Category Archives: Poland

News Eastern Europe Poland

Lublin: Contest on Roma Culture

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On October 18, 2022 in Lublin, an educational and cultural event will be held: It is entitled  “Contest of Knowledge about Roma Culture” implemented thanks to a grant awarded by the Minister of the Interior and Administration as part of the “Program of social and civic integration of the Roma in Poland for the years 2021-2030”. The project will be an opportunity to establish mutual contacts between representatives of the Roma and Polish communities of the younger generation, strengthen the already existing ties and learn about the Roma traditions and customs.

As part of the task, a Competition on the Knowledge of Roma Culture will be organized, during which students of Lublin secondary schools will prepare multimedia presentations on the traditions, customs, everyday life of the Roma, their education, culture, cuisine and sports initiatives or prepare artistic performances. It is the first initiative of this type in Lublin.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland and Roma Integration

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As part of the Program of social and civic integration of the Roma in Poland for 2021-2030 adopted by Resolution No. 190/2020 of the Council of Ministers of December 21, 2020, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration is starting the procedure related to submitting applications for the implementation of tasks in 2023 year.

According to the “Information on the procedure for granting subsidies from the Social and Civic Integration Program of the Roma in Poland for 2021-2030 for tasks in the fields of: Education, Housing, Innovative Integration Projects in 2023” prepared by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, the deadline for submitting applications to voivodes is November 15, 2022.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

OSCE Conference and Ukraine

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During the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference organised by the OSCE, the plight of Ukrainian Roma both inside and outside of the country was thematised. Ukrainian Roma NOGs attended the conference, most notably the Chirikli Romnja NGO.

  • Monitoring and addressing the human rights challenges faced by Roma fleeing Ukraine discussed at ODIHR event. In: OSCE. 03.10.2022. https://www.osce.org/odihr/527619
News Eastern Europe Poland

Papuša

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Bronisława Wajs, better known as Papuša was a famous Polish Romni and poet. She wrote a diary and almost 200 pages of her notes have survived. She wrote: “My origin. Daddy was from Warmijaki and Berniks (a group of Polish Roma), mummy from Galician Gypsies.” “A better family from a father. I do not remember my father well, I was five when he died in Siberia (around 1914). Mummy married Jan Wajs Jan after eight years … I felt good for one, but bad for the other, because I couldn’t read when I was twelve ”.

She did not write in which year and in which town she was born (it is known that her mother’s name was Katarzyna Zielińska). In the excellent book by Angelika Kuźniak entitled From Papusza, we can read that the poet was born on August 17, 1908 in Sitaniec near Zamość, or on May 10, 1910 in Lublin. Whereas Jerzy Ficowski, a poet, prose writer, essayist and translator, in the book entitled “Gypsies on Polish roads” only wrote that Papusza was born in 1909 or 1910.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Why?

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This is a parade example of bad journalism. A Polish newspaper reports on a car crash. Already not really interesting in itself. But then chooses to indicate that the car owner and driver is a Rom.

Why?

News Eastern Europe Poland

On Polish Racism

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An interesting article and interview of Agnieszka Kościańska adi Michał Petryk, the authors of a book titles “Polish Racism” on the prevalence of racism in Poland and the use of the term “Negro” in Polish. On Roma, it says that they have “always been invisible”.

According to Agnieszka Kościańska,  Anti-Gypsyism in Poland and Eastern Europe is a phenomenon similar to classical racism. We have Roma who live in ghettos, are lowest on the social ladder, and often visually stand out on the streets of Polish cities. This situation limits their opportunities for work or education. At the same time, we hear from everywhere: “It’s their fault,” “They discriminate themselves,” “They don’t care about their education,” “They don’t know how to take care of their homes,” and so on.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Duda and the Litzmannstadt Ghetto

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“The truth about the Holocaust is and will remain a shocking warning against disregarding chauvinism and imperialism in any form,” stressed President Andrzej Duda in a letter read during the celebration of the 78th anniversary of the liquidation of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto and the 80th anniversary of the so-called Wielka Szpera.

There were also Roma in the Ghetto.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Papusza

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A reportage on an exhibition in Żagan, in Western Poland, about the Romani Poetess Papusza. She lived there before moving to Gorzów Wielkopolski. She came from a group of Polish Roma. There were many artists in her family, playing at weddings or in taverns. She learned to read and write on her own. Her enormous talent was discovered by Jerzy Ficowski, supported by Julian Tuwim.

News Eastern Europe Poland

More Polish Articles on Auschwitz Commemoration

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News Eastern Europe Poland

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Poland

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Some extracts and reactions in the Polish Press on the commemorations of the Roma Holocaust.

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Auschwitz and Roma

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In connection with the upcoming Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day (August 2), the ethnographer, historian and currently advisor to the Slovak Minister of Justice in the field of human rights, Zuzana Kumanová stated that about 22,000 European Roma passed through the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and about 19,000 of them never returned.

As usual, this is factually right, but effectively wrong. There were 22’000 REGISTERED Roma in Auschwitz. But by the same token, “only” roughly 300 thousand Jews. People who were immediately killed were not registered.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

Ukrainian Roma Refugees in Poland

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The W Stronę Dialogu Foundation, together with the Feminist Fund, has drawn attention to discrimination of Roma refugees in Poland. According to an aid organization volunteer, “Roma people are treated with contempt”. They are also segregated, and treated differently.

Not good.

News Eastern Europe Poland

August 2nd

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August 2nd

Commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the liquidation by the Germans of the so-called of the Gypsy camp will be held on August 2 at the former KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the Association of the Roma in Poland announced on Wednesday. August 2 is the Day of Remembrance for the Genocide of the Roma. During World War II, the Germans killed about 500,000. Roma and Sinti.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Viki Gabor

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Viki Gabor

A young Polish Romni who is a reality TV star after having participated in the “Voice of Kids” in Poland turns 15. Viki Gabor was born in Hamburg as the daughter of Ewelina and Dariusz Gabor – Roma of Polish origin. She lived first in Poland, then in Great Britain, eventually returning to Poland for good.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Auschwitz Museum

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Auschwitz Museum

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Auschwitz Museum, a commemorative album “75 years of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial Site” has been published. It is divided into six chapters: the establishment of the museum, the survivors at the memorial site, preservation of authenticity, education and memory, visits and the caretakers of the memorial site.

Photographs illustrating events in the history of the museum are accompanied by quotations from letters and entries in the commemorative book, mainly by leaders of states and international organizations, which emphasize the role and importance of the place. The album ends with a calendar of the most important events in the history of the museum.

News Eastern Europe Poland

75 years

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75 years

Polish president Andrzej Duda wrote a letter to the participants of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Auschwitz Birkenau Museum in which he stated that it is our duty to guard the truth and the memory of the fate of millions of helpless victims.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Commemoration

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Commemoration

A commemoration to the victims of a massacre of  80 years ago took place in Lutowiska in Bieszczady. On June 22, 1942, the Germans murdered 650 people there, and soon another 150 thereafter. The victims were Jews and about thirty Roma. The commemoration was attended, among others, by the Ambassador of Israel in Poland, Yacov Livne and Adam Bartosz – Vice President of the Association of Polish Roma.

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