Vilnius to mark Roma Genocide Remembrance Day

Vilnius will host a march, memorial ceremony and conference on Monday to mark Roma Genocide Remembrance Day, LRT reports.

A symbolic March of Remembrance will begin at noon from the Paneriai railway stop and continue to the Paneriai Memorial. School students, members of the Roma community and other guests will take part.

The memorial ceremony will include the Roma anthem, an artistic programme, a flower-laying ceremony and a minute of silence for the victims.

Culture Minister Lukas Alsys, Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginienė, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania Shelly Hugler Livne and other guests are expected to attend.

Later in the afternoon, the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History in Vilnius will host a conference titled “Monuments to the Victims of the Roma Genocide in the World and in Lithuania.” Lithuanian and foreign historians, memory researchers, cultural heritage specialists and Roma community representatives will discuss ways of commemorating the genocide and plans for a future memorial at Paneriai.

Historians estimate that about 500 Roma were killed in Lithuania during the Nazi occupation, representing roughly one-third of the country’s Roma community at the time. Roma Genocide Remembrance Day has been observed annually on August 2 since 2019.