Roma Holocaust commemorated with references to present day

Remembering the Roma Holocaust as a historical event is even more important nowadays, partly due to the recent racist assault against Roma boys in the city of Žilina, said Slovak Ombudswoman Mária Patakyová on the occasion of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, which is commemorated world-wide on August 2 to mark the day when in 1944, almost 3,000 Roma were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. "We know from history that a hostile atmosphere and racist demonstrations were the first steps towards even more repressive practices and the direct suppression of fundamental human rights," she said. The Government Proxy for Roma Communities Ábel Ravasz added that "we live in times in which a number of groups, including some elected lawmakers in Slovakia, are attempting to engage in the baseless glorification of the 1939-1945 Slovak state, which deported its own citizens to extermination camps." The Government Proxy's Office has prepared a symbolic candle, which can be lit using a social network account to commemorate the victims of the Roma Holocaust.