Lety, South Bohemia, Aug 2 (CTK) – The Czech government is close to an agreement on the purchase of a pig farm in Lety situated at the site of the former Nazi internment camp for Romanies, Culture Minister Daniel Herman (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) said at a commemorative meeting in Lety yesterday.
He told reporters that he believes this government would tackle the problem by the end of its election term or by October 2017.
“I am convinced that no other government has been so close to the solution of a commemorative arrangement of the whole complex [as the current one],” he said, adding that he cannot elaborate since the talks are underway.
Jan Cech, general director of the Agpi company running the pig farm in Lety, has confirmed that the government is negotiating with the firm.
The effort of the current government is more intensive than that of its predecessors, he added.
At present, the government and the firm are not discussing a particular sum, but the cabinet is prepared to deal with it soon, Herman said.
Regional Development Minister Karla Slechtova (ANO), who also attended the commemorative meeting in Lety, said more detailed information could threaten the talks.
“We have been striving for a solution to the problem for many months. We want the site to be commemorated in harmony with its history. But we cannot release more about the negotiations,” Slechtova said.
The labour camp in Lety was opened in 1940. A similar facility existed in Hodonin u Kunstatu, south Moravia. In 1942, both facilities turned into internment camps and in August of the same year, Romany camps were established there.
Until May 1943, 1308 Romany men women and children were interned there, 327 of whom perished in the camp and over 500 were sent to the extermination camp in Oswiecim (Auschwitz) where most of them died.
According to estimates, the Nazis murdered 90 percent of Czech Romanies.
