An ecumenical prayer is held in Budapest on the anniversary of the Roma Holocaust and the murder in Kisléta.
An ecumenical prayer will be held in the St. József Church on Horváth Mihály tér on August 2, organized by the Sant'Egidio community, on the 77th anniversary of the Roma Holocaust and the 12th anniversary of the murder in Kisléta. János Székely, county bishop of Szombathely, chairman of the Caritas in Veritate committee of the MKPK, will lead the prayer hour and give a homily.
At the event, alongside Bishop János Székely, retired Lutheran bishop Péter Gáncs and chief rabbi Zoltán Radnóti offer prayers. Éva Fahidi, a Holocaust survivor who witnessed the burning of the gypsy barracks, testifies.
Éva Fahidi/Photo: szombatononline.hu
12 years ago, in the early hours of August 2-3, 2009, Mária Balogh was shot dead and her thirteen-year-old daughter was seriously injured in her sleep in her house in Kisléta. The crime was the last episode of a series of murders that claimed six lives and injured dozens. The victims were all Gypsies.
Remembering Mária Balogh/hvg.hu
Seventy-seven years have passed since the same night in 1944 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, the Nazis murdered more than three thousand Roma and Sinti who had survived until then.
Every year the Sant'Egidio community organizes the prayer out of the desire to be in communion with the wounded, fighting against hatred and indifference, asking the Lord to reweave the fabric of humanity torn by violence.
Source and photo: Magyar Kurir / Zita Merényi
