On August 2–3, the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve in Kyiv will host a series of commemorative events to mark International Roma Genocide Remembrance Day. The program includes a mourning march, an official memorial ceremony, the opening of a new exhibition “Invisible. Resilience: The Past and Present of the Roma”, and an evening concert of remembrance.
According to the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (No. 2085-IV, October 8, 2004), this date is recognized at the national level as the official day of remembrance for Romani victims of the Nazi genocide.
Event Schedule
August 2
12:00 PM – Mourning March from the Gate of the former Lukyanivka Jewish Cemetery to the "Roma Wagon" memorial
12:20 PM – Official Memorial Ceremony at the “Roma Wagon”
1:00 PM – Exhibition Opening: “Invisible. Resilience: The Past and Present of the Roma” at the “Living Memory” Exhibition Center
August 3
6:00–7:30 PM – Evening of Remembrance with Babuci & Brothers, held open-air next to the exhibition center
Participants will include:
Roza Tapanova, Director of the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve
Volodymyr Yakovenko, Director of the Youth Agency for Roma Culture Advocacy “ARKA”
Victor Yelenskyi, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience
Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine
Hilde Haugs, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine
Sergiy Kyslytsya, First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Maximilian Rasch, Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy
Oleksandr Alfyorov, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory
Nataliya Tomenko, Deputy Director of ARKA and Lead Curator of the Exhibition
Mykhailo Tyahlyi, Research Fellow at the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies
The event will also be attended by representatives of Ukrainian state institutions, diplomatic missions, international organizations, and the Roma community. The Romance Academic Roma Music and Drama Theater will present a special artistic program dedicated to the historical legacy of this tragedy.
The commemorative events are organized by the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve and the Youth Agency for Roma Culture Advocacy “ARKA”, with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ukraine, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, and the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies.
Media Accreditation
To attend or request interviews with organizers and participants, please contact:
[email protected]
+38 (050) 331 62 06 (Kateryna Muzyka, Media Relations, Babyn Yar Reserve)
Historical Background
At Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazis established a separate section known as the Zigeunerlager, where Romani men, women, and children were imprisoned together — a rare occurrence in the camp system. In May 1944, the SS ordered the extermination of all Roma held in the camp. Warned in advance, the prisoners mounted a spontaneous, unarmed resistance by barricading themselves inside their barracks. The SS backed down — and no one was killed that night.
However, the execution order was never revoked. Over the following months, families were separated, and many were sent to other camps. On the night of August 2–3, 1944, the camp guards encircled the Zigeunerlager and deported between 3,000 and 4,000 Roma to the gas chambers. Their bodies were burned in crematoria. This became one of the single most brutal acts of mass murder against the Roma people during the war.
August 2 is now recognized across Europe as Roma Genocide Remembrance Day, honoring not only the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau, but all Roma murdered by the Nazi regime. Historians estimate that more than 25% of Europe’s Romani population was exterminated during the Holocaust