Young Roma in France have launched a campaign calling on the state to officially recognise the genocide of Roma and Sinti people during World War II. At the centre of their message are wartime letters written by their ancestors from internment camps – unanswered pleas for help sent to the French authorities.
Between 250,000 and 500,000 Roma were killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Holocaust. Victims were subjected to internment, forced labour, sterilisation, deportation and mass execution.
The exact number is unknown, as many families never reported their losses and records of the killings were destroyed by those who carried them out.
The campaign is being led by the Zor Collective, which brings together young Roma, Travellers and Sinti from across France. They are using the hashtag #NosViesdeGitansComptent – Gypsy Lives Matter – to draw attention to their demand.
'Asking for dignity'
"We are mobilising for the recognition of genocide. Our campaign begins on social networks with the broadcasting of 14 videos in which we directly address members of the French Assembly," Roma activist and lawyer Anina Ciuciu told RFI.
In the videos, young Roma people read letters that were sent during the war by their ancestors who were interned, asking the French authorities for help – to which they received no reply.
"They sent them to the authorities, which had the power to change their situation, but, unfortunately, they've received no reply to this day," Ciuciu said.
"Today, the response that we expect from the French government is recognition of the genocide. We are asking for dignity."
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Roma genocide
Known as the Porrajmos ("the Devouring") to Roma people, the genocide has been recognised by the European Union and Germany.
In 2012, a monument to the victims was unveiled in the centre of Berlin.
And in 2015, the European Parliament established 2 August as Sinti and Roma Genocide Remembrance Day, with the date commemorating the liquidation of the Roma camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 2 August 1944, which saw the murder of some 4,300 men, women and children.
France has not officially recognised the genocide. At least 7,000 Roma were interned in France from 1939 to 1946. Many were deported to Nazi-occupied territories, then on to concentration camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and Treblinka.
In 2016, then-president François Hollande acknowledged France's role in these internments.
On a visit to the largest of the French internment camps for Roma, in Montreuil-Bellay, central France, he said: "The republic acknowledges the suffering of travelling people who were interned and admits that it bears broad responsibility."
A motion calling for a resolution to recognise the genocide, and for 2 August to be declared a national day of commemoration, was tabled on 10 February by 52 left-wing members of the National Assembly.
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Far-right gains
Ciuciu believes the campaign is especially urgent given the current political climate in France, where Roma people still face marginalisation and discrimination.
"The [far-right] National Rally party has a lot of power, and is still gaining power day by day. For us, this is very dangerous for fundamental rights and fundamental freedoms and we feel we are in danger," she said.
"I think that, by gaining this recognition of the genocide, we will remind ourselves of the true face of this far-right fascist party. It is a danger not just for us of Roma origin, but for the values of the French republic," she warned.
She believes the rise of the far right is one reason the genocide has never been recognised.
"Its ideas have unfortunately won over the authorities and the current government. The laws that have been voted on for several years in France are very much inspired, shall we say, by the proposals of the far right. Aside from that, there is in fact no serious historical, legal or juridical obstacle to this genocide not being recognised."
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Ciuciu said that recognition by the French state would be a first step towards repairing historical wrongs and making Roma history part of the national narrative.
"The immediate next step will be compensation. The suffering experienced must be compensated," she said.
"Thousands and thousands of our elderly people, children, men and women were killed during this war or were deprived of their freedom for several years and subjected to treatment that is not dignified, without anyone today remembering them and recognising that what they went through was not normal."
This article was adapted from the original Romanian version and has been edited and condensed for clarity.
