“DIKH HE NA BISTER!”

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.

DIKH HE NA BISTER symbolizes for many young Roma the power of youth to write their own history. In the last few years, remembrance and recognition of the Roma genocide have become a key element of the Roma youth movement in order to restore dignity and to strengthen the identity-building of young Roma.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Roma genocide on 2 August 2014, DIKH HE NA BISTER gathered over 1,000 young Roma and non-Roma from 25 countries in Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau. This mobilization greatly contributed to the recognition of 2 August as European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day by the European Parliament in 2015.

DIKH HE NA BISTER empowers young people in their struggle for justice and equality. Remembrance and commemoration activities do not only take place during the international event on 2 August in Auschwitz-Birkenau and Krakow, but also through numerous local initiatives around Europe. In particular, youth groups promote a message of resistance and self-empowerment to mark the “Romani Resistance Day” on May 16.

DIKH HE NA BISTER was founded by ternYpe International Roma Youth Network and its member and partner organizations in 2010, and is co-organized with the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma and in cooperation with the Council of Europe.