Conference
Anti-Gypsyism and the Holocaust: Remembering the past and shaping the future
MemoROM project closing event
30 January 2015, Brussels
As the coordinating partner of the MemoROM project which aims to raise awareness about the Roma and Sinti Holocaust, the European Roma Information Office (ERIO) organised a conference “Anti-Gypsyism and the Holocaust: Remembering the past and shaping the future” which took place on 30 January 2015 at the European Economic Social Committee in Brussels.
Roma and Sinti have a history of persecution. They have been oppressed and discriminated against for centuries and their persecution reached a climax throughout the Nazi regime during which they were subjected to genocide and deprived of their civil rights. The suffering of Roma and Sinti communities during WWII is mirrored today by persistent practices of discrimination and acts of violence against these populations across Europe. While they constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe, they alarmingly remain the most hated and discriminated against on a daily basis. Anti-Gypsyism is a reality in today’s Europe and xenophobic sentiments are exacerbated by racist and extremist discourses and by the socio-economic difficulties that Europe has to go through.
Against this backdrop it is urgent to mobilise all efforts to raise awareness about the Roma and Sinti Holocaust in order to fight discrimination, prejudices and stereotypes about these communities and avoid the repetition of Europe’s darkest period. By rediscovering the relatively unknown history of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust, the MemoROM project which is implemented in Belgium, France, Spain, Bulgaria and Germany from December 2013 until March 2015 aims to promote tolerance, mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue between Roma and non-Roma.
Agenda
Report
Presentations from the conference:
Roma and Sinti have a history of persecution. They have been oppressed and discriminated against for centuries and their persecution reached a climax throughout the Nazi regime during which they were subjected to genocide and deprived of their civil rights. The suffering of Roma and Sinti communities during WWII is mirrored today by persistent practices of discrimination and acts of violence against these populations across Europe. While they constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe, they alarmingly remain the most hated and discriminated against on a daily basis. Anti-Gypsyism is a reality in today’s Europe and xenophobic sentiments are exacerbated by racist and extremist discourses and by the socio-economic difficulties that Europe has to go through.
Against this backdrop it is urgent to mobilise all efforts to raise awareness about the Roma and Sinti Holocaust in order to fight discrimination, prejudices and stereotypes about these communities and avoid the repetition of Europe’s darkest period. By rediscovering the relatively unknown history of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust, the MemoROM project which is implemented in Belgium, France, Spain, Bulgaria and Germany from December 2013 until March 2015 aims to promote tolerance, mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue between Roma and non-Roma.
Agenda
Report
Presentations from the conference:
- Salla Saastamoinen
- Rita Prigmore
- Lydia Chagoll (English translation)
- Gabriella Nagy
- Rainer Schulze
- Hristo Kyuchukov (powerpoint)
- Hristo Kyuchukov (speech)
- MemoROM project: overall view
- MemoROM activities in Belgium: ERIO
- MemoROM activities in France: Regards de Femmes Tsiganes
- MemoROM activities in Spain: FAGIC
