News

In many European countries, at least one in two harbors feelings of hatred towards Sinti and Roma (Pew Research Center, 2019).

Antigypsyism is the most widespread form of racism towards these communities and feeds on stereotypes and prejudices built over the centuries and strengthened during Nazism and fascism. Hatred still affects Roma and Sinti who live in the present, although their history has always been deeply connected with the history of Europe. Knowing their history means showing their contribution to the construction of European cultural heritage.

The International Day of Remembrance is coming up soon. Tracer youth groups will be engaged in different cities in telling the history of Roma people and of the Porrajmos using the tools of creativity and art.

Below and attached are the different appointments and meetings:

• January 13 in Modena: unveiling of the "DRUGA STRONA" mural

https://opengroup.eu/news/un-murales-per-raccontare-il-porrajmos/

During these months, the groups of young leaders reflected on how to tell the story of the Roma communities to other young peers, students and teenagers.

In doing so, they used the materials they had previously collected through action-research on Holocaust and the knowledge they acquired during their journey to Poland and the visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

The conference proposes a reflection starting from the experience of young Roma and non-Roma who undertook a journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau and participated to a collective training process promoted by the European project TRACER.

The conference “Roma and Sinti youth encounter the Porrajmos” is in the programme of the International History Festival and will be held at the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of Bologna on 23th October at 3.30 pm.

After the significant experience in Poland (trip, visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, sharing of experiences with other peers), TRACER young leaders continued their action research, producing:

- some written reflections about the journey in Poland and the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau;

- some photos and short videos of travel, journey, visits, workshops, and share moments.

On this date we commemorate the victims of Porrajmos, the extermination of Roma and Sinti during World War II. The date was chosen to commemorate the night of 2nd August 1944 in which more than 4,000 people - men, women, children and elderly people - were murdered in the Zigeunerlager of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

In 2015, the European Parliament declared 2nd August European Day of Remembrance of the Nazi Extermination of Roma and Sinti to remember the 500,000 European Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.

In these months the groups of young leaders continued the research, reflecting and re-elaborating the historical contents collected in relation to the Holocaust and the history of Roma people.

Their work produced:

From 14th to 18th May some of the young leaders of the TRACER project will meet in Poland to get to know each other, share their local activities, and visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

The international group of young people from Portugal, Italy and Poland will also participate on 17th May in the international seminar "Crossing Auschwitz. A journey of memory through art and objects between past and present" that will be hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Krakow.

"Crossing Auschwitz. A journey of memory through art and objects between past and present" is the title of the international seminar that will be held in Krakow on 17th May at 5.30 pm.

The event attended by representatives of all project partners is hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Krakow and is open to the participation of interested audience (teachers, university students, stakeholders, etc.).

In Italy, Portugal and Poland, the work of the young leaders continued during these months.

Young people are carrying out research and documentation activities on the themes of the holocaust and the history of the Roma people.

In doing so, each group also conducted interviews with some significant witnesses and experts including: