The Memorial to Silence in Bubny should be managed by the Ministry of Culture

Prague - The Silent Memorial, which has so far been created around the railway station Prague Bubny by the non-profit organization, is set to become a contributory organization of the Ministry of Culture. Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (CSSD) will submit a proposal to the government for its establishment. This follows from a material for government discussions that CTK has access to. The Silent Memorial would be the 30th contributory organization of the ministry. A budget of 6.8 million crowns is planned for this year, and for the next two years, the memorial's budget is expected to be around 13.5 million crowns.

After the completion of the building's reconstruction and the establishment of the exhibition, the budget should be about 28 million crowns from 2023 onwards. In the first three years, nine people are expected to work at the memorial, and from 2023 around 23 employees."We have submitted the material for inter-ministerial review. I expect it could go to the government in about a month," said the ministry spokesperson Michaela Lagronová today.

The purpose of the Silent Memorial is to interpret the fates of a part of the Jewish population during World War II and the significance of the Prague-Bubny railway station and the adjacent district of Prague 7, which are inextricably linked to transports to ghettos, concentration and extermination camps.

The idea to transform the unused Prague-Bubny station into the Silent Memorial was proposed years ago by documentary filmmaker and director of the non-profit organization Memorial Shoa Prague, Pavel Štingl. The memorial is not to be just a place of remembrance; alongside a permanent exhibition, there should be space for seasonal projects and an educational center.

Symbolically, the first step in the reconstruction of the railway station was the unveiling of a statue by Aleš Veselý in 2015, which replaces the usual significance of a cornerstone. It resembles a railway track leading to the sky. After many years of unsuccessful negotiations with the state or the city of Prague, Štingl stated last year that he no longer wants to continue working on it.

For project preparation of the building, the Ministry of Culture has provided the Memorial Shoa Prague with approximately 5.6 million crowns, and documentation is to be submitted by the end of September. Additional parts of the project are estimated to cost about ten million crowns. The Ministry of Culture also allocated 50 million for creating a permanent exhibition in the Silent Memorial. The costs for the reconstruction and completion of the building are estimated by the Ministry of Culture to be up to 200 million crowns, which will require an increase in its budget; funds are expected to be drawn in 2022.

Part of the material submitted to the government is the takeover of activities of the non-profit organization Memorial Shoa by the end of this year. The building of the station and the land in Holešovice is used based on agreements between the Memorial Shoa, the city hall, and the Railway Administration.

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