Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the PABIH, Marinko Čavara, participated in the commemoration „European Holocaust Memorial Day for Roma and Sinti“

"Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH), Marinko Čavara, participated in the commemorative events on the occasion of the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Roma and Sinti, which took place in Krakow and Auschwitz. These events marked the 80th anniversary of the murder of 4,300 Roma and Sinti in the German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The commemorative gatherings in Krakow and Auschwitz were attended not only by Roma and Sinti who survived the Holocaust and the families of the victims but also by high officials from around the world, including high representatives from national parliaments, governments, international organizations, and civil society. In 2015, the European Parliament designated 2^nd  August as the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Roma and Sinti, in memory of the 500,000 Roma and Sinti killed in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Participants in the commemoration, organized by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma in Poland in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, attended an international conference in Krakow on recognition, remembrance, and education about the Holocaust of Roma and Sinti, as well as an exhibition and concert held in memory of the Roma and Sinti murdered 80 years ago.

At the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, where a memorial service for all Holocaust victims was also held, participants visited the notorious Block 13 of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, as well as the camp section B II e in Birkenau.

The key message from high officials and guests during the commemorative events was that now, 80 years after the end of the war, as we remember Nazi crimes and the Holocaust, we must work on nurturing a culture of remembrance, establishing the rule of law and strengthening democracy. The participants condemned the rising racism, anti-Roma sentiment, and anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world, and called on all countries to honor the memory of the Holocaust and take decisive steps to ensure such evil never happens again anywhere." (Press release from the Office of Deputy Speaker Marinko Čavara)