Debate in on in the Czech Republic over reports that the Czech Culture Ministry wants to name the dilapidated factory building in eastern Bohemia a cultural heritage site; it as the place to which Oskar Schindler moved the more than 1,000 Jews on his World War II “list” and saved them.
The crumbling building is located in the village of Brněnec, not far from Schindler’s birthplace, Svitavy. The Svitavy town museum has an exhibit dedicated to Schindler.
Brian Kenety reports in CzechPosition.com:
According to Czech media reports, the Culture Ministry has launched proceedings to name it a cultural heritage site, but these talks might last for several months. Meanwhile, much of the site is beyond repair, with buildings dilapidated or already having been pulled down, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Monday.
Tomáš Janů from the Olomouc-based company Blue Fields, which took over the site from a bankrupt textile manufacturer, had told the news server idnes.cz back in June 2011 he wanted to make it a museum — but said funding was not yet forthcoming. (Since then, the company suspended planned extensive demolition of surrounding buildings upon finding hazardous materials in the complex, the newspaper said.)