On March 2, 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).

Situation of Romani people during German occupation
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 June 24, 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 Romanies from Bohemia, Hodonín for those from Moravia.
The first transport with 94 people to Auschwitz left on December 4, 1942, and a second followed with 417 people on May 14, 1943. Most of the remaining prisoners were sent to the camp in Hodonín.

Compilation of existing data gives a total of 1309 prisoners interned in the camp
326 deaths (estimate), including all c. 30 children born in the camp
Over 500 deported to Auschwitz

Extermination at Auschwitz
Main article: Auschwitz concentration camp
During the course of the war, a total of 4,831 Romani from the Protectorate were sent to Auschwitz. Of those, few survived. Estimates vary, but well over 4,000 Romani died there.

Forgotten and Rediscovered History
After the war, the existence of Romani camps was practically forgotten outside the Romani community, except by specialized historians. The whole community of Czech Romani was annihilated and the new ones, who came from Slovakia and Romania, had no knowledge of this tragedy. During the 1970s, a large factory pig farm was constructed near the site of the Lety camp. A tourist hotel has been built on the site of the Hodonín camp.

Political symbolism
The existence of the camps (or, more precisely, that they were guarded by protectorate policemen and the existence of the privately owned pig farm near Lety) quickly became a very powerful symbol in Czech politics. Some politicians, starting with minister Vladimír Mlynář, tried to appeal to the conscience of the population; some warned of "rewriting history in name of political correctness"and "artificial planting of guilt into public opinion. The issue started to attract minor political groups seeking to receive media attention.

Romani activists picked the pig farm as a symbol of the Czech stance toward the Romani, insisting it is a source of shame for the country internationally. They have repeatedly asked the government to relocate the farm. Their efforts gained further attention by a resolution of the European Parliament in 2005 asking the Czech Government to remove the farm. Opponents have criticized the massive cost of the farm's relocation, and insisted it has no impact on the actual life of the Romani people. They claim that the real intention of the activists is to extort money from the state and that the farm's removal would lead to a worsening of already tense relations between ethnic Czechs and Roma. In both 2005 and 2006, the Czech government announced its intention to buy and liquidate the farm, but has recently decided against it.