Germany to Honor Roma Killed by Nazis

Germany is to commission a memorial to the estimated half a million Roma (gypsies) systematically murdered by the Nazi regime during World War II. German Culture Minister Christina Weiss and Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan said in a statement that work on the memorial would begin "as soon as possible" and would be completed in 2006. The monument, which will cost the government about €2 million ($2.6 million), is to be built close to the German lower house, the Bundestag. It will stand in the heart of the city, not far from the Brandenburg Gate where a tribute to victims of the Holocaust is due to be inaugurated on May 10, 2005, 60 years after Adolf Hitler and his henchmen were finally defeated. All parties in the German parliament agreed in 2004 to an inscription on the memorial that would mention the "genocide" of "gypsies in Germany and in Europe." However, the exact text has yet to be approved by associations representing the victims.