On 11 September 2015, Ambassador Katalin Bogyay hosted the opening ceremony of an exhibit entitled “Pharrajimos: Holocaust of the Roma People” at the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the UN. The exhibit was opened by Dr. István Mikola, Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, Ms. Cristina Gallach, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information and Mr. László Teleki, Member of the Hungarian Parliament.
The exhibit at the Permanent Mission of Hungary commemorates the persecution of the Roma People during the Holocaust and is part of a series of events organized during Hungary’s Chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). One of the priorities of the Hungarian IHRA Chairmanship is to raise awareness and facilitate more research about the Roma genocide during World War II.
In his welcoming remarks, Minister of State Mikola emphasized that Holocaust remembrance is key in fighting modern day racism and intolerance. An estimated 500,000 Roma were killed during the Holocaust but due to political circumstances the survivors were silent for decades after World War II. During Hungary’s Chairmanship, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance will raise awareness about this topic adding an important new dimension to the Alliance’s work.
UN Under-Secretary-General Gallach said that the Roma communities had long fought to have their suffering during World War II recognized. She thanked Hungary for organizing the event and added that the exhibit is a remarkable and moving demonstration of the efforts to fight hate and intolerance.
Mr. Teleki, who is one of the main organizers of the exhibit, said that the last cries of the victims of the Nazi death camps send a loud and clear message to our generations that antisemitism and racism must never be tolerated.
Roma musicians Béla Horváth and Antal Kopár performed traditional and contemporary pieces of Roma and Gypsy music at the event to honor the memory of the victims.
Please find the full statement of Minister of State Mikola here, Under Secretary General Gallach here and Mr. Teleki here.
To see the photo diary of the event, please click here.
