Lety Concentration Camp Memorial - Lety, CZ
Posted by: haggaeus
N 49° 30.444 E 014° 07.401
33U E 436533 N 5484232
A concentration camp for Czech gypsies in 1942-1943.
Waymark Code: WMA7BF
Location: Jihočeský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 11/27/2010
Views: 90
The camp was created in 1940 as a punishment work camp, managed by Czech gendarmerie. The prisoners were used for the construction of road Plzen - Kutna Hora and for forest and field labors.
In August 1942 the camp became a specialized concentration camp for "Gypsies, Half-Gypsies and persons leading the Gypsy way of life". Shortly there were imprisoned over 1100 people - the camp capacity was not built for such a large number and soon there was an outbreak of typhus. The prisoners were put under quarantine until closing down the camp in summer 1943. 78 adults and 248 children died here, the survivors were transferred to other concentration camps, most of them to Auschwitz.
The history of this place was almost forgotten after WW II - only in 1990s the civil rights groups brought it to attention and in 1995 a memorial site was built.
The memorial is open year-round. In summer (April - October) there are open replicas of prisoners barracks with exposition of historical documents and photos. In winter time the exposition is moved to the information center in Lety village.
Official website of the memorial is
www.lety-memorial.cz (info in Czech. English and Romany).
The waymark coordinates point to the parking lot.