Our work — 01
Commemoration
A place to stand, four dates in the year, and the small acts that keep a monument from becoming street furniture.
Principal commemoration
2 August
Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. At the monument, 18:00. Free, no booking, everyone welcome.
This year’s date
The monument
The first of its kind in Britain
Raised with ROMA ACCESS — Newcastle Association, the monument stands in Newcastle city centre near the Civic Centre. It is the first in the United Kingdom dedicated to the memory of the Roma and Sinti victims of the Holocaust.
It is in the open air, unfenced and unstaffed, and it can be visited at any hour without charge. Flowers and candles may be left at the base. A volunteer checks it monthly and clears tributes that have perished.
The year
Four dates we mark
Two are national, two belong to Roma and Sinti history specifically. All four are public.
2
August
Roma Holocaust Memorial Day
Marking the liquidation of the family camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 2 August 1944. Recognised by the European Parliament in 2015.
27
January
Holocaust Memorial Day
The United Kingdom's national commemoration, marking the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27 January 1945.
8
April
International Roma Day
Marking the first World Romani Congress, held in London in 1971.
16
May
Romani Resistance Day
Marking 16 May 1944, when Roma and Sinti prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau resisted an SS attempt to liquidate the family camp.
What happens
The order of the evening
Printed here so that anyone deciding whether to come knows exactly what they would be walking into.
18:00
Gathering
People arrive at the monument. Candles are handed out. There is no seating and no formal start.
18:10
Why 2 August
A short account of the liquidation of the family camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, read by a member of the community.
18:20
The reading of names
Names from the Wall of Remembrance are read aloud. Anyone who has brought a name may read it. This is the part that takes the longest, and it should.
18:35
Silence
One minute.
18:40
Flowers and candles
Tributes are laid at the base. People stay as long as they want to. Nobody is asked to leave.
Bringing a name
The reading is the point of the evening
A commemoration that consists only of speeches is a lecture. The reading of names is the part that makes it a commemoration, and it works best when the names come from the people standing there rather than from a list we prepared.
If you have a relative who was deported, registered, sterilised, imprisoned or murdered, bring their name. You do not need to speak; someone will read it for you if you would rather.
Questions