Schmidt (2013) discusses pogroms against Rroma in Ceske Budejovice, South Bohemia. Decisive for the current outburst was the dispute between a Rroma child and an ethnic Czech child  who have been said to have been arguing in a sandbox about toys. The dispute spread to the parents and then included the neighbourhood who a stand against the Rroma mother. Around 22,000 people and several dozen Rroma live in the affected area of Ceske Budejovice. Last Saturday, groups of neo-Nazis tried to find the local Rroma and to lynch them. In the subsequent street battle with the police, the right-wing radicals were cheered on by “decent” citizens.

Mostyn (2013) adds that around 1,000 right-wing extremists marched into the settlement of Maj, where the majority of Budweis’ Rroma live. Mostyn describes the cause of the march as a brawl between Rroma and ethnic Czechs,  and he states that the dispute between the children represents only a single case in a series of mutual hostilities. On the same day, residents of both communities in a common celebration asked for the end of mutual hostilities.

It is worrying that it is the pogrom in Ceske Budejovice is not an isolated case. The events in Budweis are rather part of a chain of regularly recurring demonstrations against Rroma in the Czech Republic. The last right-wing rally was in the North Bohemian Duchcov (Dux) (Prager Zeitung 2013).

Source:

• Mostyn, Alexandra (2013) Pogromstimmung gegen Roma. In: TAZ online vom 1.7.2013.
• Prager Zeitung (2013) 39 Festnahmen bei Anti-Roma-Demo in Budweis. In: Prager Zeitung online vom 30.6.2013.
• Schmidt, Hans-Jörg (2013) Neonazis stürmen Wohnviertel, um Roma zu lynchen. In: Die Welt online vom 30.6.2013. 

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