Category Archives: Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Demonstration

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In the Stodolní Street in the center of Ostrava in the eastern part of the country, about a hundred Roma demonstrated in the early evening on Wednesday. They protested against the fact that security guards of some bars in this area allegedly physically attack Roma visitors for no reason, and the police allegedly do nothing about this violence. The crowd reached the nearby police station.

The event was called by Roma activist David Mezei. “There were two such cases in January alone, when the security guard beat up a young visitor for no reason just because he is Rom. It doesn’t work like that anymore. The police only save money, but they never investigate anything,” Mezei was angry, with other participants of the demonstration shouting in agreement.

Lety Memorial

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The memorial to the Roma Holocaust on the grounds of the former pig farm in Lety will be completed within a year and will cost 199 million CZK (4.2 million EUR). In February, the winner of the competition for the indoor and outdoor exhibition of the monument will be announced.

Czech Republic: Roma Integration

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Last week, the Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs, Lucie Fuková, met with the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization and the Minister for Regional Development, Ivan Bartoš. They discussed the functioning of the Agency for Social Inclusion and the solution to the social exclusion of Roma not only in economically disadvantaged regions.

Social Work

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An interview with Iveta Millerová, born in a Roma settlement, who went on to pass her high school diploma at age 36 and then studied pedagogy at the University of Ušti nad Labem and now works as a direct care educator at the Children’s Home with a school in Dobřichovice and is also studying for a postgraduate degree.

Zdeněk Godla

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An article about the Czech Roma actor Zdeněk Godla, currently the best know Roma actor in the Czech Republic. He was lucky, as he started his life on the street at the age of 13, got in jail, and he got into acting by accident when he was doing community service in Chomutov and was chosen by the director Petr Václav for the film. Until the last moment, he agonized over whether it was some kind of fraud. He was at the bottom, without money, and acting helped him a lot.

Czech Elections

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79% of the Roma in a small closed village voted for Babiš in the first round of the presidential elections in the Czech Republic. Marco Cavali from Prague, the chairman of the Roma Luma (Roma World) party, which he founded in 2021, called on the Roma to vote for Andrej Babiš. “And the Roma also voted for Babiš in the first round. Only this candidate is a sure guarantee of a safe life in the Czech Republic for the Roma,” Cavali tells CNN Prima NEWS.

This is bad. Babiš is a populist, supported by the far-right Okamura’s party. This will not turn out good for the Roma.

Czech Republic: Disgusting

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The Czech comedian Štěpán Kozub, in his performance at the O2 arena on 29/12/2022 made a really bad joke disparaging Roma and Jews as well as the memory of the Holocaust. Roma and Jewish organisations are protesting.

Kozub told that sometime after the Second World War, a bus full of Roma people went to see the ghetto so that it would never happen again. The guide goes to announce that “a bus full of gypsies” has arrived, and the porter replies: “But we don’t do that here anymore”.

Bad, especially since everybody in the sold out arena laughed.

Czech Republic’s first Roma Commissioner

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The Czech Republic has taken an important step in addressing the complex situation of Czech Roma. As recently as December 2022, the government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala created the post of government commissioner for Roma community affairs at its last meeting of the year and appointed 41-year-old Romni Lucie Fukova as the first Roma commissioner.

Pavel Berky

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Pavel Berky, born in 1986, is a graduate of the UMPRUM fashion design studio in Prague. He was successful in the Top Style Designer competitions during the Prague Fashion Week, and was at the Exalt Fashion Show and others, world shows in New York, London, Paris or Milan. He placed third in the MasterChef Czechia 2020 competition, appeared in his own TV shows. His cookbook was awarded as the Most Beautiful Book of the Year.

He speaks about his traditions of Christmas dinner.

Video of the Funerals

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A Romea TV reportage of the funeral of the Roma activist Čeněk Růžička.

Lety Pigsty Gone

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The demolition of the former pigsty on the site of the Lety Roma concentration camp for Roma ended. The company is now statically securing two columns from the former pigsty hall, which will be part of the upcoming exhibition.

The Museum of Roma Culture in Lety wants to open the visitor centre in the second half of 2023, or at the beginning of 2024. There were three bids for the construction of the centre, but the museum has not yet chosen a winner. The museum calculated in the tender a price of 73.5 million crowns without VAT.

Čeněk Růžička

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Another obituary of Čeněk Růžička, a Romano activist who fought his entire life for the closure of the pig farm on the site of the former concentration camp of Lety. He was buried yesterday.

May he rest in peace.

Roma Activists in the Czech Republic

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A commentary of Roma activists by Miroslav Brož. He says that Roma activism has a high price. Old activists are leaving, the younger generation is missing. It is not rewarding to be an activist in the Czech Republic.

Čeněk Růžička

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Roma activist Čeněk Růžička is dead. He died at the age of 76, the news server romea.cz reported on Sunday.

Růžička was a co-founder and chair of the Roma Holocaust Compensation Committee. He campaigned for the construction of a memorial to the Roma Holocaust on the site of the former concentration camp in Lety u Písku and the demolition of a pig farm on the site of the concentration camp. In 2017, Růžička received the Alice Garrigue Masaryk Prize, awarded annually by the American Embassy in Prague in the field of human rights.

May he rest in peace!

Czech Republic and Sterilisations

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In spite of the vote in parliament granting a one-time compensation of CZK 300’000 9EUR 12’000) to women who were forcefully sterilised between 1966 and 2022, the process to apply for the compensation and to get it is fraught with issues. In some cases, applicants were denied the payment.

Bad.

Czech Racism

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Seems that racism against Roma is difficult to eradicate. Latest case, a Czech Journalist who shouted abuse at a Romano Journalist was forced to apologise but still claims that “Cikan”, the Czech equivalent of “Gypsy” is not derogatory.

There is still work to do.

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