument and its extension with a new area (the memory trail) and a new visitor centre including facilities for visitors. A modern exhibition will be built in the visitor centre with a lecture and exhibition hall, mapping the history of the camp at Lety u Písku (disciplinary labour camp, assembly camp, so-called gypsy camp) up to the present day. The project includes educational activities for the public (youth and adults) and an interactive web interface. The project will include an international expert conference and other interesting cultural events for the professional and lay public. The form of the new memorial was decided by an architectural competition held in 2019.
The project is implemented in partnership with The Falstad Centre from Norway, which has experience in providing similar exhibitions and educational programmes. The project partner will be directly involved in the preparation of the educational activities. Other project partners are the municipality of Lety and the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The university has carried out extensive archaeological research on the site.
The project is supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
The project is also supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic.
Foreign partner of the project:
