Dear IRU members, delegates, and IRU Friends
I would like to remind you in the name of the IRU and in my name as its president that one of the darkest pasts of the Roma nation is approaching, and that is the 2nd August Holocaust against the Roma and Sinti.
By marking this day, we should remember one of the greatest defeats of humanity in history, and therefore the holocaust on Romit and Sinti must not remain forgotten as they call it - "the forgotten Holocaust".
"With this event, we commemorate one of the most tragic events and processes in the history of mankind - the Holocaust that was perpetrated against the Roma and Sinti during the Second World War, as part of the darkest idea for the so-called "final solution" of the Nazi and fascist threat to the free world during that period. This is the day we remember that between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis and their collaborators killed hundreds of thousands of Roma and Sinti – men, women and children – in the parts of Europe that were under fascist occupation."
Therefore, on this day, we appeal to all our members and delegates, and at the same time to all institutions of a local, regional, national and international character, to mark this day and thus to pay respect to all those who suffered during that Holocaust. and a message to never repeat it again.
We remind you that on April 8, 2015, the European Parliament adopted a resolution declaring August 2 as the European Day of Remembrance for the Roma Holocaust, in order to honor the victims of the Roma genocide of the Second World War.
Adequate recognition of the treatment of Roma in the past is essential not only to ensure justice and dignity for those who have suffered, but also to confront anti-Roma speech and behaviour, and permanently eliminate it.
With respect
Zoran Dimov
President of the IRU
