Germany marks Holocaust memorial day

27/01/11 12:01 CET

world news

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Germany is marking Holocaust memorial day, 65 years after the liberation of Auschwitz.

This year, Europe’s Roma are being represented for the first time.

During the ceremony held in the Bundestag, Dutch born Zoni Weisz, a Roma Holocaust survivor, addressed the parliamentary chamber.

The son of a music shop owner, Mr Weisz was just seven when his family were deported from the Netherlands to Auschwitz.

He escaped the Nazi raid in his hometown with the help of a policeman, but his parents, sisters and younger brother were all murdered at the death camp.

Like the Jews, Europe’s Roma were deemed an inferior race by the Nazis. Out of an estimated total of seven million people killed in the camps it’s estimated between a quarter to half a million were Roma gypsies.

More about: Angela Merkel, Germany, Holocaust

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