August 2, 2023
Good morning. It is an honor to be here with you at this solemn observation of the Roma Murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau. We are grateful to UN Women for hosting this event and are glad to be partners with you.
Roma communities deserve respect for their identity, heritage, history, and language. They also deserve recognition of the genocide the Nazis perpetrated against them. This exhibition sheds light on the scope of depravity driven by hatred, and the terrible cost exacted against lives of the victims as well as the survivors from their communities.
Widespread ignorance of the genocide of the Roma population of Europe emphasizes the need for Holocaust education to specifically mention the Roma genocide. We should all work to counter distortion and denial of the Nazi genocide against the Roma by addressing misrepresentation, efforts at justification, or purposeful erasure of the genocide.
As we commemorate the Romani lives taken by the Nazis, we reaffirm the dignity and human rights of all and renew our commitment to condemning and countering the racism and discrimination that Roma and Sinti face today. This includes Roma refugees fleeing Russia’s brutal war of choice in Ukraine.
Thank you.
