Український центр вивчення Голокосту

The Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

Today, on 2 August, the whole world commemorates the victims of the Nazi genocide of the Roma. It was on the night of 2 to 3 August 1944 that the Nazis murdered more than 4,000 Roma prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland.

Roma were subjected to stigmatisation and restrictions long before the National Socialist dictatorship. The Nazis took these prejudices to extremes. The genocide began after the Nazis came to power, with the gradual isolation of Roma and the deprivation of their rights and means of livelihood. As a result of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, marriages between Germans and so-called "outsiders" were banned.

In the same year, Roma in large cities began to be forcibly relocated to "Gypsy camps". A decree of the Kriminalpolizei of 8 December 1938 stated that it was necessary to "finally resolve the Gypsy question", which stemmed "from the very nature of this race".

In 1943, more than 22,000 Roma from Germany and some other European countries were deported to Auschwitz. About 19,300 people died there from starvation, cold, diseases, exhaustion, medical experiments, or were sent to the gas chambers.

In his publications and interviews, Mykhailo Tiaglyy notes that it is difficult to calculate the exact number of victims among the Roma population in Ukraine during the Second World War. According to his estimates, the total number of Roma killed on the present-day territory of Ukraine is approximately 25,000, although this number could be much higher. Ukraine was then divided into several spheres of influence: most of it was under German occupation, some was subordinated to Romania, and a small area belonged to the Hungarians (from publications by Mykhailo Tiaglyy, researcher at the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies https://www.radiosvoboda.org/.../pid-chas.../31386887.html)

You can learn more about the genocide of Roma in Nazi-occupied Ukraine on our website https://www.holocaust.kiev.ua/Files/News/ukraine_kyr.pdf

Announcements

4/21/2025
International scientific conference ‘EAST EUROPEAN JEWRY: HISTORY, CULTURE, TRADITIONS’ [More]
4/10/2025
Submissions to the XXV Medvinsky All-Ukrainian Competition ‘History and Lessons of the Holocaust’ are being accepted. The deadline for submitting works: 10 April 2025. [More]
3/27/2025
International Scientific and Practical Conference ‘The Crisis of Modern Geopolitics: The World Between Democracy and Authoritarianism’, Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, 27-28 March 2025. [More]
3/1/2025
International conference Sex, Gender, and the Liberation of the Jews in Eastern and Central Europe (1860-1945) 24-25 June 2025, Uzhhorod [More]
2/10/2025
I.B. Medvynsky All-Ukrainian Competition of Student Research and Art Works “History and Lessons of the Holocaust” [More]

3/27/2025
XIV ALL-UKRAINIAN DRAGOMANOV READINGS

On 21 March 2025, the XIV Drahomanov Readings of Young Historians took place at the History Faculty of the Mykhailo Drahomanov National University of Ukraine.
[More]
3/25/2025
NGO “Mnemonic” presented an audio film about the Holocaust in Rivne

During the presentation of the audio film Echoes of Sosonky, created by the NGO Mnemonic, visitors heard the story of the tragic events that took place in Rivne in early November 1941. The project is supported by the EVZ Foundation.
[More]
3/21/2025
Interview with German national daily newspaper “Die Welt”

At the end of February 2025, the head of the UCHS, Anatolii Podolskyi, gave a lengthy interview to the well-known European, German newspaper Die Welt. The interview was conducted by Austrian journalist Stefan Schocher.
[More]
3/3/2025
“One Stone, One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv”. The Project Continues

The project One Stone, One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv was launched in 2021 and was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. The project honours the memory of people whose fate was connected to Babyn Yar, i.e. those who were killed or persecuted by the Nazi regime from 1941 to 1943.
[More]
2/26/2025
Challenges in Holocaust Studies during the Russian War Against Ukraine. Open Lecture at Vinnytsia Pedagogical University

The NotBox educational and research hub of Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University recently hosted a guest lecture for students of the Faculty of History and International Relations. The lecture, titled Challenges in Holocaust Studies during the Russian War Against Ukraine, was led by the head of the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies Anatolii Podolskyi.
[More]

The Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

Announcements

Latest News

XIV ALL-UKRAINIAN DRAGOMANOV READINGS

NGO “Mnemonic” presented an audio film about the Holocaust in Rivne

Interview with German national daily newspaper “Die Welt”

“One Stone, One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv”. The Project Continues

Challenges in Holocaust Studies during the Russian War Against Ukraine. Open Lecture at Vinnytsia Pedagogical University