Remembrance of the genocide against Roma – Samudaripen/Pharrajimos¹

Strasbourg, 2 August 2010

It is more than sixty years since the end of WW2 and the Nazi crimes, one of the darkest chapters in Europe's history - encompassing the attempt to exterminate the Jews and Roma in Europe and the systematic massacre of other groups. Time has passed, but the painful memories must not be allowed to fade.

On the night between 2-3 August 1944, several thousand Roma and Sinti were massacred at the Zigeunerlager in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The date of 2 August has been chosen to commemorate this part of the Holocaust which remains too often ignored. The international community is resolved to taking appropriate measures so that future generations do not forget those several hundred thousands of Roma and Sinti victims.

The first challenge is to ensure that the victims are properly commemorated. And this is why the Council of Europe promotes several activities among which the "Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and for the prevention of crimes against humanity" which commemorates all the victims of the nazi regime and the “Day of commemoration of the Roma victims” on
2 August in front of the Council of Europe as initiated by the European Roma and Travellers Forum.

The second challenge is equally important: that we draw lessons from the past. A Day of Commemoration provides the opportunity to reflect regularly on how the international community is living up to its pledge of 'never again'. The Council of Europe therefore supports the promotion of Samudaripen education. The Samudaripen is nowhere to be found in European educational materials but should in fact be an integral part of national education curricula. Communities and NGOs should play their part too. The contribution to tolerance made by teaching and learning about the Samudaripen is essential. The Council of Europe produced in co-operation with OSCE/ODIHR an unique database on the Roma genocide which provides information, teaching and training material on Samudaripen: www.romagenocide.org

The Council of Europe member States work together to promote peace, democracy and human rights within its borders and beyond. Yet Roma members of our societies still face intolerance and stigmatisation and different forms of discrimination. The 10 to 12 million Roma in Europe remain among Europe’s most vulnerable groups. The best tribute we can pay to the victims and survivors of the Samudaripen is to avoid forgetting the past and work against any form of anti-Tsiganism in today’s societies. In this task, the representatives of the Roma communities have a key role to play.

"Remember only
that I was innocent and,
just like you, mortal on that day,
I, too, had had a face marked by rage, by
pity and joy, quite simply, a human face!"
Benjamin Fondane, Romanian-born French poet, murdered at Auschwitz in October 1944

1 Samudaripen and Pharrajimos are two linguistic variants of the Romani language used for the Holocaust against Roma and Sinti.