2 August / Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative

 

2 August 2014 marks the 70th anniversary of the remembrance day of the Roma Genocide. 

On this day, the No Hate Speech Movement campaign aims to raise awareness about the Roma Genocide, as well as about antigypsyism, hate speech and hate crimes against Roma in the past and present. 

The initiative aims to advocate for a wider official recognition of the Roma Genocide in Europe and for the formal establishment of August 2nd as the memorial day of the Roma Genocide. 

This European Action Day is organised in cooperation with ternype and Roma React in the framework of the Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative.

In this email you will find information about how you can join in actions in Krakow and Auschwitz and online actions.

Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative 

(Krakow and Auschwitz, 30 July – 4 August 2014)

Marking the 70th anniversary of the remembrance day of the Roma Genocide on August 2, the event will 1.000 young Roma and non-Roma from all over the world. 

This is a unique event young people and youth organizations the opportunity to come together in a social forum, to exchange experiences and to debate about the past, present and future! 

We remember the Roma Genocide, we learn about the past and present in workshops, and we present our initiatives and organizations. 

The initiative is organized by ternYpe International Roma Youth Network and a large number of member and partner organizations. 

This event is also supported by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in the framework of the [enter.coe.int/roma]

Roma Youth Action Plan.

Why 2 August? 

In May 1944, the Nazis started to plan the “Final Solution” for the “Gypsy Family Camp” in Auschwitz. 

The initial date for the liquidation of the “Gypsy camp” was planned for the 16^th of May. 

The prisoners of the camp were ordered to stay in the barracks and surrounded by 60 SS men. 

When the SS men tried to force the prisoners out of the barracks they faced a rebellion of Roma men, women and children, armed with nothing more but sticks, tools and stones, and eventually the SS had to withdraw. 

The resistance of Roma prisoners gave them only a few additional months of life. 

 The Nazi also feared that an insurrection could spread to other parts of the camp and they planned the “Final Solution” on August 2nd. 

On orders from SS leader Heinrich Himmler, a ban on leaving the barracks was imposed on the evening of August 2 in the “Gypsy Camp”. 

Despite resistance by the Roma, 2,897 men, women, and children were loaded on trucks, taken to gas chamber V, and exterminated. 

Their bodies were burned in pits next to the crematorium. 

After the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945 only 4 Roma remained alive.

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Join our actions to remember the Roma Genocide and to end Roma Discrimination today: 

Learn  

about the Roma Genocide by reading  
the blog, 
the factsheet 
and our handbook Right to Remember. 

A Handbook for Education with Young People on the Roma Genocide

Join the online commemoration:

· change your Facebook cover picture to this action day photo on 2 August. Or you can also add this Pickabadge to your profile photo.

· Tweet for a better world! Join the Thunderclap here and use some of these pre-made tweets to send a message to the world. You can also tweet in these hashtags: #RomaGenocide #2August #NoHateSpeech

·  Upload a statement for the recognition of Roma Genocide, to end Roma Discrimination, to challenge hate speech and hate crime here. Challenge #Romadiscrimination #hate crime

· Report online hate content against Roma people or about the denial of the Roma Genocide to the Hate Speech Watch.

You can also watch live the Youth event and commemoration in Krakow and Auschwitz here, the programme is available here.

Live Twitter coverage is ensured here. 

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Join commemorations in your community. 
Here you have more information

Find more information on:

www.nohatespeechmovement.org and 
www.2august.eu

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Right to Remember is a self-contained educational resource for all those wishing to promote a deeper awareness of the Roma Genocide and combat discrimination. 

The handbook is based on the principles of human rights education, and places remembrance as an aspect of learning about, through and for human rights. 

Involving young people, including Roma youth, in researching, discussing and discovering the meanings of the Roma Genocide is a way to involve them as agents and actors in their own understanding of human rights and of history. 

The handbook was developed by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in the framework of the Roma Youth Action Plan.

The handbook was developed during 2013-2014 and will be publicly launched during the international expert conference “Education for Remembrance” during 31 July – 01 August 2014 in Krakow, Poland. 

The launch will be livestreamed here

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Join the No Hate Speech Movement. 

A campaign for Human Rights Online!