Commemorative events have taken place in Poland on the occasion of European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day - 2 August to mark the 80th anniversary of the mass murder of the Roma and Sinti in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The series of events were kicked-off with the international conference “My testimony is for young people – Passing on Memory for the Future of Holocaust Remembrance and Education”, held in Krakow on 1 August.
On 2 August the main commemoration ceremony was organised by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and the Association of Roma in Poland, in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The accompanying political, cultural, and educational events of the Memorial Day were organised jointly with key international stakeholders and supported through the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Programme “Roma Holocaust Remembrance and Education (RomaMemory)”.
On the same day, a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) joined by PACE President, Theodoros Roussopoulos, paid a visit to the Auschwitz Museum and Block 13, and participated in a smaller-scale commemoration ceremony. Survivors, representatives of international organisations and of national institutions, including the Deputy Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, on behalf of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, attended the Commemorative Act of Parliamentary Representatives and Political Leaders.
Approximately 2000 attendees joined the commemoration ceremony taking place in Birkenau at the Roma and Sinti memorial during which the PACE President underlined:
“Memory is a fundamental cement of our collective European consciousness. Without memory there is no past, many believe. I will tell you that without memory there is no future.”
Around 500 youth participants also attended the commemoration ceremony, as part of their involvement in the “Dikh He Na Bister” Programme (29 July - 3 August 2024). Since 2010 young Roma and non-Roma have been coming together every year to commemorate European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and to learn more about the Holocaust, antigypsyism and human rights. This year’s event was supported by the RomaMemory EU/CoE Joint Programme and the Roma and Travellers Division of the Council of Europe.
