On September 29, we honor the memory of the victims of the mass executions carried out by the Nazis in Babyn Yar.

This place has become a symbol of the Holocaust in Ukraine. It is important to remember that the Nazis targeted not only the Jewish population, but also Roma communities. This is the part of the tragedy that Anzhelika Bielova, President of Voice of Romni, tells in the podcast Echoes of Memory, where she shares stories of the Roma Holocaust and the ways this memory is preserved within families.

Echoes of Memory is a joint initiative of our partners – the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ), and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

Anzhelika shared her own family’s story. In 1941, when the Nazis occupied Zaporizhzhia, her grandmother and family hid in a secret shelter near their home. Like the Jews, the Roma were marked for extermination. The occupation lasted more than two years, during which they lived under constant threat of death.

“Today, my grandmother is 87 years old. Back then she was a little girl. But the memories of that time remain vivid. When the day of Zaporizhzhia’s liberation finally came, everyone fell to their knees, rejoiced, celebrated, and poured into the streets. She said it was the happiest and, at the same time, the scariest moment of her life as a child who had endured all of this and learned that her city was finally free,” Anzhelika recalled in the podcast.

Survival in those days was almost impossible. Many Roma families were executed in their entirety. Anzhelika also shared the testimony of survivors from Zaporizhzhia region. Among them was a non-Roma woman who had married a Roma man. When the Nazis found them, they told her they would spare her because she was not Roma. She refused to abandon her family and chose to stay. She was executed alongside those she loved.

Reflecting on the past, Anzhelika drew parallels with the war Ukrainians are living through today:

“After the Second World War, many world leaders repeated: Never again. But we see it happening again. There is war in Ukraine, people die every day. I tell the stories of our ancestors, but one day we will also be witnesses, testifying to what we ourselves have endured.”

In the podcast, Anzhelika also mentioned the story of Albert Brugosh from Uzhhorod – a Roma soldier who has been fighting since 2014. Despite a severe cancer diagnosis, after treatment he returned to the frontline to continue serving and defending Ukraine. Side by side with other Ukrainians, Roma men and women remain part of the struggle.

Anzhelika emphasized that Roma are citizens of Ukraine, and our history is shared. Equally shared must be memory, dignity, and respect for one another. Recognition of our diversity and multiculturalism should serve as the foundation for this.

Note: The Echoes of Memory podcast is available in English and German.