Remembering the Forgotten: April 8th and the Genocide of the Roma and Sinti

A Day of Memory, Not Just Celebration

Every April 8th, International Roma and Sinti Day calls upon us to reflect—not just on the rich cultures and vibrant traditions of Europe’s Roma communities, but also on a legacy of pain that too often remains buried beneath history’s dominant narratives. This day is more than a celebration; it is a commemoration of a genocide that still struggles for rightful recognition—the Porajmos, or “the Devouring,” the systematic extermination of Roma and Sinti people during World War II.

The Porajmos: A Hidden Genocide

Between 1939 and 1945, the Nazi regime and its collaborators across Europe orchestrated the murder of at least 500,000 Roma and Sinti. Entire families were deported to ghettos, labor camps, and extermination camps. In Auschwitz-Birkenau, the so-called “Gypsy family camp” bore witness to unspeakable cruelty. On the night of August 2nd, 1944, over 4,000 Roma and Sinti—most of them women and children—were gassed to death in a single, systematic act of ethnic cleansing.

Erased from Memory: Institutional Silence

Despite the scale and brutality of this genocide, recognition and remembrance have remained disturbingly inadequate. Unlike the Shoah—rightfully central to Holocaust education and memorialization—the Roma and Sinti genocide has been repeatedly sidelined by institutions, governments, and even major Holocaust-focused organizations. This marginalization stems not only from historical neglect but from a persistent and painful hierarchy of victimhood in which Roma suffering is often seen as peripheral.

Power and the Politics of Remembrance

Part of this disparity lies in the resources and power structures behind memorialization. Shoah remembrance has been championed by immensely well-funded institutions and powerful advocacy networks. Today, over 75% of the U.S. Congress receives financial contributions from organizations dedicated to Holocaust education and Jewish cultural preservation. These efforts have rightly ensured that the memory of Jewish suffering is never forgotten. But the Roma and Sinti, by contrast, stand alone. Lacking influential lobbying groups, media visibility, and institutional allies, their communities remain poor, politically unrepresented, and largely forgotten in the mainstream narrative of 20th-century atrocity.

The Unnamed “Others”: A Strategy of Marginalization

Many Roma activists and scholars have voiced concern that some Holocaust memorial institutions, despite their vast resources and moral mission, have resisted integrating Porajmos into their central educational frameworks. In doing so, they risk reinforcing a narrative that erases or diminishes the full scope of Nazi crimes. Increasingly, remembrance spaces and curricula refer to murdered “others”—a vague, depersonalized label meant to acknowledge non-Jewish victims without naming them. This deliberate generalization serves to marginalize specific groups like the Roma and Sinti, reducing their suffering to a footnote and allowing a monopolization of historical guilt. By refusing to name these communities explicitly, these institutions maintain a hierarchy of memory that privileges certain narratives while rendering others invisible. This is not merely a matter of historical completeness; it is a matter of justice.

Legacy of Exclusion: Then and Now

The echoes of this erasure are deeply felt in present-day Europe. Roma communities continue to face systemic discrimination, forced evictions, racially motivated violence, and institutional neglect. Their marginalization in historical discourse mirrors their marginalization in political and social life. Remembrance, then, is not just about the past—it is a call to confront the enduring legacies of racism and exclusion.

Truthlytics’ Commitment to Justice and Memory

Truthlytics believes in journalism that gives voice to the voiceless, that uncovers the silences shaped by power and prejudice. On this April 8th, we urge our readers, our partners, and our global community to acknowledge the full truth of the Holocaust—not as a fragmented narrative, but as a complex tapestry of suffering, resistance, and memory. Honoring the Roma and Sinti victims is not an act of competition in grief; it is an affirmation that every life taken by hatred deserves remembrance, and every community silenced by genocide deserves justice.