In 1937 Janusz was elected king of the Roma in Poland and in a stadium filled with people he declared: 'I will send a delegate to Mussolini to ask him to give us a piece of land in Abyssinia for the settlement of the Roma people. Our people have had enough of wandering through the centuries and it is time for our nomadic life to end. Soon our representative will be in the League of Nations"

This was part of the effort to create a homeland for the Roma people in the early 20th century, similar to (S)Zionism. Both groups were persecuted in their homeland, organized international conferences to unite their people and sought foreign support. Also, in the early 20th century there was a debate about where the homeland should be. In the case of (S)Zionism, some Christian leaders wanted to create a Jewish state in Madagascar, British Guiana or even Uganda. The same was the case with the Roma who hoped to have a homeland, but where that homeland would be was open to debate. It could have been Abyssinia, and some believed they were originally from India, so somewhere on the Ganges would be best. Then, South Africa and even Egypt became popular choices. In Abyssinia, Mussolini also thought about creating a Jewish state, so these two groups often intertwined.

However, in the 20th century, the First World War caused major changes in Roma politics. Newly formed or rebuilt nations, such as Poland and Romania, annexed territories and took control of the Roma. When Romania annexed Transylvania, tens of thousands of Roma from Austro-Hungarian control crossed over to the Romanian state and almost immediately organized large Roma rallies. That was the time when George Lazurica appeared, who became the leader of Roma politics through the General Union of Romanian Roma. Through his writing and a bit of political sabotage, he became a leader in uniting the Roma population into a stable community. With his efforts, the International Congress for all Roma was held, the goal of which was to organize a united and stable Roma people.

Link: https://romskikutak.info/index.php/2023/05/02/planovi-za-stvaranje-drzave-za-rome-kraljevi-roma/?fbclid=IwAR0EqCtw10b_Gi0R3SQqVwksLFBz8ppqtfIxSEBbTO0pjfHob6B6OUMNpYY

More than 17 years ago on November 1, 2005, the UN General Assembly, with resolution 60/7, declared January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

On this day, we remember about 6 million murdered Jews, over half a million and more murdered Roma, and another 11 million other people who were victims of the Nazis and their collaborators. We also remember our responsibility as people and society, the horrors of that period should not be forgotten!

The most commonly used term "Holocaust" is a word that comes from the ancient Greek word "olokauston" meaning "completely burned".

Trying to put into words the civilizational collapse wrought by the political turmoil and appetites of the time will forever remain a challenge.

This is also reflected in the official name "Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism", introduced in 1996 by then German President Roman Herzog and then by the UN in 2005.

When it comes to the HOLOCAUST, we always think of a certain gruesome and dark period of the Second World War, we think of the Nazis, we think of Hitler's orders, the mass extermination of the Roma, the Jews, the extermination of LGBT people, the disabled and political dissidents. But it is very important not to forget the same and to create awareness and knowledge among our peers about the same.

We must remember the bad things, the senseless, ugly and dark things of the past, because if we do not recognize them in our societies, they can happen again, now and in the future. We must act in the present, learning from the past, to ensure a secure future for all of us as humanity!

In our opinion, as the International Roma Union - IRU, raising awareness among all of us requires active involvement in the fight against anti-Semitism, discrimination, intolerance and anti-Roma sentiment.

That struggle implies preparations and organization of various events, conferences, dialogues, etc. prepared in joint coordination and cooperation through European institutions, IRU, NGO sector, political subjects and other organizations.

In this way, we believe that we will preserve in memory the meaning of remembering the victims of the Holocaust, the history and culture of the Roma community in one of the darkest periods in the history of the Roma.

Finally, on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the IRU points out that at a time when the world is facing the war in Ukraine, we are reminded of another "war", caused by a different form, and that is anti-Semitism.

"Anti-Semitism denies the truth that we are all human beings with equal, inalienable and innate human dignity, that human life is priceless because it is unique and unrepeatable. Instead, anti-Semitism, racism, and Nazism divided people and nations into more and less valuable, thereby paving the way for their dehumanization and destruction. This "war" that caused persecutions and pogroms against Roma, Jews and other peoples over the centuries eventually culminated in the Holocaust.

Anti-Semitism continued to mutate as the negation of the Holocaust, and that it is the moral obligation of our generation to respect the dignity of every human being, to stand in solidarity with the vulnerable and disenfranchised, and to remember the Holocaust, so that it never happens again.

Let us not forget

Ma te bistra

With respect

Zoran Dimov

President of the IRU