Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist, to attend ceremony at Auschwitz Memorial marking Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights activist, Baptist minister and politician, will attend the commemorative ceremony this year at the Auschwitz Memorial marking European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. During the night of 2 August and early morning hours of 3 August 1944, the Nazis murdered 2 898 Romani prisoners, including children and women, in the gas chambers of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of this tragic event, and ROMEA TV, the first Romani online television channel, will be broadcasting live from the conference and commemorative ceremony being held on 1 and 2 August, respectively. The ceremony to honor the memory of the victims is attended annually by survivors and relatives of the prisoners, representatives of Roma and Sinti from different countries, government officials, and diplomats.

Reverend Jackson will speak as a guest of honor along with two survivors, Else Baker and Éva Fahidi-Pusztai.  "In the Reverend Jackson we welcome not just a significant figure in American political and social life, but above all a world-renowned activist on behalf of civil rights, equality, and the emancipation of ethnic and national minorities," said Roman Kwiatkowski, chair of the Association of the Polish Roma.

Reverend Jackson will speak on 1 August at the conference and will attend the ceremony on 2 August. He became involved in activities associated with civil rights during his studies in the 1960s.

Reverend Jackson's career includes having worked for the civil rights icon the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1984 and 1988 he sought the nomination of the Democratic Party to run for President of the United States.