ROMDIEM WHITEPAPER
The Romdiem Whitepaper presents the main findings, analyses, and policy recommendations of the Romdiem project, a transnational initiative dedicated to the recognition and institutionalization of the memory of the Roma Holocaust (Samudaripen) in Europe.
Despite the scale and systematic nature of the genocide of Roma during the Second World War, Roma persecution has long remained marginalized within European historiography, education systems, and public commemorations. This absence is not only a historical gap, but a contemporary democratic challenge, closely linked to the persistence of antigypsyism and the exclusion of Roma voices from Europe’s shared memory.
Building on qualitative field research and desk research conducted in seven European countries—Belgium, Slovakia, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Hungary—the Whitepaper combines survivor and descendant testimonies, expert interviews, and comparative analysis of national memory practices. It highlights common patterns of silence, fragmentation, and symbolic recognition, while also documenting practices of resilience, cultural transmission, and community-led remembrance.
