We honour the memory of Samudaripen and La Gran Redada in remembrance and tribute to the Roma victims. [editar]

On 30 July, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano participated, alongside other entities from the Roma community, in the event organised by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 to commemorate Samudaripen, a memorial that pays tribute to the more than half  million Roma people who were persecuted, confined and murdered during the Holocaust of World War II.

This year, 2025, declared the Year of the Roma People by the Spanish Government, this commemoration takes on special significance as it is part of the events organised to mark the 600th anniversary of the Romani people's presence in Spain.

The event was presided over by the Minister, Pablo Bustinduy, who gave a speech in which he stressed the need to remember history, recognise it and learn about it in order to understand its full meaning. ‘For the Roma community and for all those who may fall victim to the atrocities of these times. Let us not remain silent and let us continue to move forward.’

During the ceremony, the International Roma Anthem ‘Gelem, Gelem’ (‘I walked, I walked’) was performed, as well as the instrumental piece ‘Samudaripen’, an original symphonic composition by conductor Paco Suárez in memory of the Roma victims of the Holocaust.

2 August. European Day of Remembrance for the Roma Holocaust

In 2015, the European Parliament declared 2 August as the European Day of Remembrance for the Roma Holocaust, in memory of the night of 2 to 3 August 1944, when SS guards at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp took more than 4,300 Roma children, women and men from their barracks to kill them in the gas chambers. More than 500,000 Roma were murdered in concentration camps during Nazi Germany, at that time a quarter of the total Roma population.

With this tribute, we honour the memory of the victims of the Roma Holocaust, a chapter of history that is too often overlooked. And we reaffirm our dedication to the fight against prejudice and discrimination in all its forms.