The European Parliament marks the “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust” by hosting a commemorative event on its premises. Mairead McGUINNESS (EPP, IE), EP Vice-President, Lívia JÁRÓKA (EPP, HU) and Soraya POST (SE, S&D) open the exhibition on Roma Holocaust.

Brussels

POST, Soraya (S&D, SE)

speech

McGUINNESS, Mairead (EPP, IE)

opening ceremony

exhibition

Holocaust remembrance (T)

JÁRÓKA, Lívia (NI, HU)

Exhibition on Roma Holocaust: inauguration in the presence of Mairead McGUINNESS (EPP, IE), EP Vice-President, Lívia JÁRÓKA (EPP, HU) and Soraya POST (SE, S&D)

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/11178787/I149492Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Mairead MCGUINNESS (EPP, IE), The European Parliament for some years now has marked International Holocaust commemoration day by series of events including conferences exhibitions and solemn ceremonies. These events take place around the 27th of January and this date is designated by the UN as it is the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau Nazi death camp. This year the Parliament's commemoration start with the opening of this exhibition and we continue afterwards with the ceremony in theYehudi Menuhin Hall, just below us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mairead MCGUINNESS (EPP, IE), When Auschwitz was with was liberated by Allied troops in 1945 the full scale of the horror of the Holocaust began to be revealed across the world. About 23,000 Roman men women and children perished in Auschwitz Birkenau almost half 1 million roma were put to death by the Nazi regime and its allies. This exhibition here today sticks to tell part of that tragic story of the people targeted by intolerance and hatred just because of their ethnic background.

SOUNDBITE (English), L&#237;via J&#193;R&#211;KA (EPP, HU), It is an honour for me because as a roma 1st vice president of the EP, I have the privilege to talk about some of the forgotten chapters of our history and the horrors that my people needed the face in the last century. Roma are the sort of forgotten victims of the Holocaust the vast majority of my European fellow still don&rsquo;t even know that during the Second World War members of the roma community among others have been oppressed by racial reasons by the nazi regime and thousands of roma were murdered in the occupied eastern territories and thousands of them were killed in extermination camps.

SOUNDBITE (English), Soraya POST (S&amp;D, SE), The victims of the Holocaust had to face reality of mortality at young age, some of them where to young even to understand death. That let alone come to terms with their mortality. Dead or alive their lives hopes and their future where destroyed by the Nazis and their allies . On the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and today here in the Parliament we remember all those victims and we also acknowledge that life is all too often fragile and unpredictable.

SOUNDBITE (French), DELFELD Jacques, It is a great honour , and an exceptional occasion for us the general Council of Sinti and Roma from Germany , to present here at the EP our exhibition 45 years of work for the fundamental rights of Roma and German Sinti.