The atrocities experienced by Roma women who were deported and exterminated in concentration camps on the territory between the Nistru and the Bug are presented in an exhibition of documents mounted at the National Museum of History of Moldova. A moment of silence was observed at the inauguration of the exhibition in memory of half a million Romanies who were killed during World War II. Activist Elena Sîrbu, who heads the Platform of Roma Women “Romniˮ of Moldova, said the exhibition renders homage to the Roma women and reminds of the dangers of war and of the necessity of combating all forms of discrimination, ethnic and racial hatred against refugees and the inhabitants of Moldova, IPN reports.
Elena Sîrbu noted that in 1942-1944, thousands of children, women and men were deported, starved and killed because they were Romanies. On August 2, it is celebrated the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, which is also called the forgotten Holocaust. Staging the exhibit was a difficult task as the Roma Holocaust is apparently a known historical fact, but a lot of things remained unknown to the public and there are many things that are too painful for being displayed.
Ana Varzari, secretary of state of the Ministry of Culture, said that today’s event is a tragic one. On the night of August 2, 1944, the 2,897 Romanies held at the Auschwitz concentration camp were exterminated in gas chambers. There were no survivors. The commemorated event reminds of the sufferings of those people, the devastating effect of racial hatred and the danger of extremist thinking. It is everyone’s duty to make sure such atrocities never repeat again and the people live in peace and harmony between ethnic groups.
According to the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau Laura Hruby, the Roma communities deserve all respect for their identity, heritage, history and language. They deserve the genocide committed by the Nazis against them to be recognized.
Dominika Stojanoska UN Women Representative to Moldova, said the Roma women and girls continue being a vulnerable group. It happens not only in the Republic of Moldova. But there are also wonderful examples of Roma women who managed to achieve great results in different areas, proved that changes can be made.
The exhibition’s coordinator Ion Duminică noted that the atrocities experienced by the women, including the Roma ones, had been hidden from students for many years. At school, they used to speak about acts of heroism of soldiers and about victories scored by the Soviet army. For a long period of time, the collateral effects of this invisible tragedy hadn’t been discussed.
The exhibition titled “Invisible Tragedy. Holocaust of Roma Women 1942-1944: deportation, humiliation, starvation, contamination, extermination” consists of pictures, memories and archive documents referring to the period of deportations and inhuman treatment of Roma women in 1941-1944, obtained from private collections and public libraries. It can be visited until August 23.
