On Friday, August 2nd, 2024, the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, along with the Association of Roma in Poland, will be commemorating the 80th anniversary of the execution of the last remaining Roma and Sinti in Auschwitz. This solemn event will take place in Oświęcim, Poland, the location of the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. On the night of August 2nd, 1944, 4300 women, children, and elderly members of the minority were forcibly taken to the gas chambers and killed. This tragic event serves as a reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
In 2015, the European Parliament declared August 2nd as the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Roma and Sinti in order to honor the 500,000 victims of the Nazi regime. This day serves as a symbol of remembrance and a call to action to prevent such horrific events from happening again.
During the commemoration, Alma Klasing, a Holocaust survivor who lost close relatives in Auschwitz, delivered a speech highlighting the importance of defending democracy and warning against the rise of right-wing parties. She stated, “The electoral success of the right-wing parties frightens me greatly. That is why I would like to warn young people against these false prophets and ask you with all my heart: defend our democracy.”
Romani Rose, the Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, also spoke about the legacy of those who were murdered in Auschwitz. He stated, “The experience of Nazi dictatorship obliges us to defend human dignity and human rights everywhere and for everyone. Democracies must once again place universal human rights at the centre of their actions.”
The President of the Polish Senate, Małgorzata Maria Kidawa-Błońska, attended the commemoration as the highest-ranking Polish government representative to date. In her speech, she emphasized the importance of remembering the past and learning from it. She stated, “After what happened at Auschwitz, we believed in Europe that the slogan ‘Never Again!’ would become a guideline for all countries and politicians for good. Today, after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, we experience that nothing is given once and for all. Neither peace, nor democracy, nor trust, nor even memory. This is the bitter knowledge, but it is also knowledge that impels action.”
Bärbel Bas, the President of the Bundestag, also spoke at the commemoration, becoming the first senior representative of the Bundestag to travel to Auschwitz to honor the victims of the Holocaust. She stated, “Auschwitz is synonymous with the greatest crime ever committed by humans against humans. It is synonymous with the break with civilization unleashed by Germany. With the will to annihilate European Jewry. With the genocide of the Sinti and Roma. Here in Auschwitz, the racial fanaticism of the Nazis culminated in the savage wiping out of human lives.”
For any press inquiries, please contact Alexander Cramer at alexander.cramer@sintiundroma.de or by phone at +49 6221 981101. This event is distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/, a news distribution service.
