International Romani Resistance Day
May 16 is celebrated all over the world as the International Romani Resistance Day.
On May 16, 1944, in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, the prisoners of the “Gypsy camp” tried to raise an uprising in response to the SS attempt to liquidate the B-IIe sector – they did not go to the traditional roll call, instead barricaded themselves in their barracks, armed themselves with what they could and began to resist.
However, the Nazis later took harsh revenge on the rebels. First, they put all B-IIe prisoners on starvation rations. Secondly, some of the prisoners were transferred to Auschwitz I, others were redirected to Buchenwald, Flossenburg and Ravensbrück. About 3,000 Roma remained in the “gypsy camp” and were killed by the Nazis in gas chambers on August 2, 1944.
This historical episode became an extremely powerful consolidating element in the growth of Roma self-awareness and solidarity, the formation of a sense of subjectivity as a component of the overall historical process.
"Rebellion against death"
On May 16, 2017, our colleague Tetiana Storozhko became the initiator and co-organizer of the first event in Ukraine for the Day of Roma Resistance “Revolt against Death”.
The event began with a thematic tour of the main exposition of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, which revealed the participation of Roma in the Second World War. At the end of the excursion, the leading employee of the museum Oleksandr Pasternak conducted an interactive author’s class based on the book “Watercolors”.
After the excursion, museum workers, scientists, Roma youth activists from different regions of Ukraine listened to the speeches of the participants of the event and joined the discussion of the issues raised.
Mykhailo Tyaglyi, a researcher of the history of the Roma genocide, spoke about the academic dimension of the topic of Roma resistance in his speech. Our colleague Tetiana Storozhko reviewed international youth and educational initiatives dedicated to commemorating the historical events of the Roma resistance. The story of Raymond Guerem, a French Roma who managed to survive the genocide, aroused special interest among the participants of the event.
Roma activist and actor Petro Rusanenko presented the trailer of the film “Remember” and talked about the process of shooting a short film about the Roma girl Lyalya, who managed to escape during the genocide.
The meeting ended with friendly communication and exchange of impressions from what was heard.
Flash mob for the Romani Resistance Day
Tetiana Storozhko presented the concept of the initiative within the framework of the Roma youth forum, which was held at that time in Lviv. There were many willing to join the flash mob, after which a wave of informative publications with the relevant hashtags #Romani_Resistance #May16 swept through social networks.
Participation in such actions makes it possible to spread knowledge about the little-known but very important events of the Second World War period and show the unity of Roma activists and the readiness to join forces to protect their rights and fight against various forms of discrimination.
