Today, May 16th, we solemnly commemorate International Romani Resistance Day. ✊🏽

This date, May 16, marks a pivotal moment in history, when the Romani prisoners incarcerated in the so-called “Zigeunerlager” (Gypsy Camp), also known as the “Zigeunerfamilienlager” (Camp of the Gypsy Families) at Auschwitz-Birkenau, initiated a courageous act of resistance. The uprising began upon learning of the German Nazi regime’s intention to liquidate the camp by exterminating the remaining 6,000 Romani detainees in the gas chambers.

On the night of May 16th, 1944, the Roma rose in defiance against the SS guards, armed only with tools of labour—hammers, pickaxes, and shovels. Through their bravery and resistance, no Roma were murdered in the gas chambers on that day. This revolt stands as the sole documented instance of an uprising at Auschwitz, and it is rightly honoured as Romani Resistance Day.


It is essential to view this event within the broader context of the Romani Holocaust—often referred to as the Porrajmos (a term that, while widely used, is linguistically controversial, as in some dialects it translates to "rape"). Alternative terms include Samudaripen (Genocide), Kali Traš (Black Fear), and Sarvanaš—a word whose closest translation may suggest a total or complete disappearance.

The Romani Holocaust, tragically under-recognised, claimed the lives of an officially acknowledged 500,000 Roma. However, scholarly estimates place the true number of victims at over 2 million—approximately 80% of the pre-war Romani population across Europe, excluding Turkey.

The vast discrepancy in numbers is largely attributable to the Nazis’ and their collaborators' method of documentation. Typically, only the eldest male member of a Romani family was recorded, despite Romani households often comprising eight or more individuals across three or four generations. Furthermore, many Roma were murdered undocumented by the Nazis and their allies—particularly by the Croatian Ustaše—on roadsides or in forests, far from the concentration camps. As such, their deaths were never officially registered, rendering the full scale of the atrocity incalculable.

Let us remember and honour the courage of those who resisted, and the countless lives lost in silence.