The exhibition “Last Seen” of photographs of Holocaust victims just before they were sent to their death opened in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust organised a meeting devoted to the extermination of the Roma for the inhabitants of Oświęcim and its vicinity. It will be held on November 4.
The Centre announced that the meeting is part of the “Around the History of Auschwitz” series. Classes have been conducted since May this year.
A new spectacle by the Romanes Circus in Paris.
According to the EU Fundamental Right Agency (FRA) Report on Roma, Roma in the Czech Republic, poverty threatens 77 % of Romani people, a clear deterioration of the situation as compared to 2016, when poverty threatened 58 % of Roma.
An article about Bronisława Wajs, better known under the name of Papuša, a Polish Romni and poet who lived till the end of her live for 30 years in Gorzow.
The director of the Slovak National Theatre (SND), Matej Drlička had to resign following sarcastic remarks he made about “national artists” who worked in the past or still work in SND ensembles, “that I guess they are the most important people in Slovakia”. He also added comments addressed to politicians who are he said, are fulfilling their constitutional duties, noting “that unfortunately they are still breathing”.
He was referring to Roma.
The Minister of Culture Natália Milanová accepted his resignation and stated that the remarks were beyond the bounds of decent behaviour. The former Culture Minister, Marek Maďarič, on the other hand stated that “Matej Drlička is such a high-quality manager that I would fight for him even against the will of the committee if I were the minister, even more so because he apologized promptly and, in my opinion, sufficiently for his statement.”
No comments.
The Slovak summary of the EU studies on Roma. The Slovak Paper also gives a better understanding of how the survey was done.
The report “Roma in 10 European countries”, which also deals with the situation of Roma in Slovakia, points to little progress since the last survey in 2016. Although there has been some improvement, the general finding is that Roma families still live in shocking conditions and their prospects for education and employment are poor. Data for Slovakia showed that 14 percent of Roma experienced harassment motivated by hatred on ethnic grounds, which is a significant – 23 percent decrease – compared to 2016.
The survey was conducted on a sample of 8,500 Roma respondents with information on more than 20,000 household members in the Czech Republic, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain and Italy, while FRA also supported the collection of national data on Roma in Bulgaria and Slovakia.
In recent years, the EU has repeatedly measured the situation of Roma in the member states, for example in 2008, 2011, 2016 and 2019. With results that are always similar or the same, which the current report confirms: The living conditions of Europe’s largest – and most discriminated – minority improved in very small steps and sometimes not at all.
In its most recent report, published on Tuesday, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) found that 80 percent of members of the minority in Europe still live in poverty – by no means only in the Balkan countries, where they make up almost a tenth of the population place.
As usual how to measure the 80% remains shrouded in mystery, as the overall number of Roma is not accurately known.
The Ake Dikhea Sinti and Roma Film Festival opened yesterday in Berlin. It will show 9 bibliographies of Roma and Sinti Holocaust victims.
European countries with large Roma populations are making little progress towards equality for this minority. This is the result of a study published by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union in Vienna today.
In ten eastern and southern countries surveyed, 80 percent of Roma are at risk of poverty, the same number as in a 2016 survey. In the total EU population, 17 percent are currently at risk of poverty.
Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe with an estimated population of ten to twelve million. For its study last year, the FRA surveyed almost 8,500 of them and collected data on around 20,000 people in Greece, Italy, Croatia, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The EU agency uses Roma as a collective term that also includes the Sinti group.
As usual, percentages about Roma are always suspect, as the true number of Roma is not known.
Ten years ago, the memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe who were murdered under National Socialism was inaugurated in Berlin, but little is known about this Nazi genocide. Young descendants of the victims want to change that.
It’s a cool autumn morning. It rained during the night. Stefan Pavlovic and his colleague David Nikolic are part of the “Me Sem Me” project, which was launched by the “Rroma Information Centre” in Berlin. In the project, young descendants whose families were affected by Nazi persecution report on the genocide of the Roma and Sinti. David says he feels a kind of obligation to his ancestors to bring the story closer to others. “Me Sem Me” is Romani and translated into German means: “I am I”. The association wants to make it clear that they want to be accepted as Roma.
Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier honoured the memorial for Sinti and Roma in Berlin on its tenth anniversary. The President criticized ongoing discrimination against Roma in Germany and Europe. According to Steinmeier in Berlin, the old anti-Roma prejudices persisted in many parts of society. They could be revived all over Europe by radical right-wing forces. “The everyday discrimination against Roma and Romnja must stop,” he said.
The Federal Government’s Antiziganism Commissioner has denounced far-reaching discrimination against Sinti and Roma in Germany. “We have a racist profiling in the areas of police and justice, education, the housing market and social administration,” said Commissioner Mehmet Daimaguler of the German Press Agency. The genocide of the National Socialists against the Sinti and Roma has not been dealt with either. That is why he is planning a truth and reconciliation commission for the coming year.
The ten years old Holocaust Memorial for Sinti and Roma in Berlin is threatened by the construction of a new subway right underneath it. Associations of Sinti and Roma see the function of the memorial where fresh flowers are always placed on the stele, and where there is a violin sound threatened by planned construction work for a new S-Bahn line. The chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, has indicated that he is willing to discuss a modified draft.
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Holocaust memorial of Sinti and Roma in Berlin. The German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier will hold a speech there at 11 AM.
Combating anti-Gypsyism and discrimination in its various forms and supporting access to quality inclusive education are two of the priority areas of the Council of Europe’s Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025).
Knowledge of the history and culture of the Roma and Travelers is still marginal or even non-existent among the general public and this misreading strongly contributes to the discrimination to which these populations are confronted.
There is an urgent need to highlight the contribution of Roma and Travelers to European societies through culture, arts and history. Educational policies on minorities are urgent.
Sead Kazanxhiu’s illustrated book, Roma Tales and Legends (published in trilingual: Albanian, English, Romani and separately in French) is an important contribution to the recognition and understanding of Roma culture, for Roma and non-Roma children and for the general population.
The movie “N.M.R. » : welcome to Transylvania from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu stages a village in the depths of Romania to evoke community tensions and racism. A Romanian returns to his village in Transylvania, with Romanians, Hungarians, and Roma. Hungarians and Romanians are united to to chase Roma from the village. And almost all are determined do the same to three Sri Lankan workers, “low cost” employees who have just been hired in the factory.
To be seen!
Pretty usual week in France on Roma. An exhibition on the Romanian slavery of Roma in Nantes; near Paris, Roma are getting support for them to stay in a camp near Bobigny from their neighbours, an exception; also near Paris, a camp is evacuated; in Lyon, Roma finally get water; two camps closed in the South of France; and finally, several Roma were condemned for having defrauded immigration candidates from the East.
For over two hours, the Bulgarian Vide-President Iliana Yotova discussed with Romane girls and women the problems they face and possible solutions. Yotova was a guest at a national meeting of Roma women “Girls with dreams: let’s turn the page”, which was held at the University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”. The seminar, organized by the Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance, brought together participants from all over the country. The management of “Amalipe” thanked the vice president for his constant support over the years.
The Holocaust survivor Zilli Schmidt, a German Sintiza, died in Manheim, Germany at the age of 98.
May she rest in peace.
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