A new museum is being done in Treblinka, at long last.
25,000 Roma fled from Ukraine to Poland according to this article, which also states that “Most families were completely illiterate”… Both statements are definitively wrong. There are more Roma refugees, and many are well integrated.
Now four journalists and reporters have published a book describing their plight. “The War of Our Times” by Maria Kądzielska-Koper, Arleta Bojke, Michał Owerczuk and Tomasz Piechal is a collection of ten stories.
Fr. Stanisław Opocki, the National Roma Chaplain, prayed on March 6 for the Gypsy artist, Honorary Citizen of Gorzów Wielkopolski Edward Dębicki on his 90th birthday. The Jubilarian and his wife Ewa also participated in the Holy Mass celebrated in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Edward Dębicki, a Roma activist is well known in Poland and beyond.
A fire in a Roma neighbourhood in Poznan, Poland, sent plumes of smoke through the city. Apparently, this was a fire in a garbage dump. The articles say that this often occurs, de-facto blaming Roma.
A commemoration was held on February 26th in Auschwitz on the 82nd anniversary of the first Roma transport to the camp.
Roma bands have become an almost permanent fixture on crowded weekends in Zakopane. Eight guitars, one case and a resonance box – these are the losses of Roma bands that have been performing on Krupówki for months. The municipal guard is fighting them. And as you can see during this year’s holidays – with success. There are much fewer performances.
In 1996, UNESCO developed the Atlas of Endangered Languages, which included as many as nine languages from our country. These include Kashubian, Lower Saxon, Belarusian, Polesian, Romanes, Rusyn, Slovinian, Yiddish, Wymysorys. The fight to preserve the last of them, which is already used by a small group of older residents of Wilamowice near Bielsko-Biała, is still ongoing.
Many Polish Roma have left the country and now live in the UK.
Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar has been slowly replacing judges nominated by the previous government against the law. Most notable case, is the one of the President of the District Court in Bielsko-Biała Adam Kanafka. He became famous for issuing a ruling in which he repeated racist stereotypes towards Roma.
Another meeting with poetry took place on Sunday afternoon at the Adam Mickiewicz Theatre. The main theme of the weekend meeting with poetry were two important figures in literature and broadly understood culture – Jerzy Fickowski, a Polish poet, essayist, author of song lyrics, prose writer, translator and Papusza, (Bronisława Wajss) a Romni Polish poet, writing in the Romanes.
The European Court of Human Rights found that the demolition of a Roma settlement in 2015 by the city of Wrocław violated the European Convention on Human Rights. A complaint against the Polish authorities was filed by Roma, citizens of Romania.
On July 22, 2015, the city of Wrocław liquidated the Roma settlement on Paprotna Street. At the time of the demolition, the settlement consisted of five buildings. The families (adults and children) had been living in the settlement since 2009. The complaint to the ECtHR was filed in early 2016.
Fighting disinformation is one of the priorities of the Polish presidency of the European Union. However, this problem is not limited only to the harmful influences of Russia and Belarus. In Poland, the distorted image of Roma in the media, perpetuating long-standing stereotypes and false narratives, is having increasing consequences. The latest report by the Dom na Pograniczu Foundation is the first in Poland to reveal the scale of this phenomenon, which contributes to the further marginalization of one of the most stigmatized social groups in the country.
The 20th Jubilee Festival of Roma Song and Culture has begun in Ciechocinek. The festival feature musicians from several countries as well as dance, and food.
An article in the Wyborca paper about the genocide off the Roma during the Holocaust. This is good, as in Poland, it is largely unknown to the wide public.
The speech of the director of the Auschwitz museum where he said that he’d never have survived the German selection process.
The Roma settlement, located on the former 23 Lutego Family Allotment Gardens at Umultowska and Lechicka streets in Poznań lies on private land. Currently, court proceedings are underway regarding the city’s adverse possession of this land from 1 September 1990.
This story has been going on for years now…
Residents of tenement houses on Sienkiewicza Street in Zabrze, Poland, are building a wall to separate themselves from their Roma neighbours.
The Polish Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, has initiated the procedure for the dismissal of Adam Kanafek from the position of president of the District Court in Bielsko-Biała.
Adam Kanafek, signed letters of support for the neo-KRS, and attacked the Roma community in Poland. Years ago, he dismissed a case involving a racist post on the Internet about them. In the justification for the dismissal, he wrote, among other things, “It is no secret that the way of life of the Roma is controversial and often meets with social disapproval. The accused criticized inappropriate behaviour, in particular concerning evading the accepted rules of earning a living.”
Another article on the liquidation of the Roma camp in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto on January 12th, 1942.
On Krupówki, one of the main street in Zakopane, there are apparently more and more Roma bands from Poland but also from neighbouring Slovakia. Music on the street pleases some tourists but apparently bothers the city’s residents. The bands play too loudly and without permits. In order to put an end to this practice, Krupówki is constantly patrolled by the City Guard, and the players. The local city guards are now fining musicians.
A recording of a concert of a Roma band was published on Instagram. The crowd gathered in front of the band. The spectacle was going on as usual, until suddenly the sounds of sirens of an approaching police car resounded in the background. The Roma reacted immediately. They took their instruments and set off.
Apparently, in Zakopane in the Polish Tatra mountains, there are many Roma bands playing.
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