Romani Holocaust records on public display

11 July 2000

Original documents from the World War II Romani concentration camp Lety in southern Bohemia are now available for public viewing and study at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., according to a press release by the United States' government Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe dated April 5, 2000. Lety was established as a concentration camp for Roma during the Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. According to official records, several hundred Roma died there; however, some Romani activists estimate the actual number to be in the thousands. Many others died after deportation from Lety to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The Netherlands apologised to victims of the Holocaust, including Roma, for earlier governments' "chilly" response to claims on property seized during World War II, according to a report by Reuters English News Service on March 21, 2000. The government offered the Roma thirty million Dutch guilders (approximately 13,500,000 euro) in remuneration. A spokesperson for the Roma and Sinti said the government gesture would help them feel accepted. "We are satisfied. We can now make a new start in the Netherlands with this acknowledgement, this money," said Zoni Weisz, a spokesperson for Roma and Sinti organisations.

(CSCE, ČTK, Reuters)