LIVE BROADCAST from Prague: "Leperiben. My nezapomínáme."- "We Will Never Forget." - Commemoration of the Holocaust and its Romani victims

2 August 2022 marks the fourth time that Náměstí míru (“Peace Square”) in Prague will become a site of commemoration of the Holocaust and its Romani victims. It is estimated that the Nazis murdered more than 500,000 Romani people during that genocide. 

Part of that brutal murder is documented by one event that began on the night of 2 August and ending in the early morning hours of 3 August 1944, when as many as 4,300 Romani people from 14 different countries were murdered in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp. Able-bodied persons were sent to other concentration camps, the men to Buchenwald and the women to Ravensbrück.  

As part of the commemorative ceremony held by the ARA ART association, there will be a play based on survivor testimonies and names will be read from the book of the dead. ROMEA TV will broadcast the event live.

The evening commemorating the brutal massacre of what was called the “Gypsy Camp” at Auschwitz will also include Romani music. “It is important that we annually commemorate the Romani nation’s suffering during the Second World War and remember our forebears. Leperiben and other such activities reveal what the Romani nation has gone through. There is a unique story behind each human life that was lost. That is what we want to show the public,” said David Tišer, director of ARA ART and producer of this evening’s program, in a press release sent to news server Romea.cz. 

“It is clear that our educational activities make sense and we are glad the public and leading representatives can see that we will never forget the Holocaust of the Roma and the horrors it involved. That is documented by the fact that the demolition of the industrial pig farm at Lety u Písku has finally begun so the Roma will have a dignified memorial to the horrors of the Second World War,” Tišer said.  

Today at 19:00 on Náměstí míru a play based on the authentic testimonies of Holocaust survivors from the Romani community will be performed by Pavlína Matiová, accompanied by the singing of Tereza Ondičová, Jitka Matiová, Petr Horváth and the children’s choir Loľi ruža, all accompanied by musician Viliam Didiáš. Names from the book of the dead will be read by figures from public life, non-Romani and Romani, including: Senator Adéla Šípová, journalist Patrik Banga, activist and coordinator of the Manushe women’s group Claudie Laburdová, theater director Michal Hába, Rabbi David Maxa, and the director of Prague Pride, Tom Bílý.