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European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma

On 2 August, we commemorate the last 4,300 Sinti and Roma in the German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, who were murdered by the SS on that night in 1944 despite their fierce resistance. In memory of all 500,000 Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe, the European Parliament declared this date the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma in 2015.

Commemoration

Virtual commemoration ceremony of the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma

Opening Remarks

Romani Rose

Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma

Testimonies of Holocaust survivors

Music for Remembrance

Commemoration speeches

Stéphane Dion

Ambassador of Canada in Germany, Special Representative of Canada to the EU and to Europe

Symbols for Remembrance

Rev. Jesse Jackson at 2 August 2019

This video does not only document the attendance of civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, one of the most prominent representatives of the US-American civil rights movement, at the 75th anniversary of 2 August – the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma. The video also features a unique interview with Rev. Jackson and Romani Rose, chair of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, about the continued civil rights struggle of African-American and Sinti and Roma communities.

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Statements

Statements on the occasion of the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma

Dr Bernd Fabritius

Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities

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The Block 13 exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma at Auschwitz-Museum

This video presents the context of the permanent exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma in Nazi occupied Europe, which is based in Block 13 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The video shows how the exhibition highlights – through a unique collection of family photos and documents – a normality of every-day life between neighbours in various European states. The exhibition illustrates how this normality was gradually destroyed by the Nazi regime. On the basis of racial ideology, Sinti and Roma, just like the Jews, were gradually disenfranchised, deprived of their livelihoods and finally deported to the extermination camps. 500,000 Sinti and Roma were murdered in Nazi occupied Europe. 

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Remembrance

across Europe

Commemoration ceremonies across Europe

Commemoration in Berlin

Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism, Berlin (DE), 2 August 2020, 21:00 CET

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Music for Remembrance

Poetry and Art

RomArchive - Digital Archive of Sinti and Roma

The digital RomArchive makes arts and cultures of Sinti and Roma visible, illustrating their contribution to European cultural history. Through narratives told by Sinti and Roma themselves, RomArchive creates a reliable source of knowledge that is internationally accessible on the internet, thereby countering stereotypes and prejudices with facts.

Visit the RomArchive.eu

History

of the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

Sinti and Roma in Auschwitz

Block 13 – The permanent exhibition about the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

Block 13 exhibition

Block 13

The permanent exhibition at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Testimonies of Holocaust survivors

Raymond Gureme

Holocaust survivor, member of the French resistance, human rights activist

Franz Rosenbach

Franz Rosenbach

Holocaust survivor and longstanding deputy chairman of the Association of German Sinti and Roma in Bavaria

5 years ago the European Parliament recognized 2 August as European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

April 15, 2015 marked a historical moment. The European Parliament voted with an overwhelming majority to finally adopt a resolution which recognizes “the historical fact of the genocide of Roma that took place during World War II” and concludes “that a European day should be dedicated to commemorating the victims of the genocide of the Roma during World War II.”

Of huge importance is the fact that this resolution also “underlines the need to combat anti-Gypsyism at every level and by every means, and stresses that this phenomenon is an especially persistent, violent, recurrent and commonplace form of racism.”

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Recognition

of the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

The history of the civil rights struggle for recognition of the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

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Institutional recognition of the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

Current struggles and advocacy for recognition

#RomaRemember

Joint statement on the occasion of 2 August 2020 – International Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma

Dikh He Na Bister! - Roma Genocide Youth Remembrance Initiative

DIKH HE NA BISTER (“Look and don’t forget” in Romani) – the Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative mobilizes each year thousands of young Roma and non-Roma all over Europe on the occasion of the 2 August – the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day – to advance remembrance, recognition and education about the Roma Genocide.

 

DIKH HE NA BISTER is a space of learning about the past, as well as of reflection about the role of young people in Holocaust remembrance. The initiative creates a dialogue and personal encounter of young people with Holocaust survivors. Their testimonies inspire the participants to address and resist against current challenges of antigypsyism, and other forms of racism in Europe today.

 

Education

Education and Youth Activism

Dikh He Na Bister – Youth Activism

Educational tools and places of learning

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Films about the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

The Deathless Woman

The Deathless Woman is a ghost story for the 21st Century, by writer-director Roz Mortimer, 2019, UK, 89 min

A Hole in the Head

A feature documentary of director Robert Kirchhoff, 2016, Slovakia / Czech Republic, 92 min

Valley of Sighs

A documentary of directors Mihai Andrei Leaha, Andrei Crişan, Iulia Elena Hossu, 2013, Romania, 56 min

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