A HOUSE TO LIVE
A PLACE TO LEARN

We are in the town of Oświęcim to remind about Auschwitz. To convince, that we must learn from the past. We show that Oświęcim can be a place of meetings, reconciliation, and understanding. We are in the town of Oświęcim so that Auschwitz will not be repeated.

European Day of Remembrance for the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

Today, 2 August, is the European Day of Remembrance for the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma. A delegation from the IYMC took part in ceremonies commemorating the 78th anniversary of the liquidation of the Roma camp in Auschwitz, held at the site of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Speakers at the ceremony included Roman Kwiatkowski, President of the Roma Association in Poland, Romani Rose, President of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Christian Pfeil, Holocaust survivor, Bodo Ramelow, President of the Bundesrat and Prime Minister of Thuringia, Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality, Mateusz Morwiecki, Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (letter read by Leszek Kmita, Governor of Małopolska), Piotr Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and Nataliia Tomenko on behalf of Dikh He Na Bister - Roma Genocide Remembrance and Remembrance Initiative.

"When I came to Auschwitz-Birkenau for the first time, I gained important knowledge about historical facts and listened to personal family stories of Roma and Sinti from all over Europe. I tried to distance myself and see it as a past that will never be repeated. I never expected that I would be standing in this place, participating in these ceremonies and speaking as a survivor of the still ongoing war and genocide in Europe today," - Nataliia Tomenko said.

In addition to words commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, threads drawing attention to the manifestations of inequality and racism in today's world, the issue of war in Ukraine was very often addressed in this year's speeches.

Young people associated with the organisation Dikh He Na Bister are being hosted today at the International Youth Meeting Centre. The programme for the meeting includes dialogue and meetings with Holocaust survivors.

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