Category Archives: Czech Republic

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech President and Roma

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On April 13, President Petr Pavel and his wife Eva received a group of Roma students at Prague Castle. The meeting took place as part of this year’s International Roma Day, which fell on April 8.

“What I consider to be one of the biggest dangers of our time – and it is far from only affecting Roma people – is prejudice. They often stem from a lack of information, from stereotypes, from a lack of will to listen to each other and understand each other’s arguments… For me, you represent an opportunity to point out good examples not only towards your community, but above all to the majority community. You are an example of the fact that it is possible to get out of the circle of prejudices,” Pavel said at the beginning of the meeting.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Divadlo 21

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During this year’s celebrations of International Roma Day, D21 theater visitors presented a new theater production Pal e marikľi? Actors Michal Žolták and DAMU student Nikolas Ferenc played the roles of two bakers, Michal and Hynk. A fairy tale based on the motifs of three Romani fairy tales brings the situation from the life of the Roma people closer, which bear many features and characters of the present day.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Prague: Catholic Congress

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The Congress of the International Catholic Committee for Roma was held in the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, in which more than 130 participants from 20 European countries took part, who discussed the topic: “Crisis and wounds as a source of change.” In his message to the Polish news agency KAI, Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Service to Integral Human Development, cited the words of St. Pope Paul VI addressed to the Roma in 1965: “You are not on the side-lines, but in the very heart of the Church”.

Well, these are just words …

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic: Role Models

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Three Roma recently won prizes in the Czech Republic. Patrick Banga, a Romano journalist won the prestigious Magnesia Litera literary prize in the new authors category; Renata Berkyová, a historian who works on the Holocaust of Roma won a 4 month months scholarship at the Washington Holocaust Museum; and finally, the actor Marsell Bendig won the Czech Lion for supporting actor for his role in the film Banger.

Well done!

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Patrik Banga

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The Romano Journalist and writer recently published his first book called “The Real Way Out”, which won the prestigious Czech Magnesia Litera Award in the Debut category on Monday.

As a Kid, an educational counsellor predicted to him in elementary school that he would become a parasite, and the police already assigned him the role of a criminal at the age of five.

Well, wrong predictions …

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Romano Suno

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On the occasion of International Roma Day, the 26th edition of the Romano suno / Roma Dream competition was launched a week ago, in which Roma speakers can express themselves creatively and publicly in their mother tongue. Moreover, thanks to the competition texts, the general public can also take a closer look at the world of the Roma. Since 1996, the competition has been organized by the non-profit company Nová škola.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic: Segregation?

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Speaking to the Upper House of the Czech Parliament last week, Senator Jana Zwyrtek Hamplová called mixing Roma and non-Roma students in schools “an unworkable idea.” According to her, separate classes would give Roma children a better chance of succeeding. These remarks have aroused strong criticism in a country where school segregation largely remains and is often criticized by international institutions. Hungary was recently condemned for exactly this reason.

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Čeija Stojka

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An article in the Czech press about Čeija Stojka, who survived the Holocaust, and went to write a book about it and paint.

She was a great woman.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic and Forced Sterilisations

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The fight for compensation for Roma women who were illegally sterilized lasted over 18 years. Although the compensation law has been in force since January 2022, the officials of the Ministry of Health make decisions slowly and arbitrarily, according to the victims and their representatives. Even the woman, whose medical documentation directly states her Roma origin as the reason for the sterilization, was not granted the compensation of 300,000 kroner until her second attempt.

In an open letter to the Czech Health Minister, NOGs stated that “261 applications were submitted and 74 were decided. However, only 35 applications were successful.” In violation of the law, the officials’ decision-making was delayed several times.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Robin Stria

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Another article on Robin Stria, a prominent Roma activist, documentarian and artist, who died at the age of just thirty-two. He was born on September 12, 1990 in Jihlava, but from the age of three he grew up in the care of adoptive parents in Skrchov near Letovice. He graduated from the grammar school, then the Evangelical Academy and the Social and Legal Higher Vocational School. He worked as a social worker in the Brno organizations IQ Roma servis and DROM, where he was the head of the community centre.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Robin Stria

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Robin Stria, a promising director and curator of the video collection of the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno, died suddenly at the age of thirty-two in mid-March. He succumbed to a very rare urological disease.

The Museum of Roma Culture describes Stria as a director, documentarian and artist who was an active member of the community and a key partner in documenting important moments in Roma history and the activities of the museum.

May he rest in peace.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Roma Luma – Another view

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A non-Roma view of the Roma Luma political congress. According to the article, efforts to unify the Roma minority have appeared frequently in the past, but according to the organizers of the convention, they have always come to naught, and the Roma now have no adequate representation. And that is precisely why the Roma Luma political party was created.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Roma Luma

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On Saturday afternoon, a Roma meeting was held in Prague, organized by the Roma Luma political party and the Buči association. The event was called the All-Republic Congress of Roma and non-profit organizations, and the participants debated about Roma leaders and the representation of Roma in the public sphere. Roma Luma has two presidents, Mark Cavali and Emil Zajac, who gave an interview to ROMEA TV.

Roma Luma is not necessarily a popular group. As they insulted several people and organisations in the past. “We have apologized to some people, including the ROMEA organization. And I think that now is the right step for us all to meet each other and work together for our community,” said Marco Cavali in the interview.

According to Emil Zajac, Roma Luma proposes that a Roma be elected in each district, who would then represent the Roma. “It would be nice if those people were elected by our people. We can then call them in quotation marks as vajdy,” explained Emil Zajac.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic and Forced Sterilisations

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The Minister of Health has reconsidered the decision regarding the rejection of a sterilization application based on discriminatory racial grounds. The application was originally rejected despite the fact that the applicant’s Roma origin was mentioned in the medical documentation as the reason for the sterilization.

The woman will thus be compensated and was awarded an amount of 300 thousand crowns.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Moravian Deportations to Auschwitz

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Maxmilian Kryštof was only seven days old when, 80 years ago, he was one of more than a thousand Roma deported from Brno to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Anna Míšková, historian of the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, informed about this, which commemorates the transport of March 7, 1943 with a memorial service in the museum building. According to Míšková, the events should not be forgotten, especially nowadays with the influx of people fleeing the war from Ukraine.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Public Schools and Roma

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A Rom is the only Roma teacher in a housing estate in Litvín. Twenty years ago, Marian Dancso had to leave the job he loved. As a sailor, he sailed on the Elbe and the North Sea for several years on cargo ships. “I served on tankers that transported chemicals, gasoline, diesel. I also spent a lot of time in Hamburg and Antwerp before I was seriously injured in a fire on board,” recalls the forty-one-year-old man, who after primary school in his native Lom u Most graduated from the Secondary Vocational School of Shipping in Děčín.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic, Schools, and Roma

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The story of Roma children being taught English but not having any textbook. This in a Roma settlement, which, according to the journalist, resembles wor torn Ukraine.

Bad.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Karel Holomek

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Karel Holomek, an important Roma activist, publicist and politician, celebrateds his 86th birthday on March 6. He was born into a family of original Moravian Roma. Like his father, Tomáš Holomek, the first university-educated Roma in Czechoslovakia, he graduated from university – majoring in mechanical engineering at the Military Academy in Brno and worked there as an assistant for several years. Due to his rejection of the occupation of Czechoslovakia, he was expelled from the faculty.

Karel Holomek worked in the first Czech Roma organization, the Gypsy-Roma Union. Between 1982 and 1989 he worked for the Samizdat publishing house, in the post-Soviet period he was a member of the Czech National Council for the Civic Forum.

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