Exhibition about the Nazi persecution of Roma people opens in Sligo

A touring exhibition highlighting the Nazi persecution of the Sinti and Roma people will be hosted by IT Sligo from 22 March to 1 April. Entitled: “…don’t forget the photos, it’s very important…”, the exhibition shows photographs taken in the mid 1930’s by photographer Hanns Wentzel, of the lives of nine Sinti/Roma families in Germany before their deportation to concentration camps and their tragic death.

The exhibition has been developed by Professor Eve Rosenhaft and members of the Roma/Sinti communities under the auspices of Liverpool University and will be displayed in Letterkenny County Museum before arriving in IT Sligo, and then moving on to Queen’s University Belfast.

The exhibition has been organised in IT Sligo by Lecturer in Social Science, Dr Karin White who emphasises its importance.

“This is the first time that a major exhibition of this nature will be shown in Ireland, and it is of utmost importance that we all take note and acknowledge what has happened, to whom it has happened.

“The exhibition invites us to look into the faces of those who suffered such persecution, and were sent to their deaths and to enter into a dialogue with them. Settled people are also invited to reflect on their own perceptions of Roma, Sinti, Travellers and other nomadic groups and maybe let some of these perceptions be challenged.

“This exhibition pays tribute to these featured nine families and their history, and by extension to the history of all Sinti/Roma.”

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Dr White added the Roma/Sinti communities continue to be persecuted to this day.

“The persecution and oppression of the Roma and Sinti people since their arrival in the Western World almost 1000 years ago has been widely ignored among the general populations, and it did not stop in 1945. The plight of the Roma/Sinti continues to this very day. The Roma/Sinti have no influential lobby, no claim to a country, no army. But they have a history. And attention must be paid to this history.”

The organisers are hoping to engage community groups, schools students and members of the general public to visit and teachers and lecturers are encouraged to incorporate the topic in their teaching, where possible. The exhibition is free and open to all the public and schools. Further info: https://dontforgetthephotos.wordpress.com/