#2august

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, we remember with heavy hearts to honor the Roma and Sinti who perished in the Holocaust. Between 500,000 and 1.5 million lives were brutally taken, leaving behind an irreplaceable void and a sorrow that words cannot fully capture.

As we remember their profound suffering, we confront our enduring struggle for self-determination and the dream of a united Roma nation. This struggle is not confined to the past; it persists today. Recent Romani refugees from Ukraine, escaping the devastation of war, face unrelenting hardships and vulnerabilities.

It is imperative that we create a sanctuary—a place where the horrors of the Holocaust and the conflicts of today can never be repeated. This sanctuary must embody equality and decisively end the deep-rooted discrimination that has plagued our people for centuries. We must not only honor their memory but also strive for a future where every Roma can live free from fear, with dignity and equal rights.

Let us be driven by their legacy to build a world where such atrocities are never repeated and where the Roma nation can flourish in peace, unshackled from the chains of discrimination and inequality.

Thank you.

Today marks 79 anniversary of Gypsy night, during this night of 2-3 August in 1944 last inmates of Auschwitz Birkenau were murdered in gas chamber, more then 4200 Roma and Sinti people were killed including children who were examined by evil worker Eva Justine.

This day our Romani leadership recognise as European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. We remember and not forget one and half million lost lives of our people.