ERIAC Launches Echoes of Memory Podcast | Episode 1: Visiting the Sinti and Roma Memorial
Driven by its mission to empower Roma through arts, culture, and remembrance, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), in partnership with the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ), launches the podcast series Echoes of Memory – Roma Youth for Holocaust Remembrance. The project explores the history and legacy of the Roma Holocaust through the experiences and perspectives of Roma youth.
In the first episode, moderator Petro Rusanienko sits down with young Roma voices Maria Atanasova, Roxy Toledo Munrose, and Daniil Hromyko after their visit to the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism in Berlin. The conversation weaves together personal memories, the power of symbolic architecture, and the broader political context to examine how Roma remembrance is shaped—from family stories to public monuments. Most importantly, they discuss why the fight to preserve this memory remains urgent today.
Meet the participants
Maria Atanasova is a Romani scholar, activist, and policy expert from Bulgaria dedicated to promoting equity, minority rights, and inclusive policymaking. She holds a BA in Midwifery and two master’s degrees – one in Political Science with an Advanced Certificate in Romani Studies from Central European University, and another in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. Her work focuses on anti-Roma racism, political participation, and the securitisation of minorities. Maria has worked with the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University on research into police brutality and racial profiling against Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. She is a former Rights Expert for Europe at the Global Forum on Discrimination, and was named Young European of the Year in 2020.
Daniel Hromyko is a young Roma and human rights activist, film director and writer. He is currently working as youth project coordinator at International Roma Women Fund Chiricli.
Roxy Toledo Munrose (they/them) is an artist from London, now based in Berlin. Their work mainly deals with themes of identity, politics and spiritual practice, of which are informed by their Romani heritage. Roxy has also been working alongside ERIAC for its contribution to the 13th Berlin Biennale, and hopes to continue her contributions to the institute.
The podcast series Echoes of Memory – Roma Youth for Holocaust Remembrance is developed by the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), funded by the EVZ Foundation and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) within the programme ‘YOUNG PEOPLE remember on site & committed’, and supported by the Council of Europe, Roma Foundation for Europe, and Open Society Foundations.
