Samudaripen or Roma Genocide Day was marked August 2 at the Ponar Memorial Complex in Lithuania.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was one of the speakers at the event and said:

“Eighty years have passed since the war and we are gathered officially here for only the sixth time. With our whole heart we sympathize with our fellow Roma and feel your tragedy.”

She said the tragedy of the Roma was just as painful as that of the Jews, the difference being pre-Holocaust Jews lived in shtetls and their names, families and significant biographical facts were largely known, whereas we don’t even know the exact number of Roma victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania.

“The Roma flag features a wheel which can symbolize a number of things. If, however, the state decides to mark this place where Roma were murdered with the symbol of the wheel, then it should more resemble a monument to which people can come to remember the victims of genocide. In the name of the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community, I ask those responsible for making this decision to honor those murdered appropriately,” chairwoman Kukliansky said to great applause from those gathered for the ceremony.