Category Archives: Germany

Germany News Western Europe

A Birth, and Police

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A Birth, and Police

A large family wanted to celebrate the birth of a child in the foyer of the University Hospital of Cologne. Those present felt disturbed, and the hospital asked the family to leave. The police then had to be called.

The result: A complaint against the university hospital from the Rom association, which advocates for the rights of Sinti and Roma, as well as a criminal complaint and a formal complaint against the police at the Cologne Police Headquarters.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany, Police, and Roma

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Germany, Police, and Roma

Sinti and Roma are frequently subjected to prejudice and discrimination by the police, according to a report. The Reporting and Information Center on Antigypsyism (MIA) analyzed 215 cases reported by victims between 2020 and 2024 for the report presented in Berlin on Thursday.

According to the report, Sinti and Roma often report that their complaints are not recorded by the police, and that incidents are downplayed or denied. Investigations against police officers following complaints are reportedly dropped. In some cases, victims who file a complaint themselves become the target of investigations. The study evaluates hundreds of allegations of discrimination against Roma and Sinti by the police. The spectrum ranges from reports not being recorded to violence – even at a children’s birthday party. Experts are calling for recognition of institutional problems within police departments.

Germany News Western Europe

Schwaben: Exhibition

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Schwaben: Exhibition

The traveling exhibition “Swabian Sinti and Roma in Past and Present,” organized by the Swabian District Heritage Preservation Office, has opened at the Church of Mary Queen of Peace (Johannesstr. 4). The exhibition is a collaboration between the Swabian District Heritage Preservation Office and the Regional Association of German Sinti and Roma Swabia. It is open daily from 12 pm to 7 pm until January 22. (AZ)

Germany News Western Europe

Berlin: Exhibition

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Berlin: Exhibition

The exhibition “Resistance and Dignity” by the feminist organization RomaniPhen e.V. and the FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum focuses on the knowledge and experiences of Roma and Sinti. Since 1945 to the present day, Roma and Sinti have been fighting for a dignified life and remembrance.

Germany News Western Europe

Romani Rose

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Romani Rose

The city of Heidelberg has honored Romani Rose with its Citizen’s Medal for his outstanding commitment to the city and the rights of Sinti and Roma.

Mayor Eckart Würzner presented the award on Thursday evening, December 4, at the town hall. Romani Rose has been Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma since 1982. From 1991, he served as Managing Director of the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma in the Old Town.

Germany News Western Europe

Concert

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Concert

Frankfurt marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz with a concert by the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic. The event was dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust and carries a strong message: memory is not the past, but the responsibility to prevent hatred and war. Representatives of German institutions emphasized the importance of the culture of remembrance and its transmission to young generations. Music has become a bridge between peoples and a reminder that forgetting leads to repetition.

Germany News Western Europe

Documentary

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Documentary

The impressive film by Melanie Spitta and Katrin Seybold sheds light on the persecution of the German Sinti during National Socialism, as well as the challenges and resistance associated with coming to terms with this dark chapter.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

Germany: Reportage

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Germany: Reportage

or 18 years, Jenny Rasche from the Harz Mountains has been dedicated to helping Roma children in Romania, where she now lives. Through her efforts, a slum on the outskirts of Sibiu has been completely transformed; Roma children without prospects have grown into young adults with a future. For her work, this dynamic woman was honored with the Kindernothilfe (Children in Need) Honorary Award on November 14, 2025. Reporter Antje Schneider also closely documented this work for years in the MDR series “Jenny and the Roma Children,” which can be viewed in the ARD Mediathek (ARD Media Library).

Germany News Western Europe

Exhibition in Germany

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Exhibition in Germany

Diepholz’ district museum is dedicating a special exhibition to Mariechen Franz, a sintiza who died shortly before her 17th birthday in 1944 in Ravensbrück. The exhibition will open next Saturday. The exhibition thematises the persecution of Sinti and Roma under the Nazi based on the example of Mariechen Franz.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany and Memorial Sites

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Germany and Memorial Sites

The German Federal Cabinet has adopted a new concept for memorial sites commemorating the crimes of National Socialism and the injustices committed in the GDR. Since there are fewer and fewer living witnesses, younger generations are to be informed using digitization, for example, with holograms of eyewitnesses. The concept also focuses on preserving historical sites and promoting education and research through new exhibition formats.

