Center of the Roma and Sinti in Prague

The pre-defined project, the Roma and Sinti Center in Prague, supported by the Norwegian Funds 2014-2021, Human Rights Program, was created as a wish of the descendants of Romani and Sinti Holocaust survivors, led by the chair of the Committee for Romani Holocaust Compensation, Čeněk Růžička. Its goal was to build a specialized workplace in Prague that would focus on the topic of the indigenous Roma and Sinti, with an emphasis on the Holocaust period. Unfortunately, during the five years of the project, due to construction complications, the Centre was unable to open in the premises of a First Republic villa in Prague's Dejvice district.

The past of functionalist villa in Prague-Dejvice

The future of functionalist villa in Prague-Dejvice

A number of accompanying activities took place. These include, for example, educational programmes and workshops, which were implemented in cooperation with the Norwegian partner The European Wergeland Centre. The Fate of the Růžička´s family - The Story of the Lety Camp is dedicated to the history of the so-called Gypsy, in fact concentration, camp at Lety u Písku and brings the testimony of a representative of the third generation of survivors, Jana Kokyová. An educational methodology using the principles of competences for democratic culture was developed for education. Events for the public included commemorating the Holocaust of Roma and Sinti in the public space of Prague, such as the commemoration in Ruzyně, from where the transports of Roma to Auschwitz were drawn up, or partnering in the public reading of the victims on the occasion of Yom HaShoah. Romani history and culture were also brought closer to the public through discussions and other cultural activities.

In cooperation with the National Museum, the exhibition Otevřená cesta / The Road is Open / Phundrado Drom was opened, which focuses on the collection activities of the Museum of Romani Culture, focusing on amateur artists. The exhibition is on display until July 2024 at the Ethnographic Museum of the National Museum in the Kinsky Summer Palace.

Until June this year, the travelling exhibition Stories of the Survivors was open at the Clam-Gallas Palace. Lety u Písku as a place of memory of the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti, which builds on the exhibitions in the Lety Memorial and focuses on the personalities who survived imprisonment in the camp during World War II and who gave testimony about it. It is currently on display in Hodonín u Kunštátu. Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Moravia. 

Partners of the project: