Association of Roma Novi Becej condemns the crimes committed against the Roma during the Second World War and points out the constant need to preserve the memory of the Roma who died in concentration camps throughout Europe. Today, on August 2nd, we celebrate the European Day of Remembrance of the Roma Victims of the Second World War and pay tribute to thousands of victims. On this day in 1944, 3,000 Roma - mostly women and children - were brutally murdered in the dark of night in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Remembrance remains essential to honoring the victims and ensuring that such crimes do not happen again.

Since 2017, the Association of Roma Novi Becej has been actively working with Roma men and women who survived the Holocaust and who today live in isolation, poverty, neglected and forgotten. The Decade of Roma did not pay attention to this group of Roma men and women who have specific and very complex needs. Today, they form an invisible and shrinking group. In the light of this date, we want to point out the need to respect, value and remember the crimes committed against the Roma in the Second World War, but also to point out the constant discrimination and racism that the Roma still face.

On today's European Day of Remembrance of Roma Victims in the Second World War, we want to remind the public that such crimes should never be allowed to happen again, and we honor the victims with the promise that we will pass on the memory to future generations.

Danica Jovanović, President
Association of Roma Novi Becej