Ilija (district Banska Štiavnica)

Historical background

On November 22, 1944, the Germans captured 109 Gypsies, led them to Kremnička and killed them (19 men, 21 women and 69 children). One woman, who was outside the settlement with her children during the operation, survived.

 

Description of commemoration

The memorial was built in 1966 (!). It is not marked anywhere that it is dedicated to Gypsies. Only the names on the pink plaques (names carved in stone, gilded), inserted between white stones, suggest that they are entire Gypsy families. The memorial has a form of an arch-shaped wall (approx. 2 metre high), built of white and pink stones. Right next to the “bend”, at the narrower part of the wall, on the white pedestal built of pink stone, there is a white figure of a man, partisan [? – NG] with his left fist raised. The figure “emerges” from the column, it is sculpted in such a way that the figure is leaning on a lump of stone.

The names of the Gypsies are arranged by families, preserving generations, forming the beginnings of family trees.

On the left side of the figure, in the wall, pink stones feature a carved, gilded inscription.

On the left side of the memorial, by the stairs, there is an information board, which is a copy of a letter prepared in 1966 by Ladislav Rosenberg, culture inspector of the poviat committee in Žiar nad Hronom. At the bottom he lists all the institutions and persons involved in the construction of the memorial. In the upper part of the information board we can find an outline of the history of Slovakia, leading to the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. Only here can we see the annotation about 109 Gypsies, all Roma from the settlement in Ilija, who were captured and murdered by the Germans. The memorial was erected in honor of all victims of the Slovak National Uprising and was given such a name (Pamätník SNP).

Near the memorial there is an information board concerning the village of Iliji. In the paragraph dedicated to the memorial, it is said that 109 people (including 69 children) were murdered in Kremnica on November 22, 1944. The same paragraph contains the information about the author of the memorial. There is no annotation about the victims’ origin.

 

Inscriptions

In Slovak:

“Zastav sa človek pred vyliatou krvou / Vzlkíčil z nej slobodný tvoj deň”

Translation:

(Stop, man, in front of the blood that was shed. Your day of freedom has sprouted from it)

 

Names of victims (only the Gypsy ones)

Ľudovít Bartoš

Anna Bartošová

Ľudovít Bartoš

Július Bartoš

Ján Kaločaj

Katarína Kaločajová

Paulina Kaločajová

Verona Kaločajová

Mária Kaločajová

Anna Kaločajová

Emil Kaločajová

Jozefa Kaločajová

Vincent Kaločaj

Ján Kaločaj

Jozef Kaločaj

Mária Kaločajová

Vincent Kaločaj

Ján Kaločaj

Juraj Kaločaj

Aurélia Kaločajová

Alexander Kaločaj

Jozef Kaločaj

Viliam Kaločaj

Vojtech Kaločaj

Berta Kaločajová

Michal Bartoš

Margita Bartošová

Emília Bartošová

Karolína Bartošová

Ján Bartoš

Marta Bartošová

Kalman Bartoš

Michal Klóner

Mária Klonerová

Jolana Klonerová

Mária Klonerová

Michal Klóner

Ernest Klóner

Jozef Klóner

Ján Bartoš

Gizela Bartošová

Ján Bartoš

Marta Bartošová

Jozef Bartoš

Štefan Bartoš

Milan Bartoš

Arana Bartošová

Ján Bartoš

Jozefa Bartošová

Rozália Bartošová

Michal Bartoš

Ján Bartoš

Vilma Bartošová

Ján Bartoš

Irena Bartošová

Mária Bartošová

Mária Grešková

Otília Grešková

Štefan Kloner

Alžbeta Klonerová

Blažena Klonerová

Milan Kloner

Vilma Klonerová

Ján Kloner

Michal Bartoš

Emília Bartošová

Valéria Bartošová

Tibor Bartoš

Štefan Lacko

Mária Lacková

Vojtech Bartoš

Františka Bartošová

Olga Bartošová

Lýdia Bartošová

Michal Lacko

Lina Lacková

Valéria Lacková

Helena Bartošová

Cyril Bartoš

Rudolf Bartoš

Cecília Bartošová

Jozef Bartoš

Ondrej Bartoš

Antónia Bartošová

Emília Bartošová

Jozef Bartoš

Milan Bartoš

Margita Bartošová

Ján Bartoš

Kalman Bartoš

Jozef Kaločaj

Anna Kaločajová

Juraj Jonáš

Anna Jonášová

and 10 other victims [? – NG]

 

Date of the unveiling

1966!

Author

Vojtech Remeň

Initiator

Address

Location

48°25’12.9″N 18°54’01.7″E

Materials

Zuza Kumanová, Arne B. Mann, Ma bisteren, Nové poznatky o holocauste Rómov na Slovensku, Bratislava 2015, s. 25.

Gallery

 

 

Leave a Reply