2 August 2020
Holger Münch
President of the Bundeskriminalamt of Germany
Statement on the occasion of the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma 2020
Ladies and gentlemen,
Together with you, the Bundeskriminalamt commemorates the victims of the National Socialist genocide of 500,000 Sinti and Roma.
A hideous crime and unspeakable suffering that found their supposed legitimacy in the perverse racial laws at that time. The painful truth is that the German police were also complicit in this because they supported the Third Reich’s reign of terror and the systematic persecution of minorities such as the Sinti and Roma.
Today, 75 years after the end of World War II, we are a different police force, a police force firmly rooted in the German constitution.
A police force deeply committed to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Our extensive powers of intervention in fundamental rights require a particularly pronounced awareness of our history and sense of responsibility, and that we act according to high ethical and moral principles. We prosecute perpetrators regardless of where they come from; descent must not play a role in police work. The guarantee of the inviolability of human dignity must be, and remain, our overriding principle.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The aggressive public displays of marginalisation, hatred and violence which are increasingly evident in Germany today, on the Internet, in social media and in real life, are a cause of considerable concern as the aim behind this is to create a climate of fear and intimidation. We are experiencing an increase in violence which culminates in deadly attacks motivated by racism and xenophobia. Members of minorities such as the Sinti and Roma feel increasingly threatened. This must be a wake-up call for us all. Now especially, 75 years after the end of the war, we have to take decisive action to confront the threats posed by racism, anti-Semitism and antigypsyism.
Last year we, the Bundeskriminalamt, together with the whole law enforcement community significantly intensified our efforts to combat hatred, marginalisation and violence, extremism and group-based misanthropy in all its forms.
This also means taking a critical look at ourselves and investing in our shared values and the historical and political education of our staff. Our message is clear: Misanthropic and anti-constitutional statements have no place within the Bundeskriminalamt!
Ladies and gentlemen,
The memorial day calls on us to keep alive the collective memory of the victims of National Socialist crimes and calls on us to act so that you and all of us can live in freedom and security.
This is our shared responsibility. The police, the state and the whole of society, each and every one of us is called upon to act. We want to make our contribution to this and will do so.
Statements

Sara Bloomfield
Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Irmgard Schwaetzer
Chair of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)

Dr. Josef Schuster
President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany

Dr Annette Schavan
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the EVZ Foundation

Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
Chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)

Zeljko Jovanovic
Director of the OSF Roma Initiatives Office

Agnes Daroczi
Founder of Romedia Foundation

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

Karen Taylor
Chair of the European Network against Racism

Holger Münch
President of the Bundeskriminalamt of Germany

Jamen Gabriela Hrabanova
Director of the ERGO Network

Irvin Mujcic
Survivor of the Srebrencia Genocide

Atanas Stoyanov
Phiren Amenca International Network

Alica Heráková
Spokeperson of the Museum of Romani Culture Brno

Bini Guttmann
President of the European Union of Jewish Students

Ismael Cortés
Member of the Spanish Parliament and Roma Activist

Ethel Brooks
Chair of the European Roma Rights Centre

Loránt Vincze
Member of the European Parliament, FUEN President

Laszlo Teleki
Former member of the National Assembly of Hungary

Luc Jacobs
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Poland