Remembrance of the Roma victims of the Holocaust

Press release of MEP Lívia Járóka

MEP Lívia Járóka Vice-President of the European Parliament organized a public memorial today morning in the EP’s prayer room on the occasion of the upcoming International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On the event, she expressed her respect towards the Roma and non-Roma victims who lost their lives in the bloodshed. In her opening remarks, she emphasised the importance of brotherhood and added that the European solidarity can only be strong if we do not make differences between the stories of suffering, but rather strengthening each other in community, love and fraternity.

On the remembrance, EPP Group MEP László Tőkés quoted from Jeremiah’s Book of Lamentations, which is, according to the him, echoes the lamentations of the Roma. “People tend to forget, or to use a double standard to measure the suffering of different men and women” – he added. The other spokesperson on the remembrance was EPP Group MEP Csaba Sógor, who has drawn the attention to the fact that it is our responsibility to ensure that these crimes will never happen again. “The behaviour of the people depends on their own decisions, not on the circumstances” – he emphasised.

The remembrance ended with a shared prayer.