Council of Europe: Handbook Launched on Remembrance Day of the Roma Holocaust

Even in 2014 many people have never heard of the Roma genocide or porrajmos in which at least half a million Roma died.  A new handbook, launched on August 2 – Roma and Sinti Genocide Remembrance Day – is designed to change that.

The handbook, Right to Remember, provides historical background, information on human rights and activities to help trainers and teachers work with young people to ensure they unzderstand what happened and why. In particular, it helps learners explore the prevailing attitudes which made the genocide possible and to consider the extent to which the same attitudes persist today.

The book is being launched at the Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative (30 July to 4 August) in Krakow, Poland, organised by the Council of Europe  in cooperation with the Ternype/Roma Youth Network and the Roma Educational Association „Harangos“.

1,000 young people are taking part from across Europe. The event includes a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp on 2 August, where almost 3,000 men, women and children were killed in the Birkenau gas chambers 70 years ago, in 1944. 

The Council of Europe’s Roma Youth Action Plan – http://enter.coe.int/roma – is tackling discrimination and supporting the democratic participation of Roma young people.