Peter De Roover

Video statement on the occasion of 2 August 2024, Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma

Szanowne Panie oraz szanowni Panowie,

First of all I would like to thank you for the occasion to address you all, and especially the survivors and their families, in my capacity as President of the federal Chamber of Representatives of Belgium.

You have gathered here today to commemorate what is possibly the darkest page in human history: the Holocaust. It is a moral obligation as human beings to never forget the horror that took place in the heart of Europe only 80 years ago, instigated by one of the richest and most developed countries in the world.

While today we commemorate the 6 million Jews that were murdered in the most unthinkable ways, we also want to reflect upon a group of victims that is too often overlooked: the Sinti and Roma, who have likewise suffered horribly in the hands of the Nazi regime.

Their story, their pain is an integral part of the Holocaust and people ought to also know this part. The Sinti and Roma, like their Jewish fellow citizens, were the target of the Nazi ideology, aimed at eradicating unwanted groups of people from society.

They were dehumanized and robbed of their dignity, freedom and eventually even their life. By the time the war ended, around half a million of Roma and Sinti were sent to their deaths in concentration camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau.

While the last people who witnessed the mass murder of Jews, Sinti and Roma, are slowly but surely leaving us, the lessons of their suffering must remain with us.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is sometimes said that history repeats itself, but it is our duty to make sure atrocities like that never take place again. We must continue to acknowledge and commemorate what happened so that these dark pages in history will never ever be written again.

At moments like these, we must wonder how we can apply these ominous lessons from the past on the world of today. Today, we still see discrimination, persecution and violence against different groups within and outside of our societies. Roma and Sinti are still confronted with prejudices and exclusion in many parts of the world.

80 years after ‘nie wieder’, sadly enough, we see antisemitism reemerging its ugly head in Europe. The number of cases of antisemitism in on the rise and that should worry each and every one of us.

Too often we see the situation in the Middle East being used to attack Jews in Europe as well. In my home town of Antwerp, it is becoming increasingly dangerous for my Jewish fellow citizens to walk around freely.  That is intolerable.

Sometimes the antisemitism is direct: in violence, in threats and in hateful chants that call for violence or at least imply that violence might be a solution. Sometimes the antisemitism is indirect, hidden in ugly conspiracy theories, some of them as old as they are ridiculous.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We honour the victims of the Holocaust, the most vile crime ever committed, by continuing to tell their story and being alert when the ideologies of hatred that spurred these dreadful events creep up again.

On behalf of the Belgian federal Chamber of Representatives I would like to express our sympathy to the survivors and their family and extend our continued support to the cause of making sure the Holocaust will never be forgotten.

Dziękuję.