“We share a commitment to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to honour those who stood against it.”
-- Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust
Double Lovie Awards for Digital Exhibition “The Forgotten Genocide”
07.12.2012
In spring 2012, the National Committee for 4 and 5 May proudly launched its digital exhibition "The Forgotten Genocide," a beautiful and innovative exploration of the persecution of Sinti and Roma during Nazi prevalence in Europe. The project has won two Silver Lovie 2012 awards for best non-profit and best use of Flash design.
The Lovie Awards exist to celebrate the unique and resonant nature of the European internet community. The Committee for 4 and 5 May is honored to be amongst so many high-profile web innovators, such as Tate Britain, the London Organising Team of the 2012 Olympic Games and Reuters.
The Forgotten Genocide is a part of a series of digital exhibitions aimed at familiarizing the public with a variety of less obvious themes connected to World War II. The combined efforts of the National Committee for 4 and 5 May (NC) and 20 other partner organizations (including the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Kamp Westerbork) created Tweedewereldoorlog.nl as a useful web guide.
The mistreatment and genocide of Sinti and Roma is still frequently overlooked when World War II persecutions are discussed. It took the world, and the Sinti and Roma themselves, decades to recognize the fate they suffered. Today, ethnic minorities known as gypsies or travellers still endure prejudice against them throughout Europe. "The Forgotten Genocide" tells the remarkable stories of six Sinti and Roma children in the 1940s.
The exhibition takes you on a compelling journey through European history. It tells of a young Austrian Roma boy who survived three concentration camps and lived to become a successful artist. A young Dutch girl whose portrait became a symbol for the Jewish persecution, until 50 years on it was discovered that she was Sinti. A German Roma girl who was subjected to pseudo-scientific Nazi medical experiments and miraculously survived years of forced labour.
The website had already been nominated for the Webby Awards and it received praise from several renowned publications. The Forgotten Genocide winning two Silver Lovies is an amazing achievement on the digital front, as well as a small victory for all Sinti and Roma people in Europe today.
The Forgotten Genocide is free for you to explore here: www.romasinti.eu.