---
title: "Roma survivors recall Transnistria horror on August 2"
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/82248/roma-survivors-recall-transnistria-horror-on-august-2
published: 2026-08-03T08:24:10Z
language: en
author: "Redacția  TRM"
section: "Social"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Roma survivors recall Transnistria horror on August 2

> On August 2, Roma communities across Europe honored the victims of the Roma Holocaust, marking 82 years since the liquidation of the Roma sector at Auschwitz-Birkenau. On that night in 1944, Nazi forces murdered nearly 3,000 Roma women, children, and elderly prisoners in the gas chambers.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/e364b31b-06a9-4206-9152-f13a1586cb20.jpg)

On August 2, Roma communities across Europe honored the victims of the Roma Holocaust, marking 82 years since the liquidation of the Roma sector at Auschwitz-Birkenau. On that night in 1944, Nazi forces murdered nearly 3,000 Roma women, children, and elderly prisoners in the gas chambers.

During the same era, tens of thousands of Roma from Romania faced systematic persecution and forced deportation to camps in Transnistria.

**Tragic memories of deportation**

Giurgiuveaua Neagu was only four years old in 1942 when authorities forced her family from their home in Iași. Transported in horse-drawn carts and cattle cars, her family endured years of severe cold, starvation, and physical violence.

She recalls scavenging for potato and onion peels near camp kitchens, facing brutal beatings with whips whenever guards caught starving children searching through waste.

Simion Stan, deported as a one-year-old infant, learned of the atrocities through his older siblings. He recounted how gendarmes falsely promised their parents land and housing, only to abandon them in severe winter conditions that claimed the lives of countless children.

**Intergenerational fear and state support**

Eduard Ferariu, president of the *"Pro Europa"* Roma Party in Iași, emphasized that the trauma extends far beyond historical memory. He noted that these passed-down survival stories continue to foster a persistent fear among community members regarding ethnic self-identification.

Today, surviving Roma deportees receive a monthly state allowance of €140 (approx. 2,730 MDL). Recipients also benefit from free healthcare, subsidized medication, and select tax exemptions.

Translation by **Iurie Tataru**

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/51861b68-87b1-41c5-9f63-7978fc09a461.jpg)