Lety concentration camp

The Lety and Hodonín Camps mark two sites tied to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in what is now the Czech Republic. Both began as ordinary labor camps and were later turned, under German occupation, into camps reserved solely for the Roma population — a way station on the road to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Today the two sites preserve the memory of one of the least-known chapters of the Second World War in Central Europe.

Where was the Lety camp located?

The Lety camp stood in the hamlet of Šerkov, one of three parts making up the village of Lety in the Písek district of South Bohemia. It is here, at coordinates 49.508°N, 14.119°E, that the Holocaust Memorial of Roma and Sinti in Bohemia now operates, run by the Museum of Romani Culture.

How did the camps at Lety and Hodonín come about?

Both camps trace their legal origin to a government decree of 2 March 1939, issued before the Nazi occupation of the Czech lands was even complete. They were initially set up as labor camps for people the authorities of the time classified as "asocial" — vagrants and those without steady employment. The camp at Hodonín in Moravia began operating as early as the summer of 1940, with Lety following soon after. Formally, both facilities were run by the Czech Protectorate administration, though under close German supervision.

When did the camps change purpose?

The turning point came in 1942. Under racially motivated measures targeting the Roma and Sinti, both camps were converted into so-called Gypsy camps (Zigeunerlager) — places of internment reserved exclusively for Roma people from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The Lety camp operated in this form between 1942 and 1943. Historians have documented at least 1,294 people registered there, though more people likely passed through than the surviving records show. Sanitary conditions were extremely harsh, and outbreaks of infectious disease claimed many lives — at least 335 people died on site. Those who survived their time at Lety and Hodonín were deported further, to the German Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

What happened to the site after the war?

The postwar fate of the two sites diverged sharply. At Lety, part of the former camp grounds was later occupied for decades by a large-scale industrial pig farm, a fact long criticized by Roma communities and historians as an affront to a proper commemoration of the victims. It was only in August 2017 that the Czech government decided to buy out the farm from its owner, with the site formally passing to the Museum of Romani Culture in 2018. Demolition of the farm buildings, funded by the state, began on 22 July 2022.

What can visitors see at Lety today?

A new, comprehensive memorial now stands on the site of the former pig farm. It was officially opened on 23 April 2024, in the presence of descendants of the victims, donors, and figures from public and cultural life. The Lety memorial site welcomes visitors during the main season, from April to October, Thursday through Sunday, from 10:00 to 17:00.

What about the camp at Hodonín u Kunštátu, in Moravia?

Alongside Lety, the Museum of Romani Culture also runs the Holocaust Memorial of Roma and Sinti in Moravia at Hodonín u Kunštátu, built on the grounds of the former labor camp that was likewise converted into a Gypsy camp in 1942. Its exhibitions include archaeological finds recovered from the Lety camp site as well as material documenting the persecution of the Roma across the Protectorate.

Frequently asked questions

When were the camps at Lety and Hodonín established? Both were founded under a government decree of 2 March 1939, initially as labor camps; Hodonín began operating in the summer of 1940.

When did they become camps for the Roma population? In 1942, both were converted into so-called Gypsy camps (Zigeunerlager), reserved exclusively for the Roma of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

How many people died at the Lety camp? Historians have registered at least 1,294 people there, of whom at least 335 died on site, mainly from disease outbreaks.

Where exactly was the Lety camp located? In the hamlet of Šerkov, one of three parts of the village of Lety, in the Písek district of South Bohemia.

What stands on the site of the Lety camp today? A modern memorial opened on 23 April 2024, built where an industrial pig farm once stood before being demolished in 2022; it is open to visitors from April to October.