Sinti and Roma Memorial
Remembering the Genocide
A memorial was erected south of the Reichstag in October 2012 in order to commemorate the Sinti and Roma murdered under National Socialist rule during the Genocide, or Porajmos.
Around 500,000 Sinti and Roma were persecuted and murdered under Nazi rule.The memorial by artist Dani Karavan consists of a round water basin with a triangular stone stele at its centre, the shape of which refers to the fact that all those imprisoned by the Nazis were identified with differently coloured triangles on their prisoner clothing. A flower is placed on the stele as a symbol of life and to remember the murdered Sinti and Roma. As soon as it withers, it falls down into the depths of the well. A new, fresh flower then rises from the water. The words of the poem "Auschwitz" by Italian Roma Santino Spinello are written around the edge of the water basin, in English, German and Romany: "Sunken in face / extinguished eyes / cold lips / silence / a torn heart / without breath / without words / no tears".