Here you can hear the story of Romina who decided to learn more about Romani resistance and found out that her grandparents survived the Holocaust. For her Romani Resistance Day represents the power of Roma communities:
“Hi! My name is Romina! I am from Mizil and I am part of the group Roma with Initiative. May 16 is the day we celebrate the heroism of Roma during 1944. They rebelled against the S.S agents and assumed a huge risk and yet they won with improvised weapons. On the occasion of this event I chose to learn more and I found out that my great grandparents lived through this moment, they escaped and worked making food for boyars. For me Romani Resistance Day represents the power we have even if the past is tragic and painful. And the Roma who managed to escape from the camps and who believed in their power, including my grandfather on my father’s side, I call them the heroes of the hard times. Thank you!”
Special thanks to E-Romnja! The ‘Voices of Resistance’ online campaign invites every young Roma to testify their own resistance stories! Through this online campaign we want to empower young Roma people to share their good examples of staying active in such difficult times of crisis as well.
The Voices of Resistance campaign is part of the Roma Youth Voices Project, coordinated by Phiren Amenca and funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the DG Justice, European Commission.