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
