Every year on 2 August, the victims of the Nazi genocide of the Roma are commemorated internationally. It was on the night of 2 to 3 August 1944 that the Nazis killed more than 4,000 Roma prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Their only "fault" was that they were Roma.
The Nazi ideology of racial hatred led to mass murder and persecution of the Roma people. During the Second World War, thousands of Roma were deported to concentration camps, where they suffered inhumane living conditions, starvation, disease and systematic killings. According to various estimates, between 220,000 and 500,000 Roma became victims of the genocide.
Taking into account the large scale and irreparable social consequences of the Roma Holocaust, their socially vulnerable current situation in places of compact residence, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, by adopting on 8 October 2004 the Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine No. 2085-IV "On the commemoration of the International Day of the Roma Genocide", decided to mark the International Day of the Roma Holocaust at the state level.
This decision was made to preserve the historical memory of the innocent victims of the Roma massacres so that future generations will not repeat the terrible tragedy in the future.
"This day is yet another reminder of the importance of preserving historical memory, of our shared responsibility for peace, of the need to oppose any form of discrimination and intolerance, ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all people, regardless of their ethnicity," said Nelli Yakovleva.