Media Contact: Ben Anderson (Washington) - United States
Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ)
observed the annual remembrance of the Porrajmos ("the
Devouring" in Romani) and called on governments to ensure that
the fundamental rights of Roma are respected. During the night
of August 2-3, 1944, the Romani camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was
liquidated. Nearly three thousand Romani men, women and children
were killed in the gas chambers in a single night. Roma have
come to remember their Holocaust experiences on these days.
"Each year, Roma from around the globe--from Lety, Sibiu and
Nagykanisza, to New York, London and Berlin--remember their
experiences during the Holocaust," said Smith. "I join them as
they mourn their dead and seek to protect the living." "I
welcome the progress that has been made in recent years in
improving respect for the basic human rights of Roma," continued
Smith. "But the fact is, throughout the OSCE region, Roma face
bigotry and discrimination of pandemic proport