Recognition of the Roma Genocide

 Recognition, official texts

January 27th has been an official Holocaust Remembrance Day in Finland since 2002. In Finnish the day is called Memorial Day for Victims of Persecution (Vainojen uhrien muistopäivä), in Swedish, the second official language, Memorial Day for Victims of the Holocaust (Minnesdagen för förintelsens offer). The Memorial Day honours the memory of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, as well as other victims of persecution during World War II, including Roma victims. It was established by the Prime Minister's Office on 20 February 2001.

In Finland, the Roma and Sinti genocide is officially commemorated on 27th January.

 Data (camps locations, Remembrance places, measures etc.)

In 1939 around 6 500 Roma lived in Finland. As in the case of the Jews, the Finnish Roma were not handed over to the Germans. Instead, there were plans, made by Finnish authorities, to build concentration camps in Finland to gather the non-combatant Roma population there. According to the records, in 1939-44, 1 000 Roma men served in the Finnish army. There is no data on the Roma victims of the Finnish camps. One of them was Petrozavodsk. According to Finnish sources more than 64 000 Soviet citizens were imprisoned in Finnish KZ camps and more than 18 000 of them died.

 Specialised institution, commission, research centre etc., dealing with this issue

Finnish network for Holocaust and Genocide studies (within the centre for Nordic studies):
The Finnish Holocaust Remembrance Association is in charge of organising the commemoration day. Their website, which is dedicated to the Holocaust, makes almost no mention of Roma victims, except to say that they were not handed over to the Germans.

 Official initiatives (campaigns, actions, projects, commemoration days, museums)

The Centre for Nordic Studies (CENS) at the University of Helsinki, in cooperation with the Institut français de Finlande and the Finnish network for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, arranged the first Finnish-French workshop on the Roma during WWII. The keynote speaker is Marie-Christine Hubert from France who has worked on the internment of Gypsies in France during WWII.

During 2012 and 2013 an exhibition called “A History for Today” (“Historiaa nykypäivälle”) has been touring Finnish towns. This exhibition, dedicated to the fate of Anne Frank and also presenting the latest research results on Finnish Holocaust history, has been compiled in cooperation between the Anne Frank House, University of Helsinki and the Peace Education Institute (Rauhankasvatusintituutti).