site.btaVolunteers from Amalipe Center Commemorate Holocaust Victims in Veliko Tarnovo

For 22 years, volunteers at the Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance have commemorated the nearly half a million Roma who died during the Holocaust - on April 8, International Roma Day, said Teodora Krumova from the NGO.

On Monday, carnations were dropped from the Stambolov Bridge into the waters of the Yantra River in Veliko Tarnovo as a tribute to the dead. At the same time, April 8 is a symbol of modern Roma identity, recognized as such by the European Parliament in 2015, Krumova said.

She stressed the importance of institutional support for this day and added that the group of ambassadors for Roma issues in Bulgaria has accepted the challenge to send a message to the Roma community. "When hate speech comes from institutions, it legitimizes discrimination and stereotypes, when the message from institutions says that tolerance unites, it makes us stronger and more confident," Krumova said. That is why on this day we say that a worthy person is strong when he is not ashamed of his identity, she added.

In her words, more and more young people from the Roma community are graduating from higher education and are becoming educators, teachers, doctors, and engineers, most of them prefer to stay in Bulgaria, but it is up to the society whether they will do so. Because if they have to justify themselves because of their origins, they go abroad, where they are accepted on an equal footing with everyone else, she said, adding that these young professionals are an example for school children and show that dreams can be realized, regardless of background.

International Roma Day will be celebrated with various initiatives in other places in the country.