During his presentation, Paul Verschure, founder of the Future Memory Foundation, introduced his idea of using virtual and augmented reality technology to reconstruct sites of Nazi crimes and their interrelated structure. The panel, moderated by Sławomir Kapralski of the Pedagogical University in Krakow, also included engaging speeches by Andrzej Kacorzyk, director of the Education Department at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Paul Shapiro, Director of International Affairs, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Irina Spataru, Junior Expert OSCE-ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues.
After the break, the participants were invited to listen to the keynote speech of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., the eminent US American civil rights activist. In front of a large audience, including many young Roma, he called for action in an emotional and inspiring speech.
The following panel “Romani Civil Rights Struggle for recognition and against antigypsyism”, moderated by Dr. Iulius Rostas, scholar and ERIAC Board member, invited Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. as well as another guest of honour, Holocaust survivor, Raymond Gurême, in conversation with Soraya Post, former Member of the European Parliament; Ismael Cortés Gómez, Member of the Spanish Parliament; and Zola Kondurr, Ukrainian Roma activist and vice-president of Chirikli Roma Foundation. This panel aimed at creating a space to negotiate current strategies and future perspectives of the Romani struggle, both to strengthen Romani mobilization, as well as to advance processes of uncovering the truth about deeply structural racism and advancing recognition and remedy for antigypsyism in mainstream institutions.
In order to connect to the youth event Dikh he na bister (“Look and don’t forget” in Romanes), the concluding panel invited young Roma activists to engage in conversation with policy-makers and representatives of institutions which shape the field. Vivian Isberg, Roma youth activist from Finland moderated the discussion with Szabolcs Schmidt, Head of the Roma Unit at the DG Justice, European Commission; Thorsten Afflerbach, Head of Roma and Travellers Team at the Council of Europe; Isabela Mihalache, advocacy officer at ENAR/ Alliance against Antigypsyism; and Moritz Kilger, CEO of the EVZ Foundation.
The conference represents a milestone in the ongoing discussion about the importance of the Sinti and Roma Holocaust and its impact 75 years later. At the intersection of arts, scholarship, activism and commemoration practices, the conference provided a unique space of reflection and strategic cooperation among diverse stakeholders from across the world. Most importantly, however, the debate initiated by Roma organizations brought the Roma’s own perspective to the forefront. Intergenerational, inter-ethnic and interdisciplinary, the event became a safe space for cooperation and exchange. At the crossroad of the 75th anniversary of Roma Holocaust, a powerful message was passed on from Holocaust survivors to the upcoming generation of Roma youth activists: that the unity of the youth and resistance for freedom shall (and will) be key for equal representation of Roma in the context of Holocaust history and that it shall continue to be a corner stone for contemporary identity. The event, equally a space for reflection and a call to action, reinforced ties between different actors who feel that more has to be done together in order to safeguard the well-being of Roma in Europe, and that if we don’t look back at the dynamics which led to the Holocaust, we may find that indeed “Auschwitz is only sleeping”…