Berlin — Germany remembered the Holocaust’s forgotten victims on
Wednesday by opening a memorial in the heart of Berlin to the
half a million ethnic Sinti and Roma murdered by the Nazis. As
the mournful strains of a solo violin sounded through the trees,
political leaders and frail survivors approached a dark pool
close to the German parliament building. Its still water is
intended to evoke tears for the dead but also, in reflecting the
beholder, inspire new generations to protect minorities from
hate. “This memorial commemorates a group of victims who, for
far too long, received far too little public recognition - the
many hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma who were persecuted
by the Nazis as so-called gypsies,” said German Chancellor
Angela Merkel. “The destiny of every single person murdered in
this genocide is one of unspeakable suffering. Every single
destiny, fills us, fills me, with sadness and shame.”
Discrimination against Sinti and Roma increased at alarming
levels once Adolf Hitler took power