Germany News Western Europe

Z-Word

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Z-Word

Timur Husein, a CDU representative in Berlin and the speaker for antisemitism in the Berlin Parliament, is being criticised for a tweet using the Z-word and really playing with stereotypes. He said, regarding the SPD candidate for mayor of the city:

LINKE-Bürgermeisterkandidatin @ElifEralpBerlin will, dass alle illegalen Sinti & Roma (Zigeuner) aus dem Ausland in Deutschland bleiben dürfen (so im Neuen Deutschland). Neuer Pull-Faktor für weitere illegale Zuwanderung! Um das zu verhindern, am 20.9.2026 CDU wählen!

Left Party mayoral candidate @ElifEralpBerlin wants all illegal Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) from abroad to be allowed to stay in Germany (according to Neues Deutschland). This would create a new pull factor for further illegal immigration! To prevent this, vote CDU on September 20, 2026!

This politician doesn’t even know that outside of Germany, France, and Italy, there are no Sinti (or so few that it doesn’t matter).

Germany News Western Europe

Germany and Racism

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Germany and Racism

The Higher Regional Court Thürigen (OLG) has decided not to open the case against Bengt Fuchs, Vice President of the Gera Administrative Court, on charges of incitement to hatred.

The Gera Public Prosecutor’s Office indicted Fuchs in April 2025. The indictment stemmed from a Facebook post in which he referred to members of the Sinti and Roma community as “rotating Europeans with a weakness in property rights.” The Public Prosecutor’s Office considered this to constitute the offense of incitement to hatred under Section 130 of the German Criminal Code (StGB).

Well, this is racism.

Europe Germany News Western Europe

Georges Soros and Roma

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Georges Soros and Roma

Georges Soros was awarded the European Civil Prize for his work for Roma.

Well done.

His son Alex Soros received the prize onhis behalf at a ceremony in Berlin.

Germany News Western Europe

Razzia in Germany

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Razzia in Germany

The job center, police, and press descend on a hotel occupied by Roma in a low-income accommodation in Schöneberg on Tuesday morning. Employees of the Berlin job center arrived unannounced at the “BB Hotel Berlin” on Fuggerstraße at 6 a.m. with a contingent of 21 police officers. The Tagesspiegel newspaper was also there to photograph the action and subsequently report on the “notorious Roma accommodation.”

Critics speak of antigypsyism and media incitement.

Germany News Western Europe

Final Rest

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Final Rest

Three Roma remains collected for racist research purposes around 150 years ago have been interred at Leipzig’s Südfriedhof Cemetery. “In the best case scenario, we can succeed in alleviating some of the suffering that was committed long ago in the here and now,” said Prof. Martin Gericke, who heads provenance research at the Institute of Anatomy in Leipzig.

Germany News Western Europe

Ake Dikhea

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Ake Dikhea

The film festival “Ake Dikhea” is starting. Two films currently highlighted are “Reaching for the rope”, and “The earth beneath Margaret’s feet”.

Europe Germany News Western Europe

Georges Soros and Roma

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Georges Soros and Roma

The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma is awarding this year’s European Civil Rights Prize to George Soros (95). The US founder, investor, and philanthropist is being honored for his decades-long international commitment to Sinti and Roma, the association announced in Heidelberg on Tuesday. The award is also intended to draw attention to the dangers of growing antigypsyism, which is once again manifesting itself in Germany and many European countries through violence against the minority by nationalists and right-wing extremists.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany, AfD, and Roma

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Germany, AfD, and Roma

In Gelsenkirchen, the SPD governed with an absolute majority for a long time. Now the shock is deep: In the local elections, the AfD fell just 0.5 percent short of victory. FOCUS-online reporter Ulf Lüdeke asked the local authorities why this was the case shortly before the mayoral runoff.

One of the statements of this article is that:

“The population has shrunk to around 270,000, 75,000 of whom do not have German passports. 11,000 are Roma and Sinti from Bulgaria and Romania. Thanks to EU labour freedom, criminal clans lure them legally to the Ruhr region, herd them into abandoned, dilapidated properties, and rip them off on social security contributions.”

Besides the fact that there are no Sinti in Bulgaria or Romania, this statement is utterly inacceptable.

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