Lety concentration camp

Lety concentration camp was a World War II internment camp for Romani people from Bohemia and Moravia during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. It was located in Lety.

On 2 March 1939 (two weeks before the German occupation), the Czecho-Slovak government ordered that a correctional facility in the form of labor camp be set up for "people avoiding work and living off crime" (at the time labor duty was mandatory).

The construction of a camp in the municipality of Lety (in South Bohemian Region) started on 17 July during the Nazi-German occupation. The location was picked because nearby forests, owned by the House of Schwarzenberg, had been devastated by a storm. The first twelve prisoners arrived on 17 July 1940. The camp consisted of several large and small wooden barracks surrounded by a wooden fence. Josef Janovský was named commandant. Czech gendarmes guarded the places (service in such camps was considered a disciplinary punishment). Similar forced labor camps existed in Planá, Mirošov, Hradištko and other places; (mostly Czech) prisoners were typically used for hard labour such as road construction. In total, around 50,000 people went through such labour camps during the war. The total number of prisons and camps of all kinds established by Nazis within the boundaries of modern-day Czech Republic was 2,125.

During 1940, 233 persons were sent to Lety, of whom 197 had previous criminal records. During 1941, the numbers were: 537 persons, 498 with previous criminal records, and 45 persons labeled as Gypsies. Overall there were more than 100 escape attempts with almost half of them successful. Most notable escape was done by Josef Serinek who managed to reach the Bohemian-Moravian Uplands, where he joined the partisan resistance fighters. The prisoners were forced to do hard work in a quarry, were treated harshly and the sick lacked medicine. Many guards, including commander Janovský, regularly stole food from the camp stores, further reducing meager rations for the prisoners.

Starting in 1940, Romanis were forbidden to travel. In 1942, the measures already in force in Germany were applied in the Protectorate as well and, as an immediate result, a few hundred people deemed "asocial" were deported to Auschwitz. On 24 June 1942, the Protectorate Minister of the Interior, Richard Bienert, ordered the collection of statistics about "Gypsies, mixed Gypsies and people with gypsy style of life". Around 6,500 people were recorded in these statistics (based on older records and often on skin color).

On July 10, SS-Oberführer Horst Böhme, Chief of German Security Police, ordered Romanis to be moved into two camps: Lety for Romanis from Bohemia, Hodonín for those from Moravia.

All pre-existing prisoners at Lety were released or transferred, except for 19 Romani already imprisoned. On 2 October 1942, the first new internees arrived. The capacity of the camp was soon exhausted. Even though new buildings were constructed, the site continued to be overcrowded. Some internees were able to secure their release by bribing officials in Prague.

Internees worked on logging trees, road building and on neighbouring farms. The food was meagre and the rations decreased over time. During winter, internees were not provided sufficient clothing. Brutality on behalf of the guards was common. A typhoid epidemic started in December 1942 and did not recede until the camp was closed in May 1943. Commander Janovský was recalled for inability to deal with the epidemic and replaced by Commander Blahynka.