every holocaust memorial day, i always ask people to keep romani people in their thoughts, but this year i’d like to clear up some misconceptions that i see every year w/ a psa
romani people are not white. we’re south asian (from northern india), and each subgroup has a unique racial makeup of asian/white/etc, in different amounts. this is also why we vary wildly in physical appearance/skintone
we still face oppression. what we face, especially in europe, can still be constituted as attempted genocide, as we’re forced to live in hazardous conditions or to give away our children, be sterilized, etc just for the crime of being roma
the ‘g slur’ isn’t just an american issue. the reason some european roma prefer the slur is because, in many countries, there is no term for roma that isn’t a slur, and it’s either the g slur or the literal translation of the n word. i’m romanian, and if you used the slur in my hometown, you’d get slapped, since we just use ‘roma’.
we live in every continent across the world. some of the largest romani populations exist in south america, predominantly in brazil. they are no more and no less roma than their european counterparts, and they, like romani in asia, africa, etc all face unique challenges and oppression.
we’re the largest ethnic minority in europe, and yet have almost no political power, no land ownership power (in some places, we’re forbidden from owning land entirely), etc. with very few reputable charities- a lot of us reject charity by principle, as well as there being a general lack of education about us- the best thing you can do to help romani people is to just spread information, and help individuals when you can.
Today, August 2, 2020, is Rroma Holocaust Memorial Day. On this day in 1944, 2,897 Rromani people were killed in the Z*geunerfamilienlager, or G*psy family camp, in the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. We remember them.
I mean this in the nicest possible way but
It’s not just them. It is them, but it’s not just them. Gorja want every excuse to forget us and our pain. Please show them the numbers, because we can’t show them their names. Remember them, the 2,897, but don’t ever let the 200,000-500,000 estimated people who were also murdered be forgotten.
Today, 2nd August 2023, is Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. Please remember them all.
Here’s the screenshot excerpts, from a Centre for Holocaust Education article entitled “The Porajmos: The Nazi Genocide Forgotten by the world”:
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the liquidation of the Zigeunerlager (Gypsy Camp) at Auschwitz. A day when 2,897 Roma and Sinti men, women and children were murdered in the gas chambers of the Auschwitz extermination camp.
It is also a day when we remember the hundreds of thousands of Roma who were murdered or died of starvation or disease in other concentration camps across Europe. Many more were imprisoned, used as forced labour or subject to forced sterilisation and medical experimentation.
…
The murder of the Roma is often described as Nazi Germany’s “forgotten” genocide, that is why it is important that we acknowledge that as many as half the Roma population of Europe was erased from existence.
(Bolded emphasis mine)
Article link
The reason August 2nd is used is because it marks the “liquidation” of the camp. They murdered everyone who was left. A lot had been sent to other camps on death marches, but this was specifically a day for “let’s kill as many human beings as fast as possible.”
Yes, 2,897 isn’t a lot compared to the millions who died, but it’s the ruthlessness with which they were murdered that makes it notable.
