(Slovakia) Roma Holocaust commemorated at graves of murdered Roma

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Source: Slovak Spectator

A commemoration of injustices perpetrated against the Roma during WWII was held in Dubnica nad Váhom (Trenčín Region) on August 1 exactly at the site where 26 ill Roma were brutally murdered in the final stages of the war. The commemorative event was organised by the civic association In Minorita and was part of the Ma Bisteren! project linked to Tuesday’s Roma Holocaust Commemoration Day, August 2.

Opening with the Roma anthem Gelem Gelem performed by violinist Barbora Botošová, the ceremony was attended by representatives of the state administration, municipalities, the Slovak Association of Anti-Fascist Fighters, Roma women with children as well as Richard Fitzmaurice from the US Embassy to Slovakia.

In Minorita project manager Zuzana Kumanová sees it as a necessary to mark places where persecution of Roma occurred.

“It’s important to commemorate concrete people who were murdered and who were suffering,” said Kumanová as cited by the TASR newswire, adding that Europe is still confronted with racist and neo-Nazi views. “It’s necessary to speak about the major persecutions that occurred during WWII and which were based only on ethnicity – whether targeting Jews, Roma or other groups.” Fitzmaurice of the US Embassy to Slovakia is convinced that it is important to hold commemorations at places where people departed from the world in such inhumane conditions. He believes that public participation in such events is necessary in order to commemorate the Roma Holocaust, the knowledge of which is not so common among people.


Read more: http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20229055/roma-holocaust-commemorated-at-graves-of-murdered-roma.html

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Many do not know that the Roma were all but completely wiped out during the Holocaust. In some countries, over 90% of the Roma population were murdered.

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[Lucinda]

1. Thank you!