02/08/2026
Phiren Amenca Commemorates the Victims of the Roma Holocaust, Calling for Vigilance Against Antigypsyism and Hate
Budapest, Hungary – August 2, 2026 – A solemn ceremony honoring the victims of the Roma Holocaust was held on Sunday in Budapest's 3rd District (Óbuda) at the recently inaugurated Roma Holocaust Memorial. Organized jointly by the Remember and Remind Foundation (EMEMA), the Phiren Amenca International Network, and RomNet, the event brought together public officials, religious leaders, historians, civil society representatives, and Roma community leaders to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of Roma who were persecuted and murdered by the N**i regime because of their ethnic origin.
Held on August 2, the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, the ceremony took place at the memorial in Csíkszereda Park, which has become an important site of remembrance in the Hungarian capital. Participants laid wreaths, lit candles, attended cultural performances, and reflected on the historical significance of the Roma Holocaust and its continuing relevance in confronting racism and discrimination today.
The event was hosted by Barbara Balázs Kiss, curator of EMEMA. The program also featured performances by Romano Glaszo, as well as speeches by Chief Rabbi Zoltán Radnóti, Marietta Herfort, former director of Phiren Amenca, and Zsolt Iván Szabó, President of the Roma Minority Self-Government of Budapest's 3rd District.
Although writer József "Tayson" Váradi was unable to attend due to illness, participants listened to a recording of a poem he had written for the occasion, performed by the late Hungarian actor Lajos Balázsovits.
Remembering the Past to Protect the Future
The central message of this year's commemoration was that the Roma Holocaust must not be regarded solely as a historical tragedy but as an enduring warning for contemporary society.
According to the organizers, genocide does not begin with violence. It begins with stigmatization, exclusion, discrimination, and the gradual erosion of fundamental rights. August 2, they emphasized, is therefore not only a day of remembrance but also a reminder of society's collective responsibility to confront hatred wherever it appears.
In her keynote address, Marietta Herfort warned that eighty-two years after the liquidation of the so-called "Gypsy Family Camp" at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Europe is once again witnessing political rhetoric that targets people on the basis of their ethnicity.
“We have learned much from history, but still not nearly enough," Herfort said. "Today we once again see political narratives emerging across Europe, and in our own region, that stigmatize people because of their ethnic origin.”
Referring to recent political developments in Hungary, she noted that the country's parliamentary far right walked out of the inaugural session of Parliament when Roma children were scheduled to perform, describing the incident as a reminder that discrimination remains a contemporary reality rather than merely a historical memory.
"We continue to witness exclusionary measures, decisions that humiliate Roma communities, and increasingly vocal expressions of racism and antisemitism," she said. "Whenever we encounter racism or antisemitism, we cannot remain silent, because history has taught us that silence always benefits those who seek to exclude others."
Herfort stressed that Phiren Amenca rejects attempts to turn Roma communities into political targets or to exploit fear and hatred for political gain.
“The memory of the Roma Holocaust cannot be confined to a single day each year," she said. "Today, remembrance is not only a historical obligation, it is one of the most important public responsibilities of our time.”
Building a New Generation of Roma Leaders
Reflecting on Phiren Amenca's mission since its founding, Herfort said the organization seeks to transform remembrance into knowledge, knowledge into responsibility, and responsibility into civic engagement.
Over the past fifteen years, thousands of young Roma have participated in the organization's Dikh He Na Bister international commemorations, the So Keres Europa?! initiatives, human rights education programs, and community leadership workshops.
Many former volunteers and activists now lead major Roma civil society organizations across Europe or serve as human rights experts, researchers, educators, elected officials, and policymakers.
“In Hungary as well, more and more people now hold public office who once stood with us in silent remembrance at Birkenau,” Herfort said. “They learned with us that human dignity can never be negotiated, and that the memory of the past only has meaning if it is capable of transforming the present. That, I believe, is the true power of remembrance.”
The Roma Holocaust Still Lacks Recognition
Chief Rabbi Zoltán Radnóti emphasized that, even eighty-two years after the Holocaust, historians still do not know the exact number of Roma victims or many of their names and life stories. He argued that the genocide of Europe's Roma has never received the level of historical recognition and public respect it deserves.
Roma Holocaust Memorial Day commemorates the night of August 2–3, 1944, when N**i authorities liquidated the Roma Family Camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, murdering approximately 3,000 Roma men, women, and children in a single night. Between 500,000 and 1,5 million Roma across Europe were murdered during the Holocaust.
"Never Again" Must Be More Than a Slogan
Participants agreed that remembrance fulfills its purpose only when it inspires action in the present. Preserving the history of the Roma Holocaust is not solely a Roma issue, they said, but a shared responsibility for democratic societies committed to protecting human dignity, equality, and freedom.
For the organizers, the annual commemoration carries the same message every year, a message that remains as urgent today as it was eighty-two years ago:
Never Again!
