Elina Machálkova (1926 – 2017) was born into a Czech Roma family, faced persecution under Nazi occupation. She was forced to leave school and work in a factory, she narrowly escaped deportation. After the war, she co-founded the first museum in Europe focusing on the history and culture of the Roma and published a book on her family's history, dedicated to preserving Roma culture and history.
As every year on 23 August, the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, the ENRS recalls those persecuted in the name of totalitarian and authoritarian ideologies.