For centuries, Roma people in Europe faced exclusion, discrimination and racism. They were among the groups singled out for persecution and murder by the Nazi regime, its allies, and collaborators before and during World War II. During the Nazi era, German authorities and their supporters throughout Europe subjected Roma to systematic racial persecution and decimated communities across the continent.

The road to gaining recognition for the Roma victims has been long and hard. For decades following World War II, the Roma were not recognized as victims of Nazi persecution and the crimes committed against them remained unacknowledged. Many elements of this atrocity are still under-researched and widely unknown by the general public, often leading to denial and distortion of facts about this dark chapter of history.

Today, the Roma are Europe’s largest minority. They are continuously facing human rights violations: one in four reports discrimination based on their Roma identity. To address this, learning about the Roma persecution and extermination perpetrated by the Nazi regime, its allies, and collaborators, and remembering the Roma victims remains a collective duty.

In 2015,the European Parliament declared 2 August as an annual remembrance day to commemorate the liquidation of the so-called “Gypsy Camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau, in 1944. Multiple governments and various international organizations have adopted this day to pay respect to the hundreds of thousands of Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Honor the victims and survivors by standing for remembrance of these crimes and countering ongoing anti-Roma discrimination today.

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Image thanks to IHRA