For many years now, the international public has been commemorating the 2nd of August as the Remembrance Day for Roma victims of the genocide committed by the Nazi regime. It has been estimated that between 250 000 and one million, maybe even up to million and a half, members of the European Romani communities lost their lives in this genocide.
On behalf of the Center of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor and the EPEKA Association, Social Enterprise, we kindly invite you to attend the commemorative event on Monday, 2 August 2021, that will be held at 10.30 am on Židovski Square in Maribor (on the plateau between former synagogue and the Židovski Tower).
At the event, Dr Vera Klopčič will present the definition of antigypsyism, which was recently adopted by IHRA – the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Furter, she will also address the question how the international community’s endeavours regarding the recognition of the persecution of Romani people in the past contribute to the fight against discrimination directed toward this ethnical group today.
Afterwards, the representatives of Maribor Roma community Amanda Fetahi, Elizabeta Fetahi and Erduan Bislimi will speak about their view of the relationship between the major community and the Roma. In addition, they will also talk about their attitude toward the history, in particular the history of the genocide of the Roma.
On behalf of the organisers, Marjetka Bedrač, the coordinator of cultural events at the Synagogue Maribor, and Štefan Simončič, the president of the EPEKA Association, will address the audience as well.
A Czech group Der Šenster Gob will perform in the musical part of the event.
In case of rain, the event will take place in the Maribor Synagogue, where, unfortunately, the number of visitors will be limited. In this case, priority will be given to visitors who arrive at the venue earlier.
On Friday, 6 August 2021, the Roma Genocide Remembrance Day will be commemorated also in Murska Sobota and Petanjci. For details about the programme please click this link (in Slovenian).
Invitation to the event in Maribor (in Slovenian)
The commemorative events have been supported by the Maribor Municipality, the Ministry of the Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Council of Roma Community of the Republic of Slovenia, and the European Union – European Social Fund.
Please note that the public cultural events can be attended only by the visitors, who meet the RVT condition (recovered, vaccinated, or tested). In addition, we kindly ask all visitors to keep the interpersonal distance, wear a facial mask covering their nose and mount entirely when visiting closed spaces, disinfect their hands when entering and leaving an individual venue, take care of the proper hygiene of coughing or sneezing, and follow other safety instructions of the organisers.
According to the Ordinance amending the Ordinance on the temporary restriction of the provision of cultural services to end users in the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 120/2021; hereinafter: Ordinance), the organisers of the cultural events must ensure the compliance with the above-mentioned conditions, whereby the validation of the RVT condition should be checked with all visitors before entering to the space or area where the public cultural event is being held.
We politely ask all our visitor for understanding.