Weekly review no. 30
26.04.2024
Roma Memorial Opened in Lety
A memorial to the Porajmos, the genocide of the Roma under National Socialism, has been opened in Lety in southern Bohemia. Both President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala spoke at the inauguration ceremony. The memorial, which will be open to the public starting May 12, commemorates a concentration camp that was established here for Roma from the Czech Republic during the Nazi occupation. A labor camp primarily for Roma had previously stood on the same site.
1,308 Roma—including the elderly and children, men and women—were held in the camp between August 1942 and May 1943; 327 perished, and over 500 were murdered in concentration camps. There was a second camp in Hodonín u Kunštátu in Moravia, which served as a vacation camp after 1945. A small memorial had already been erected there earlier. You can learn more about the history of the camp in Lety at www.holocaust.cz.
After 1945, the site was forgotten, and a pig farm was later built there. Since the Velvet Revolution, there have been efforts to establish a respectful memorial site, partly inspired by then-President Václav Havel. However, successive governments refused to close the pig farm. For a long time, the government did not want to acknowledge the genocide of the Roma, let alone its own guilt. This lack of interest was also due to the fact that the Roma still have only a small advocacy group in the Czech Republic and are largely socially excluded.
It was not until 2018 that the state agreed to purchase the pig farm. Demolition was completed in 2022, and construction of the memorial could begin. It is attached to the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno.
New Site for Czech Lithium Production
Lithium in the Ore Mountains has also sparked a gold-rush atmosphere in the Czech Republic. The raw material is to be extracted in the old mining town of Cínovec. The Czech Republic hopes this will make it independent of the world market in this important sector and position it among the world’s technological leaders. However, little has happened for years. The company Geomet was acquired by ČEZ, an energy company majority-owned by the state. But decommissioning is still a long way off.
Geomet has now even suffered a setback. Due to protests from local residents, the company abandoned the planned location for the lithium processing plant in Újezdeček, south of Dubí, and decided to build the plant in Prunéřov, west of Chomutov.
Local residents had been protesting against the plant in Újezdeček for two years. The residents of the small settlement of Dukla, in particular, feared the plant, which would have bordered directly on their land. For two years, they fought a David versus Goliath battle. Geomet consistently claimed that Újezdeček was the best location. The criticism from District Governor Jan Schiller was certainly decisive for the success of the protest. Other regional and local politicians also sided with the residents. Geomet was repeatedly criticized for its communication strategy.
Now the residents of the Dukla settlement can celebrate. Geomet now plans to transport the extracted lithium to Prunéřov by train. Újezdeček is now only planned as a transshipment point for the ore on the train. A ČEZ coal-fired power plant is located in Prunéřov. Geomet plans to carry out both the mechanical and chemical processing of lithium there. Up to 60 lithium trains per week are planned from Újezdeček to Prunéřov.
However, it is still unclear when lithium mining will begin in the Czech Ore Mountains. A feasibility study, which was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023, has still not been finalized. The only certainty is that mining will take place underground. The method of transporting the ore from the shaft to the transshipment point in Újezdeček is also still undecided. Most recently, two options were under consideration: a transport elevator or a conveyor belt. Geomet plans to extract over 2 million metric tons of ore per year, which will be processed into approximately 25,000 metric tons of lithium.
Žatec Wins Another Title
A year ago, the hop-growing town of Žatec came away empty-handed. Then, on September 18, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Now, exactly seven months later to the day, Žatec has also been named a “Historic Town of the Czech Republic.” The town was thus recognized for its many years of successful restoration of the historic town center and individual buildings. The jury particularly highlighted the city’s success in motivating private homeowners to renovate their buildings in accordance with historic preservation requirements, in addition to the use of state subsidies.
Žatec won the coveted title on its eighth attempt. The winners from each district always advance to the final. In 2023, Žatec was the winner in the Ústí district for the eighth consecutive time. The national winner receives 1 million crowns (40,000 euros) for the preservation of historical monuments.
New Elbe Bridges for Pedestrians and Cyclists
Construction of a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists has begun in Ústí. The new Elbe crossing is being built downstream from the Beneš Bridge. It is a temporary solution for the duration of the Beneš Bridge’s renovation. The temporary bridge will be three meters wide and will be ready by next winter. The temporary bridge will also be used to reroute all utility lines that currently cross the Beneš Bridge. The long-overdue renovation of the Beneš Bridge is scheduled for completion in October 2026.
A bridge for pedestrians and cyclists is also being built in Děčín. It is being constructed next to the railroad bridge. Unlike the one in Ústí, however, it will not be a temporary bridge but will make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to cross. In the future, this will also simplify crossing the Elbe for everyone traveling on the Elbe bike path. Previously, they had to take the cumbersome route across the Tyrš Bridge.
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The production of this newsletter is co-financed by tax funds based on the budget approved by the Saxon state parliament.