The establishment of the memorial in Lety will be preceded by an archaeological survey

Lety/Brno - An archaeological survey will take place in the area of the pig farm in Lety near Písek, before the demolition of the pig farm and the creation of a memorial to the Romani Holocaust. A concentration camp for Roma existed at the site during the war. The memorial will be managed by the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, which is currently preparing a tender for the archaeological research. Jana Horváthová, the director of the museum, informed CTK. Today, the company AGPI cleared the pig farm and transported the last 330 pigs from it. There were originally about 13,000 pigs on the site. The state purchased the pig farm for 450.8 million crowns.

After a public tender, archaeologists will go to the site. "They should spend two to three months there," Horváthová informed. Additionally, public discussions are being held about the future form of the memorial. The first debate took place at the beginning of March in collaboration with the non-profit organization Romea, the second will be in April with the participation of both Romani and majority public directly at the pig farm site. According to Horváthová, interested parties can also participate in the discussion via a form on the museum's website where suggestions for the memorial are being collected.

A reminder of the former camp will be created at the site. It will connect the current cultural heritage site of Lety, which consists of replicas of three wooden huts, and sculptures by academic sculptor Zdeněk Hůlka located at the site of mass graves. "Furthermore, we want to build an information center with an exhibition space where visitors can obtain information about the so-called Gypsy camp and the Romani Holocaust," said Horváthová.

According to her, it is difficult to estimate when the work will take place. "Any demolition and construction must be preceded by an architectural competition, which will determine the future form of the memorial taking into account limited financial resources," added Horváthová. The financial aspect is handled by the Ministry of Culture, which establishes the museum. CTK is inquiring the estimated costs from the ministry. "We anticipate that construction work will require the demolition of a part of the pig farm, landscaping of the site, and the construction of an information center with a small exhibition where we also want to display archaeological finds from the camp site," informed Horváthová. She added that the first modifications could begin next year.