Der lange Weg zum Gedenken an das KZ Lety
The long path to commemorating the Lety concentration camp
Lecture, film, talk and virtual reality
Entry is free. Registration is requested: veranstaltungen@romatrial.org
„Dismantle the pig farm“ was the longstanding demand of survivors and activists who campaigned for a dignified memorial to the victims of the Lety concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. After a tough battle with the state, the newly erected Lety Memorial will be open to the public from 12 May 2024.
On this occasion, the project WIR SIND HIER! and RomaTrial e.V. invite you to learn about the history of the concentration camp and the fates of its prisoners through a lecture, a film and a discussion with the protagonist Jozef Jožka Miker, a Czech Roma human rights activist. This will be followed by a virtual tour of the Lety concentration camp, which the WIR SIND HIER! project is using as a modern VR educational tool against Antigypsyism as part of a cooperation with the Prague-based romea.cz association.
The Lety concentration camp was located in what is now the Czech Republic and was used explicitly for the internment of Roma and Sinti between 1942 and 1943. Around 1,300 men, women and children were held there. More than 300 people, mainly children, died under the cruel conditions. In 1943, most of the prisoners were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and murdered there. The site symbolises Czechoslovak society’s ignorant approach to history: In the 1970s, the government built a pig farm on the site of the former concentration camp. This was privatised in the 1990s, so that for many years it was no longer possible to close it and commemorate the victims with dignity.
RomaTrial e.V. drew attention to the intolerable situation back in 2017 with the short film “JOŽKA”. A memorial was erected on this site in April 2024.
The project WIR SIND HIER! by RomaTrial e.V. developed the VR education tool with the help of cooperation partner romea.cz. Thanks to VR headset, the Lety concentration camp can be visited virtually. With this project, WIR SIND HIER! is testing new ways of engaging in dialogue with young people and multipliers and educating them about National Socialist history. The WIR SIND HIER! project is funded by the BMFSFJ “Demokratie leben!” programme and the Berlin Participation and Integration Programme.
