site.btaExhibition on Roma Literature, Culture Unveiled in Sofia on International Roma Day

An exhibition titled Roma Literature and Culture - Part of Bulgarian Culture Treasury was unveiled at the National Library in Sofia on International Roma Day, April 8.

The exhibition, presenting publications kept at the National Library, is part of the Opre Roma! initiative of the Council of Europe. It has been organized by the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues at the Bulgarian Council of Ministers under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov.

Speaking at the opening, Zafirov said that today's challenge is to build an inclusive society with equal access to education and health. He noted: "No measure is sustainable without change of attitude, and culture is the most natural way for that. The exhibition tells stories that are not told in textbooks but are part of the cultural map of this country. Today, we remember one of the tragic moments that is underestimated in European history, the persecution of hundreds of thousands of Roma during World War II." Zafirov recalled that Bulgaria prevented the deportation of local Roma to Nazi death camps during the war.

National Library Director Kalina Ivanova said that Bulgaria was one of the first countries where a Roma organization was established. In 1992, the UN and the EU declared April 8 as International Roma Day to pay tribute to the Roma who died in concentration camps during World War II, she added.