Empowering Legacy: Sites of Romani Genocide and Community Commemoration in East and East-Central Europecore
EMPOWER · Horizon Europe grant · 2026-06-01–2031-05-31
EC contribution
Total cost
Beneficiaries
About the data
Source: CORDIS (official EU open data), Horizon Europe. Framework HORIZON · call ERC-2025-COG · scheme HORIZON-ERC · topic ERC-2025-COG. CORDIS record →
Objective
During World War II, several hundred thousand Roma perished, primarily in East and East Central Europe (EECE). Yet, their experiences remain largely unknown to the broader public and are underrepresented in the landscapes of European memory. This omission stems from the silencing of Romani histories under state socialism, gaps in historical documentation, and postwar memory politics. These silences persist to this day. Many sites of the Romani genocide - mass killing sites, labour camps, and prisons - remain unmarked and urgently require preservation measures.EMPOWER undertakes an ambitious effort to rediscover the forgotten memoryscapes of Roma in EECE. Unlike previous studies of neglected sites, which primarily focused on trauma, EMPOWER poses a critical question: Can such sites of painful memory become spaces of empowerment and solidarity? To answer this question, the project sheds light on how Roma families and communities have commemorated genocide sites and honoured their lost family members, from the postwar period to the present.To reconstruct Romani memoryscapes, EMPOWER integrates oral history and ethnographic qualitative methods with archival research and digital humanities tools, such as GIS technology, mapping, and visualization. The in-depth case studies across EECE highlight the lives and legacies of Romani survivors and activists who have transformed neglected sites into spaces of memory.EMPOWER takes a community-centred approach to understanding the legacy of these neglected sites. The project actively engages Roma communities in both data collection and dissemination. Alongside scholarly publications, its deliverables include a short documentary film and a traveling exhibition. The online platform, Hidden Sites, Living Voices, will feature interactive maps, activist biographies, and historical documents in English and vernacular languages, including Romani. These tools are designed to ensure the project’s findings are widely accessible.
Beneficiaries (1)
| Organisation | Country | Role | EC contribution | SME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STIFTUNG ZUR ERFORSCHUNG VON OST- UND SUDOSTEUROPA | DE | coordinator | €1,999,200 |
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