The service was led by a broad ecumenical community, including Auxiliary Bishop Franz Scharl (Roman Catholic Church, responsible for Roma, Sinti, and Yenish affairs in the Bishops’ Conference), Senior Church Councilor Ingrid Bachler (Evangelical Church A.B. Parliamentary Leaders Acknowledge Historical ResponsibilityOn the Friday before the commemoration (July 31), an official wreath-laying ceremony by the Austrian Parliament took place in the consecration chamber near the Outer Burg Gate on Heldenplatz. Approximately 90 percent of the roughly 11,000 Roma and Sinti living in Austria before 1938 fell victim to Nazi terror. On that night, the SS dismantled the so-called “Gypsy family camp” at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp and murdered approximately 4,300 Sinti and Roma in the gas chambers in a single night. In January 2023, the Austrian National Council unanimously decided to officially designate August 2 as a National Day of Remembrance for the Roma and Romnja, as well as the Sinti and Sintizze, who were persecuted and murdered during the Holocaust.