Category Archives: Germany

Berlin Ake Dikhea Festival

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Berlin Ake Dikhea Festival

The successful Slovak series Iveta was among the selected film productions at the well-known international Roma festival Ake Dikhea?, which takes place every year in Berlin. This festival, which has been appealing to a wide international community for several years with its uniqueness and cultural significance, focuses on the presentation of Roma films that reflect the diverse stories, lives and perspectives of Roma around the world.

Berlin Memorial

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Berlin Memorial

The Berlin Memorial of the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialsim is being threatened by work for a new subway line. It could potentially be closed for quite a while.

On Saturday evening, more than 100 demonstrators gathered on Potsdamer Platz to protest against planned construction work for the new S-Bahn line 21 that will not just force the extended closure of this memorial to victims of Nazi genocide, but will also cause a permanent impact due to the felling of nearby trees and other long-term changes to the surroundings.

Even in Death

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Even in Death

The general secretary of the Federal Association of Sinti and Roma, Romeo Franz, is said to have been severely discriminated against by an undertaker in Homburg. Franz reported to the taz that the owner of the funeral home refused to sell him a coffin and funeral service. He said that he did not do business with Sinti and Roma. Franz described the incident as “dismaying” in an interview with the taz.

Germany: Eviction

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Germany: Eviction

Dozens of Bulgarian Roma families in Duisburg have received letters from the German municipal authorities informing them that they must vacate their apartments by mid-September 2024, according to the organisation “Stolipinovo in Europe”.

The local authorities also specify that the affected tenants are all tenants of Gertrudenstraße, Diesterwegstraße, Pestalozzistraße, Wilfriedstraße, Halskestraße and Wiesenstraße, who are in fact tenants of the company Ivere Property Management. It turns out that the company that owns the buildings, about fifty in total, has not paid electricity and water bills to the municipal property management company for months. It now intends to cut off the drinking water supply, which, according to the municipal authorities, makes the apartments unfit for consumption and leads to a mass eviction.

Sachsenhausen Camp

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Sachsenhausen Camp

The district court in Hanau, Hesse, has refused to open a trial against a 99-year-old alleged former guard at the Sachsenhausen Nazi concentration camp for health reasons.

Too bad.

Germany and Racism

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Germany and Racism

The current German ruling coalition proposed the creation of a commission on racism. The SPD parliamentary group and its chairman Raed Saleh in particular have been a strong advocate for the project. “The Enquete Commission will be tasked with drawing up recommendations on how to strengthen social cohesion and counter anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination.”

Racism against Sinti and Roma will also be included.

Germany and Racism

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Germany and Racism

Two articles in Polish about anti-Roma racism incidents in Germany. In 2023, 1,233 anti-Gypsy incidents were recorded in Germany, almost twice as many as the year before, when there were 621 such cases. The latest data was published on Monday (June 17, 2024) by the Antigypsyism Information and Reporting Center (MIA) in its latest report.

German Social Worker

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German Social Worker

Sami Džemailovski is the founder and president of the Association Roma Carmen e.V. from Dusseldorf. He is a social worker by profession and speaks six languages. DW reporter Danko Rabrenović interviewed him.

Sami is originally from Tito’s Veles (Veles), and he came to Germany for the first time in 1973 with his parents, who were temporarily working in Düsseldorf. At home they spoke Romani, Turkish and Macedonian. Along the way, he also learned Serbian, German and English.

Germany and Roma Refugees

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Germany and Roma Refugees

An article on Roma Refugees from the Ukraine in Germany. They are fleeing war, but instead of help, in Germany they often experience racism. The Center for Reporting and Information on Antigypsyism demands action.

More than 1.1 million people fled to Germany from the war in Ukraine, including, it is estimated, several thousand Roma, members of Europe’s largest ethnic minority. While other Ukrainian refugees received unbureaucratic and warm care, most arriving Roma experienced a very different Germany: overly formalized, unhelpful, suspicious, derogatory and racist.

Interview with Mehmet Daimagüler

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Interview with Mehmet Daimagüler

The word “antigypsyism” describes a special form of racism, namely that against Sinti and Roma. Members of this minority continue to be particularly affected by hostility and exclusion. And they become victims of violence, sometimes fatal violence: members of the Sinti and Roma were also among the victims of the racially motivated attacks at the Munich OEZ and in Hanau. Two years ago, the federal government appointed a representative against antigypsyism for the first time – the lawyer Mehmet Daimagüler.

Conference in Heidelberg

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Conference in Heidelberg

Journalist Ingrid Müller-Münch will speak about “Deadly police violence against Sinti and Roma” between 1945 and 1980 on Thursday, March 21st, at 6 p.m. as part of the International Weeks Against Racism in the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg.

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