International Romani Day marked with campaign to present Roma heroes

The public foundation for the research of central and east European history and society is launching a campaign to present the Roma heroes of post-communist transformation, historian Mária Schmidt, a member of the foundation’s board, said on Wednesday marking International Romani Day.

The Roma and Hungarians have lived together for centuries and Hungary’s Roma often had to succeed in even more difficult circumstances than the majority society, Schmidt told public Kossuth Radio. But they could always rely on each other in periods of great transformation, she added

She cited the 1990 anti-Hungarian pogroms of Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely) when the Roma came to Hungarians’ help and added that during the current epidemic, “our Roma brothers and sisters” are among the people working in shops and health care.

The foundation has launched a campaign dubbed “30 Years Free” to present the lives of eight outstanding Roma personalities “whose professional and public achievements contributed to building a proud and assertive Hungarian Roma community already in the years of dictatorship”, she said.

Read alsoTerrible! Hungarian man was killed in Budapest’s 8th district; he wanted to defend his puppy