A commemoration of injustices perpetrated against Roma during WWII was held on the premises of a company called ZVS in Dubnica nad Váhom on Monday, a site where 26 ill Roma were brutally murdered in the final stages of the war.
An internment camp in Dubnica nad Váhom was founded in November 1944 and held prisoners marked for deportation to concentration camps outside of Slovakia. "Around 700 persons were interned in the camp, which manifold exceeded its capacity. Entire Roma families were brought to the site, with a typhus epidemic breaking out in the camp in late 1944 and early 1945. The ill were tricked with promises that they were being transported to a hospital in Trenčín. Instead, they were transported to a valley close to Dubnica, made to dig a pit and then they were shot dead," added Kumanová. Exhumations conducted after the war discovered that some victims weren't killed by bullets, but were buried alive.
The commemorative event was organised by the civic association In Minorita, being part of the Ma Bisteren! project which is linked to the Roma Holocaust Commemoration Day, held on Tuesday. Opened with the Roma anthem Gelem Gelem performed by violinist Barbora Botošová, the ceremony was attended by representatives of the state administration, municipalities, the Slovak Association of Anti-Fascist Fighters, Roma women with children and also an official from the US Embassy to Slovakia.
According to In Minorita project manager Zuzana Kumanová, it is necessary to commemorate the places where the persecution of Roma occurred. "It's important to commemorate specific people who were murdered and who were suffering. It's necessary to speak about the major persecutions that occurred during WW2 and which were based only on ethnicity; whether targeting Jews, Roma or other groups," said Kumanová, adding that Europe is still confronted with racist and neo-Nazi views.
Richard Fitzmaurice of the US Embassy to Slovakia is convinced that it's important to hold commemorations at places, where people departed from the world in such inhumane conditions. Fitzmaurice believes that public participation in such events is necessary in order to commemorate the Roma Holocaust, the knowledge of which is not so common among people. "For us, it's a commitment to fight for the rights and equal treatment of all people, regardless of nationality or ethnicity," he said.
