Category Archives: Czech Republic

Lety Portraits

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The stories and faces of Roma and Sinti survivors of the Holocaust will be presented in Prague at the Clam-Gallas Palace. The exhibition wants to avoid the depersonalized language of numbers and photographs of impoverished people taken by the Nazis. Instead, it presents the concrete human destinies of six prisoners from the Lety u Písek concentration camp, for example through authentic family photos and audio recordings of memories. For the first time, the original diary of Josef Serink, who escaped from the camp and became a partisan, and other personal items associated with the survivors will be exhibited. The exhibition, which was presented to journalists on Monday by representatives of the Museum of Roma Culture, will be open until June 30.

A Popular Slovak Singer on Roma Guest Workers

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In a post on the Instagram social network, the popular Slovak singer Paľo Habera shared a photo and expressed his pride in the group of Roma workers who have been going to the Czech Republic for work for several years.

Czechia: The Story of a Ghetto

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The once-feared Roma ghetto in Škodova Street near the railway station made it to Přerov’s list of shame. Fifteen years ago, tens of Roma families lived in the dilapidated houses of the railway workers in the “street of horror”, as the locals called it. The buildings were sold to a Slovak company with the tenants, and finally the dilapidated buildings were demolished in 2017. Nevertheless, the district still carries the label of an excluded locality.

And what about Roma who lived there? Well, that didn’t seem to bother anyone…

Anti-Roma Racism

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The Czech government adopted the definition of antitsiganism, i.e. anti-Roma Racism. This is the definition that was done by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

According to the government commissioner for Roma minority affairs, Lucie Fuková, this indicates that discrimination is not welcome in the Czech Republic. She said this at a press conference after the cabinet meeting. According to the government commissioner for human rights, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, this is the right step to reject any prejudicial and stereotypical behaviour against the Roma minority in the Czech Republic.

Roma Refugees from the Ukraine

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A video in the Czech press about Roma refugees from the Ukraine, and a recognition that the Transcarpathian Roma are related to the Czech and Slovak ones (besides the fact that Uzhhorod was Czechoslovak between 1918 and 1945 …

Brno and Roma

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Miroslav Zubaj is a guide at the Museum of Roma Culture, which stands in the middle of the feared and prejudiced Cejl district. In the interview, he describes the history of the Brno Roma community, the roots of the problems there and the current situation of the locals, which is far from ideal.

Brno: Celebration

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Several articles on the celebration of the 8th of April in Brno, Czechia.

About the Origins of April 8th

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Romea goes back to the origins of the April 8th celebrations: The first Roma World Congress in 1971 near London (April 7th to 12th). The Czechoslovaks were well represented at this first congress.

Prague 3 and Roma

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Another article about Roma living in Prague’s 3rd neigbourhood. Roma feel safe in Prague 3, but they encounter prejudices in the commercial housing market. This was shown by the research of the city district among the local Roma population. A Roma counselor helps with the solution of specific problems and the support of Roma culture, a position that Prague 3 provides as the only district in the capital. Current advisor Veronika Polášková will continue in her role.

Prague and April 8th

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The celebration of the International Day of the Roma start today with a conference in the Brožík room of the Old Town Hall focused on the future of financing Roma art and culture.

“Unfortunately, Roma culture is still perceived primarily as community entertainment. This approach has far-reaching effects on many levels, of which, in addition to the social one, for those of us who deal with our culture professionally, the financial level is the most sensitive,” says David Tišer, Roma activist, director and director of the organizing association Ara Art.

Prague 3 and Roma

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Recent research among the local Roma population of the district showed that Roma people feel safe in Prague’s 3rd district, but they encounter prejudices in the commercial housing market.

On a Segregated School

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The local school in Předlice in Ústí has been purely Romani for two decades. What is scary is what the headmaster says. He says the greatest achievement are when one on the school pupils graduate from high school. He adds this year there is one, next year there will be another one.

Is that an achievement or the sign of an under-performing school?

International Roma Day

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This year, the Ara Art association is organizing the tenth jubilee celebration of the International Roma Day in Prague, which has grown from a one-day evening at the Meet Factory into a week-long festival full of music, art and discussions about the future of Roma culture.

Brno: Suspended Sentences

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Czechia: Competition

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The Romano suno / Roma Dream competition, which has been organized by the Nová škola organization since 1996, makes it possible to compete in the knowledge of Romanes in written and spoken speech. For this year, the judges have chosen topics to think about – they are interested, for example, in what children and adults think about what happens after death or about the cohabitation of same-sex couples. The topics were announced on February 1, and contestants can send their works to the New School until the end of June.

Brno Protests

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On the one hand, indignation over Friday’s verdict of the Brno Regional Court, which acquitted Ukrainians in the case of the death of a young Roma at the Brno Reservoir, on the other hand, disappointment over the low turnout. This is what the demonstration looked like, where about five dozen Roma gathered in front of the Brno courthouse on Sunday afternoon.

Czech Segregation

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The segregation of Roma children in the Czech education continues. It is hard to imagine another area that would be so neglected and so long-term overlooked in Czech politics as this one.

Already in 2007, the European Court of Human Rights condemned the Czech Republic due to unequal access to the education of Romani men and women. But not much has changed over the next fifteen years. Segregated education continues to be a harsh reality for children from the Roma minority.

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