On 2 August 2024, the UK Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) partnered with the Roma community in Newcastle, to participate in an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the 'genocide of the Roma'. Associate Professor and Programme Director at University College London's Centre for Holocaust Education, Ruth-Anne Lenga, attended in her capacity as Deputy Head of the UK Delegation to the IHRA, on behalf of the UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues Lord Pickles.
The event took place in Newcastle Civic Centre Memorial Garden and was hosted by former Newcastle Councillor, Mr Nicu Ion. Mr Ion invited attendees to lay wreaths and flowers at the exact site where a permanent memorial to the victims of the genocide of the Roma, is due to be built next year.
Once built, this memorial will be the first and only permanent memorial in the UK, dedicated to remembering the suffering and murder of the Roma during the Nazi era.
The event was attended by representatives from Roma civic society, local councillors, the Sheriff and Deputy Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor Henry Gallagher, Roma community leaders, poets, singers and activists from Newcastle and further afield.
Nicu Ion, who was the first elected Roma councillor in Newcastle, and a former teacher said:
"Today we stand at the spot of what is to be the first memorial to be built in the UK. There are very few in Europe. This will be a place to recollect, to share the story of suffering of our tragic history - which will hopefully be unveiled in January 2025."
Associate Professor Ruth-Anne Lenga said:
"Today marks a triumph following years of struggle for recognition of this history. We are witnessing a watershed moment as we unveil the site on the landscape of this country where the first permanent memorial to the victims of the genocide of the Roma will lie. The UK Presidency of IHRA, join the community in mourning the souls of those that were murdered in the genocide and stand with you, side by side in friendship and solidarity."
The IHRA has long advocated for the inclusion of the history of 'the genocide of the Roma' into learning programmes in schools and other educational settings. Later this year, the IHRA will launch a new publication: 'Recommendations for teaching and learning about the persecution and genocide of Roma during the Nazi Era'.
These recommendations will offer advice to policy makers and teachers about what to teach, how to teach it, and why it is so important to teach about 'the genocide of Roma'.
Miško Stanišić, Director of Terraforming, a Serbian organisation which develops educational methodologies and teaching materials about the Holocaust, and who has led the development of these recommendations within the IHRA, spoke of how he could sense the pride of Newcastle for being one of the only cities in Europe to have established a permanent site for a memorial to this catastrophic event, and how remembrance and education go hand in hand.
Following the Roma anthem and the raising of the Roma flag, second and third generation survivors also spoke, alongside other leading figures from within the Roma community.
