On Saturday, Czech President Petr Pavel and the speakers of both houses of the Czech Parliament, Markéta Adamová Pekarová and Miloš Vyštrcil, attended a memorial ceremony at the site of the World War II concentration camp for Roma at Lety in South Bohemia.
The event was held to commemorate the victims of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust in Bohemia. President Pavel spoke of the need for the majority society to improve its relations with the Roma minority. This was the first time a Czech president had attended the annual event since Václav Havel in the 1990s.
In 2018, the state bought the pig farm that had been built at the site in the 1970s. The farm has since been razed and a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust is due to be unveiled next year. The memorial ceremony was a reminder of the importance of remembering the past and of the need to continue to strive for a better future.