Leaving a trace in the present

Historically, the Roma and Sinti have had neither a public voice nor the material or educational resources to raise public awareness of the Nazi genocide and their “right to memory”, as the Jews have had. The persecution of the Roma could not be easily communicated or processed as a collective experience, at the European level, either while it was going on or in the immediate aftermath. This had serious consequences, especially on the younger generations, in terms of reconstructing an identity based on memory. As key messages of the TRACER project for Roma and non-Roma youth participants, it is possible highlight the following: 1. The Holocaust was something done to the Roma. Genocide is not a fate that is written and that you cannot escape from. There is no crime perpetrated by a social group that can even justify it. 2. Roma participants should take pride in their identity. Creating a common «memory of the genocide of Roma may become the ‘foundational trauma’ of their new identity », helping unite the Roma and Sinti communities into a common political project of recognition and acceptance. 3. Roma people can contribute to reshaping society. Their centuries’ old history in Europe speaks volume of their contribution to a common European space, but also of centuries’ old relentless persecution and discrimination. Awareness can help combat prejudice and historical discrimination.