“DIK I NA BISTAR – Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative 2013”

Phiren Amenca had a workshop during the “DIK I NA BISTAR – Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative 2013” Conference and Commemoration on the 1^st of August, 2013 in Krakow, Poland. In this workshop we discussed with participants how voluntary service can be a tool for combining remembrance of the Roma Holocaust with social activism.

The first step was a talk show with 5 current, future or former Roma and non-Roma volunteers working in a Holocaust memorial site or in other placements and we discussed about their placements and experiences. After the talk show the participants created slogans on “The Roma Genocide Remembrance” and “Volunteering for Change” which can be used to advocate for both topics. The second step involved more creative methods and concentrate on how to bring together the Roma topic with history and Holocaust memory sites and how to use them for making a change in the present.

This Phiren Amenca workshop took place in the framework of the youth event “Dik I na bistar – Look and don`t forget! Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative”, which was organized by ternYpe International Roma Youth Network. The event brought together over 420 young Roma and non-Roma from 20 European countries to remember the Roma Genocide and to discuss about current challenges of antigypsyism, racism and extremism in Europe. On August 2^nd a commemoration ceremony took place in Auschwitz. On the 2nd of August 1944, 2897 elderly people, women and children, the remaining Sinti and Roma of the so-called “gypsy camp” (“Zigeunerlager”) at Auschwitz-Birkenau, were murdered in the gas chambers. Knowledge and official recognition of the extermination of Roma during the Second World War is still very limited – especially among young Europeans including the Roma. The initiative will raise awareness among young Europeans, civil society, political stakeholders and decision-makers on the Roma Genocide, the mechanisms of antigypsyism, and current challenges of racism, hate speech and extremism in Europe. ternYpe aims to empower young Roma to have a voice and to be key actors for change!

more info

www.2august.eu and www.ternype.eu

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