Between 1-5 August 2016 members of the Tom Lantos Institute participated in the youth event “Dikh he na bister” (Look and don’t forget), organised for the sixth time by TernYpe International Roma Youth Network and Phiren Amenca. The event was held in correspondence with the official memorial day of the Roma Holocaust, on 2 August. The proceedings took place in Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau with the participation of around 350 people. The Hungarian team consisted of 50 young people from across the country, accompanied by József Forgács ‘Bandi’, a survivor of the Roma Holocaust.

During the five-day event participants had the chance to take part in workshops organised in small international groups, and to explore the history of the Roma Holocaust. The workshops and discussions gave an overview of the past and present exclusion and discrimination of Roma people from all around the world, and encouraged an open dialogue about Roma identity and the importance of remembering.

On 2 August all participants attended the official commemoration in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The ceremony was opened by Romani Rose, a leading activist in the movement for Roma and Sinti civil rights, followed by the speeches of László Teleki, former Hungarian State Secretary for Roma Affairs and Raymond Gureme, a Holocaust survivor, among others. The commemoration was closed with the music of the Romano Glaszo band, who travelled to Poland together with the Hungarian team.