President Michael D. Higgins’ Message for Roma Genocide Memorial Day

On this year’s commemoration of the Roma Genocide, Pavee Point is honoured to share a message from Uachtarán na hÉireann, President Michael D. Higgins. In his powerful words, the President calls upon us all to remember the atrocities committed against Roma and Sinti people during the Second World War and to ensure that such crimes are never forgotten or repeated. His message is not only a solemn tribute to the victims of the past but also a compelling call to action — to uphold dignity, justice, and equality for Roma and Sinti communities in the present and future.

The August 2nd anniversary marks the day 4,300 Roma and Sinti children, women, and men were forcibly taken from their imprisonment at Auschwitz-Birkenau and led to their deaths in the gas chambers — a brutal act of mass murder committed 81 years ago. The Roma Genocide is known, in Romani, as the Porajmos (“the Devouring”), and during the 2nd Word War more than 500,000 Roma and Sinti men, women, and children were murdered by the Nazi regime. For many years, this history remained unacknowledged, despite its scale and impact until 1982 when it was officially recognised by Germany. Commemorating the Roma Genocide now is essential to recognising past injustices and addressing the ongoing discrimination faced by Roma and Sinti communities across Europe.