On 2 August, the commemoration of the Roma genocide day took place at the Paneriai memorial.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the extermination of the Roma imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp on 2 August 1944.
The Minister of Education, Science and Sport Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Director of the Department of National Minorities Dainius Babilas, Vice-Mayor of Vilnius City Simona Bieliūnė, Head of the Lithuanian Jewish Community Faina Kukliansky, and a representative of the US Embassy in Lithuania spoke at the commemoration event.
The Roma anthem was a touching performance. A Roma flag made of painted pebbles (red, green, and blue) was created at a small monument in memory of the murdered Roma. Each participant was able to place a commemorative pebble.
The community of the Tolerance Education Centre of the Vilnius Naujamiesčio school attended the commemoration event. After the commemoration event, the students visited the Paneriai memorial and learned about Paneriai history.
During the Second World War, about 500 Roma were killed in Lithuania. Of these, about 200 were killed in Paneriai.
The Roma Communities in Lithuania organized the commemoration event with the Department of National Minorities, Vilnius City Municipality, the Faculty of Communication at Vilnius University, and the Secretariat of the International Commission.
