A memorial to the Romani Holocaust is being created in Blanensko

Hodonín u Kunštátu (Blanensko) - Construction work has been completed on the memorial in Hodonín u Kunštátu, Blanensko, which will commemorate the collection camp for Moravian Roma during World War II, the internment center for the expulsion of Germans, and the forced labor camp from the 1950s. The total costs for purchasing the site, reconstruction, and the creation of the exhibition amount to 98 million crowns, said Markéta Pánková, director of the J. A. Komenský National Pedagogical Museum and Library, to ČTK today. According to her, the government allocated funds for the Hodonín u Kunštátu memorial.

The construction work lasted about five years, and now the creation of the exhibition is to begin, which will take a year. "If no problems arise, everything will be finished in August next year," Pánková stated.

She mentioned that 20 million was spent on purchasing the site from a private owner, 78 million on reconstruction and construction of the buildings, and on creating the exhibition. "Out of the seven prison facilities, only one has been preserved, which we renovated, as well as the partially preserved guardhouse. We also built a new information center," Pánková said.

There will be an exhibition in all three buildings, aiming to highlight the history of the site. Initially, it was a collection camp for Moravian Roma, who were transported from Hodonín to the Auschwitz concentration camp; then it housed expelled Germans, some of whom also perished, and during the Communist regime, political prisoners. "We also tried to restore the terrain to its original state. We fenced off the memorial site and erected a pole for each deceased person who died there. There are 288 poles for 207 Roma and others were the expelled Germans," added Pánková.

According to her, the deceased Roma are buried in a nearby grove. "It's a little cemetery called Žalkov. There are crosses, and it is enclosed by a fence. The site has been declared a cultural monument," Pánková said.

The exhibition will feature Czech-English texts, photographs, artifacts, and also short films with witnesses that will portray the lives of both prisoners and guards. "For example, there will be a list of the deceased, a timeline that shows what was happening in the Czech lands, in Europe, and in the camp, but there will also be phone booths that allow listening to recordings of some of the witnesses," Pánková added. The exhibition will serve schools and the public.

According to Pánková, it is important to create memorials. "It is crucial in today's time, when people are being killed and imprisoned, to prevent such occurrences from repeating as they did in the past."