02/08/2024 President
After recalling the extermination on 2 August 1944 of some 4,300 Roma and Sinti in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, as well as the horrific experiments carried out on humans (in particular Roma children), PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos underlined the importance of memory as “the mother of humanity”, “the fundamental cement of our collective European consciousness”, and “the foundation of our will to live together”.
“Without memory there is no past, many believe. I will tell you that without memory, there is no future,” President Rousopoulos said. “We must pass it on if we want to give the next generations to come hope and meaning in their lives, and avoid making the same mistakes”, he concluded, recalling the duty and obligation to stand up against hatred.
PACE President led a delegation of eleven parliamentarians who took part in an event organised on 2 August in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to mark the 80th anniversary of the European Roma and Sinti Holocaust Memorial Day.
At least 19,000 of the 23,000 Roma sent to Auschwitz perished in the camp.
