The ceremony began outside Newcastle Civic Centre, with former Labour councillor and member of the Newcastle Roma community, Nicu Ion welcoming people and reminding us of what we were commemorating; the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Roma Holocaust in the Second World War.
This was followed by a flag raising ceremony as the Roma flag was raised outside the Civic Centre.
Members of Newcastle Roma community and speakers with the Roma flag outside Newcastle Civic Centre.
Speeches
We then returned to our place near the top of John Dobson Street for a short ceremony outside the Civic Centre. This is where it is planned there will be a memorial to the Roma victims of the Holocaust, when sufficient funds have been raised.
We began with the Sheriff and Deputy Lord Mayor of Newcastle saying a few words about how the Roma Holocaust should not be forgotten and it was important to remember the lessons from it.
Unveiling spot of memorial and speaker from the International Holocaust Remembrance Association, said: “May the soul if the murdered Roma be forever blessed”
It was also stated that IHRA wants more education about the Roma Holocaust in schools. At present there is very little mention of the Roma Holocaust in the national Curriculum, with its remembrance being restricted to a sentence in a textbook if it is mentioned at all. Another speaker noted that very few countries have any memorial to the Roma and that consequently it was significant that Newcastle was going to have one.
There was also a plea for us all to learn more about present discrimination against the Roma, who are generally considered to be the most persecuted people in Europe despite what happened in the Holocaust. Perhaps that is partly because the suffering that took place 80 years ago is still so little known…
There were other speeches about how the event was very important, especially in a week when there had been racist unrest in various parts of the country, including the Northeast. It was also stated that there will be a fund for a memorial for the Roma outside the Civic Centre in Newcastle.
Wreaths
Wreaths were then laid in memory of the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Roma Holocaust.
Events at the West End
The ceremony at the Civic Centre was followed by another event at the Roma Centre in the west end of Newcastle. This featured numerous speakers, including one who had lost family in the Holocaust. Another speaker told of her life as an activist for Roma Rights.
There was beautiful piano -playing from two Roma players and a special film featuring Frank Lavin from Hartlepool, who spoke very movingly about the role his father Wilf played in the Relief of Belsen, along with other members of the 113 L.A.A. REGIMENT R.A. (D.L.I.) T.A., which was affiliated to the Durham Light Infantry. In all, 200 men from Hartlepool were involved in saving the lives of survivors at Belsen.
The event was wrapped up by a very informative talk by local Roma community member Robert Vaszi, outlining many of the places where Roma had been cruelly murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Summing up
Taken altogether, this was a very important and well-organised event and a reminder in a dark week in this country, of just where irrational hatred and racism can lead to.
We should indeed remember the Roma Holocaust or Porajmos…and learn its lessons.
